Nils Petter Molvaer is considered one of the great innovators of the Scandinavian jazz scene. He effortlessly combines jazz and electronics with ambient soundscapes, subtle breakbeats and drum'n'bass. But it seems that he has completely closed this period with his live CD Streamer, because the majority of ER is devoted to elaborate, complicated soundscapes where the beat is completely unnoticeable.
ER sounds as if Molvaer has taken a correspondence course in Zen meditation in the far north and immediately put the acquired experience into practice. In itself it is very beautiful, beautifully and cleverly done, but we have all heard it better on his previous work. Only on the closing number Dancer does he occasionally find his old energy back. Maybe it's time for Molvaer to descend from his iceberg to get some street feel. (AD)more