Frode Haltli
Passing images
ECM
It is not often that you hear the accordion taking front and centre on an avant-garde, or any record for that matter, except if you are into traditional European folk music of some kind. Frode Haltli, a classically trained accordionist, takes the instrument out of its usual, to me at least, usage and brings the instrument to a place I can appreciate. The disc borders on New Age in several instances, which is bothersome, but also has a definite spacial quality that is very difficult to knock. While the accordion takes a lot of sonic space, the viola is the star, bringing melody and most of the high points of the album. The accordion definitely provides the glue, with its ability to play single notes and chords at the same time, that makes this record go forward and because the record is so musically sparse, it provides most of the substance too. This is a record that wouldn't be so out of place on Tzadik's composer series. Only if it could lose some of the New Age sonorities...
- Simon Thibaudeau
