Magnus Granberg & Skogen — Let Pass My Weary Guiltless Ghost

Stockholm based improviser/composer Magnus Granberg is one of the more distinct, yet at the same time creative modern composition artists around. All of his works are sparse-yet-micro detailed in their unfold- but each takes his sound in a slightly different direction. Let Pass My Weary Guiltless Ghost is a 2019 work for ten players-that sees him working with modern ensemble Skogen. It slides in at just shy of the fifty-eight & a half minute mark- and the focus here is very much detail, and it’s shift/change.

The release appears on Sheffield based Another Timber- it’s Granberg’s 8th full-length release with the label, and as always the CD release is presented in the labels trademark white gatefold-it features a 1600’s painting of a maid a sleeping on it front cover.

The line up for this track is as follows: Ko Ishikawa- Sho, Anna Lindal-Volin. Leo Svesson Sander-cello, Rhodi Davis –Harp, Magnus Granberg- prepared piano, Simon Allen-Vibraphone & amplified Springs. Erick Carlsson- Percussion. Henrick- objects, fiction & Piezo. Peter Westbury-contact mic, credit card, mixing board & load speaker, and lastly Toshimaru Nakamura- No input mixing board.

The track opens in decidedly sparse-yet-layered and busy manner- with a blend of variety taut picks, tick-tocking, rings, and slowly seesawing string whines. As the track progresses we get more weird & wonderful scraps, purrs & reverberation, low-fi bubbling electronics, and quirky-if-soured-to -swirling darts occur. There is a real feeling of spritely urgency present through-out- yet at the same time a feeling of old fairy tale creepy unease shifting here & there. At points, it rather felt like a more soured & grim cousin of someone like múm- with its detailed electro-acoustic detail, which at points features some rather nice glitch-ness at play.  On my first few plays- it didn’t quite grab me as much as some of Granberg other work- as the base structure felt a little repetitive, but over time I’ve really come to enjoy the track- as this time around it’s more about the shifting & darting details- instead of the root of the track- and when I focused more on these it clicked with me.

It’s always great when new work comes in from Magnus Granberg- as he is one of the most talented modern composers at work at present. If you already a fan of his work I’d say Let Pass My Weary Guiltless  Ghost is certainly more of a grower- but do hang in there as once again this is another very skillful & rewarding work from Mr. Granberg.