Segaki is the second album of the Norwegian-Malaysian trio Hungry Ghosts, consisting of Malaysian tenor saxophonist Yong Yandsen accompanied by the Norwegian powerhouse duo of Christian Meaas Svendsen on double bass and Paal Nilssen-Love on drums. Their debut record has been described as an album with an «unstoppable energy» and like actual hungry ghosts — the unfortunate souls who are reborn as pitiful creatures into their own miserable realm, punished for their mortal vices — the trio has an insatiable appetite for more. 

The album is a live recording from Alte Gerberei in St. Johann in Tirol, a concert which was a part of the trio’s Europe tour in 2022. It has been carefully mixed and mastered and sounds great!

The somewhat grotesque and vulgar track titles on the album are taken from actual texts that describe the different types of hungry ghosts that exist in Buddhist mythology. The title of the album, Segaki / 施餓鬼, translates as «service for the benefit of suffering spirits» or «feeding the hungry ghosts».

The depiction on the cover is taken from page 9 from the Scroll of Hungry Ghosts, or in Japanese Gaki Zōshi / 餓鬼草紙. The scroll itself is from the Heian period in the late 12th century. This particular image shows a hungry ghost which is being forced to throw up what it just ate by a demon.

Perhaps it’s not too far a stretch to say that part of this music sounds like a forced regurgitation. Still, this record doesn’t only scream; it sings, dances and grooves, showing us that there’s a whole lot going on in the realm of the Hungry Ghosts.

The album is released as a limited edition vinyl with the artwork silkscreen printed, and it will come in three different colors. The CD has its own version of the artwork, and comes as a 4pp digipak.

Yong Yandsen – saxophone
Christian Meaas Svendsen – double bass
Paal Nilssen-Love – drums and percussion

Beauty No Beauty is the debut of Andreas Wildhagen’s Spiralis quartet. The compositions are exploring forms that often has a starting point followed by improvisation leading to a new motif, as opposed to coming back to the starting point. The idea was to have a setting where the musicians could play freely with inspiration from a certain melodic or rhythmic idea, and work their way to the next part and so on. An attitude of fluency and not looking back. To contrast this, other pieces has more of static form and a focus on repetition.

The title of the band and the album says something about the world and the ongoing cultural and political history that we are a part of. When a musician, writer or any kind of artist offers something to the world, it has in it the potential for change, however small or big - others relate to it, elaborate and evolve it over time, in ways that are impossible to predict, in the same way this music is also in dialog with ideas from the past and present. An image of a spiral - something coming back to the same place in a circle, but in a different time through a different lense. 

The title Sky Reflection in Blood and Oil captures a lot of the theme - the unnecessary despair in the world. We live on a beautiful planet and the possibility for good and creative life and brotherhood are so close, yet it gets destroyed by negative forces within humanity - corporate tyranny and greed that fuels unnecessary wars for the control of resources and profit for the few, while the many suffer, especially in the Global South, but also in the West. Hopefully more people will keep finding and engaging in the powerful, beautiful and provoking cultural expressions that keeps pouring out of creative people all over, regardless of - or maybe because of, all the murk. Music is an instrument for changing thought patterns and revitalizing the status quo, and coming back to a natural respect for life. 

Kasper Værnes – alto saxophone
Anja Lauvdal – piano, synth
Adrian Myhr – bass
Andreas Wildhagen – drums, compositions

We’re beyond thrilled to present ükya, the first band ever on our label which does not feature any member from Nakama! Ah, how we delight in the smell, taste and – not least – sounds of fresh blood! Jokes aside – we still consider them family, as two of them have attended The Nacademy in the past. ükya (always written with a small ü) is an up and coming Norwegian trio playing music in the field of improvised and open form music. Dangerous as individuals, lethal as a band!

We Come for an Experience of Presence, is the result of a successful studio day in April 2022. The album represents the band’s musical beginning and simultaneously the foundation for what is yet to come. ükya works with conceptions around just intonation, European art music, minimalism, jazz and British improvisational music. This results in a contemporary reflection of free form and a rigorous organization of sound in a lyrical and energetic wrapping.

Emil Bø – trombone
Kristian Enkerud Lien – guitar
Michael Lee Sørenmo – drums

Body of Sound - Body of Music is Norwegian bass player Christian Meaas Svendsen’s second solo bass album. The entirety of the recording is based around a framework which Christian calls bass, body, bows: An ongoing introspection in how he can use all of his instrument and all of his body without any external preparations other than the traditional bow, albeit usually several of them at the same time. This is the basis. Furthermore, the recording is an investigation in bringing the listener closer to Christian’s physical body when playing his instrument. To achieve this, he has come up with a microphone set-up consisting of one microphone taped to each of his hands, one microphone capturing his voice, one microphone placed over his heart, and in addition a stereo pair which captures the room. These input sources have made it possible to shape the performance in the mixing process, sometimes bringing the listener intimately close, other times far away. It has also opened up for possibilities in experimentation in the stereo field, where the left and right hand is clearly separated, giving the listener the impression that they are standing exactly where Christian was standing when the recording found place. The set-up also gives him the freedom to be the player that he is – a player whose physicality is an integral part of his music.

Christian Meaas Svendsen - bass, voice

During three days in June 2021, reed players Klaus Ellerhusen Holm and Andreas Røysum, recoded in three different locations in Trondheim: Vår Frues Church, Øra Studios and Bymarka. This was done in close collaboration with sound wizard Kyrre Laastad. The general idea for the record was to present the same material in three completely different acoustic settings.

The music explores phenomena such as acoustic space, sound in motion and the perception of depth and dimensions in sound. Klaus and Andreas explore these musical territories using interference, multiphonics, tonal structures and micro tonality. The duo might also hint back to their mutual influences from American minimalism, AACM, the cutting edge musical developments in 90s Berlin as well as their collaboration in Nakama. Nevertheless – they still always sound like themselves.

Klaus Ellerhusen Holm – Bb clarinet, alto saxophone
Andreas Røysum – Bb clarinet, bass clarinet

Sacrum Profanum is the follow-up to Akmee’s first album Neptun (2018), and releaseas as CD, LP and digital download. All members of the band contributed with compositions for this recording session which was done in Tøyen Kirke, a church in Oslo that is also known for providing a meeting place and food for people in difficult situations, or in need of a religious/spiritual connection. The quartet was drawn there by the rumors of a good sounding grand piano in a wooden church room, and the curiosity to play in a different acoustic situation. The result is both in and out of this world.

Erik Kimestad Pedersen - trumpet
Kjetil Jerve - piano
Erlend Olderskog Albertsen - bass
Andreas Wildhagen - drums

The Nacademy 2022

We had a blast – this time as well! A huge thanks to all participants and teachers! A full week immersed in the wonders of all things improvised – and Gabriel’s delicious food!

Doesn’t this generic mock-up look pretty darn good? It’s going to be even more smashing in real life, guaranteed! After a rollercoaster with the pressing plant business, we finally got in touch with the good and nice and response people over at T-time in Stavanger, Norway. Now, finally – after years of standstill on the production front – Nakama Records is happy to be releasing some new music. We’re starting off with Nakama’s New World.

New World is the first album which features Nakama’s new line-up. Voice and violin has been replaced by the eminent woodwinders Andreas Røysum and Klaus Ellerhusen Holm; two gentlemen whose reed skills have led Nakama into uncharted sonic terrain. The record is released as a double LP/single CD and features 9 original tracks spanning a vast array of musical ideas. New World is by and large an investigation in various ways of composing structures which is utilized as improvisational platforms — be it the rigid title track, which offers a spatial composition for the musicians to work around, or the much more straightforward Benign leaving the soloist to roam freely. Half of the tracks have also been tampered with in post production, making New World a record with sturdy roots in a played-live feel, bending towards and intermingling with the tightness of computers, synthesizers and such. Add to that some buddhist Zen buddhist chants, bizarre bass riffs and well-hidden quintuplets and lo and behold: We have arrived. On one side the music is warm, explosive and eccentric and on the other it is tight, calculated and stringent. Still, Nakama is what it is: a chamber musical jazz like ensemble in a chill split between the free, catchy, experimental and contemporary.

Klaus Ellerhusen Holm - alto saxophone, baritone saxophone, Bb clarinet, Eb clarinet
Andreas Røysum - Bb clarinet, bass clarinet, contrabass clarinet
Ayumi Tanaka - piano and some qualified MIDI-inputs in post
Christian Meaas Svendsen - bass, voice, compositions, post production stuff
Andreas Wildhagen - drums and percussion

The Nacademy 2021

What a blast we had this time around! Everyone involved gave so much of themselves, and the collective energy and music creativity really grew during the 4 days we spent together. The staff is already looking forward to next year’s Nacademy!

The Nacademy is a summer workshop aimed towards both amateurs and professionals alike. The course participants will gather in natural surroundings outside Oslo for 5 full days and delve into the wonderful world of improvised music. The workshop is hosted and led by the members of Nakama. The Nacademy was arranged for the first time in 2019, but due to unforeseen circumstances familiar to most of us, we had to skip 2020. More information and sign up form over here

2021, here we come!

We’re awfully sorry about the radio silence. Not much has been going on lately, but we’re working steadily behind the scenes and aiming for 2021. At least we’d like to share a good memory from the first ever Nacademy, held back in 2019. We had to skip this year’s planned version, for obvious reasons, but hope to be back next year. A small part of what we recorded there actually made it to a–at the moment of writing this, secretive–record over at our friends at Smalltown Supersound. Yay!

We've been busy - not so much with expanding our catalogue - but in dealing with all unexpected stuff due to covid-19. We are, after all, first and foremost musicians, and restrictions, cancellations and what not have taken their toll on us. So we haven’t been able to work so much with the label, but to consolidate we’ve put up a small summer sale starting on July 1st! We want to stress the fact that all sales have always gone, and will always go, to the respective artists in its entirety. That’s a fundamental building block of our label. Buying records is a great way to support artists in these challenging times, and if you can't find anything in our catalogue, we'd still encourage you to find something else somewhere else. There's so much great music out there!

In July, we've got a 50% off on the following items:
NKM002 — Forms & Poses, LP
NKM004 — Grand Line, CD
NKM005 — Kyuubi, LP/CD
NKM006 — No Right No Left, LP/CD
NKM007 — 3 pianos, LP
NKM008 — Most Intimate, LP/CD
NKM010 — AVIN, LP/CD
NKM013 — Worst Generation, LP
NKM014 — GBD, LP/CD
NKM015 — Troposgrafien, LP
NKM019 — Hungry Ghosts, LP

and we've got 25% off on:
NKM016 – New Rituals, LP/CD

You can buy from our store or from our bandcamp. We've made it easy for you: The prices have already been reduced, so you don't have to enter a discount code or anything like that. Happy shopping!

Katariin Raska and Christian Meaas Svendsen have known each other for many years. They met in Oslo in 2012 and soon started working together in Katariin’s band ÄIO. Their duo music is an abstract reminiscent of that music: folkish, primal, experimental, organic and timeless. The debut album, Finding ourselves in all things, features two lengthy tracks, standing in stark contrast to each other and are both extensive elaboration on simple ideas. Sonic layers unfold and overlap in long arches. The recording is representative for the duo’s way of thinking about form and musical storytelling through an extended use of their instruments’ possibilities. The vertical is always present in the horizontal and vice versa.

Katariin Raska – torupill (Estonian bagpipe)
Christian Meaas Svendsen – double bass

Hungry Ghosts are beings who are driven by intense emotional needs, periodically roaming the earth’s surface in search for anything that can satisfy their cravings. Now they’ve materialized as three leading improvisers on the improv scene: The omnipotent living legend Paal-Nilssen Love clashes head to head with bassistChristian Meaas Svendsen, playing with 2-3 bows, cheek, voice, hands and feet. In the midst of the battle we find Yong Yandsen, a high- octane Malaysian sax virtuoso who virtually explodes on stage combining the best of Japanese noise and European free-jazz-or-whatever-you- wanna-call-it together with the aforementioned gentlemen. Are they the Hungry Ghosts, or are they here to exorcise them out of you?

Yong Yandsen – saxophone
Christian Meaas Svendsen - bass
Paal Nilssen-Love - drums

«Kitchen Music» is Adrian Løseth Waade’s first album in his own name. While having contributed on a long list of Norwegian jazz records, his own music has taken shape, and is finally ready to present. For the occasion, he has recruited some of his absolute favourite musicians, every one of which helps to create a mood that is «just right». Sometimes simple and melodic, sometimes ecstatic and free, but always expressive, encapsulating both the grave and the playful.

Adrian Løseth Waade – violin (compositions)
Kjartan Lægreid Gullikstad – guitar
Bardur Reinert Poulsen – bass
Simon Olderskog Albertsen – drums

The Scandinavian music scene has for some decades now proven to be a fertile breeding ground for aspiring international artists. THE BIG YES! is no exception, and carries on the fruitful tradition of exciting collaborations between the Scandinavian countries. The quartet’s debut album was recorded during a tour in early 2018 and captures the energetic synergy of four harmonic individuals in perfect unison.

Anna Högberg – saxophone
Maria Bertel – trombone
Christian Meaas Svendsen – bass
Ole Mofjell – drums

New Rituals is a piece of music in three 40 minutes long parts, written for the ensemble Nakama and a Zen Buddhist choir, for Nakama and for solo bass respectively.

The three parts are built on the same material: 10 Zen Buddhist sutras. The recording is investigating the part of Zen Buddhist philosophy which states that no thing exists as a separate self; everything is inseparable from everything else and always in flux.
The music is released in three volumes. The LP edition entails within it the CD edition, which itself can be bought separate.

Christian Meaas Svendsen – bass, voice, compositions
Agnes Hvizdalek – voice
Adrian Løseth Waade – violin
Ayumi Tanaka – piano
Andreas Wildhagen – drums
feat. Rinzai Zen Center Oslo – choir 

Kasper Skullerud Værnes and Andreas Wildhagen has played together for ten years as of 2018. They formed a duo shortly after meeting, and quickly realized that the format was worth further explorations. Through the years and in various ensembles and projects such as KNYST! (trio with bassist and Nakama founder Christian Meaas Svendsen,) and Paal Nilssen-Love Large Unit, the duo has grown and developed a highly flexible and telepathic interplay. This is their first release as a duo, and a solid document of the strong communication between the two. Troposgrafien is a volcanic and dynamic statement, in which loud and intense expressions meets subtle dialogues.

Kasper Skullerud Værnes - saxophones
Andreas Wildhagen - drums and percussion

Gibberish, balderdash and drivel consists of three nonsensical musical conversations between Malaysian nylon guitar player Goh Lee Kwang and Norwegian bass player Christian Meeas Svendsen.

The album was recorded in an independent art gallery close to Kuala Lumpur with a handheld device. It tells us the story of the first encounter between two different mindsets, nationalities and generations trying - and totally failing at - making any sensible dialogue with their respective musical languages.

Still, the music flows unobstructed, blissfully ignorant of the lack of mutual understanding. Just listen closely and ask yourself: does your skin connect you or separate you from the rest of the world?

Goh Lee Kwang – nylon guitar
Christian Meaas Svendsen – double bass

This album is also part art project. The album comes together with a custom made pencil which you can use to draw your own cover. If you do - and if you have an Instagram account - then be sure to hashtag it with #gibberishbalderdashdrivel

Socrates said, some 2000 years ago: «The children nowadays love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise». In the eyes of the elders, the youth is always representing a worse generation. In today’s western world there still lives a total of 5 historically distinguishable generations. The track titles on Nakama’s 4th album is named after them. Zooming out in both time and space and looking at the current state of the world these five generations must truly be the «Worst Generation» ever in human history. They are all part of- and have contributed to the current state of affairs. Paradoxically, new generations also bring with them a sense of hope and change. Maybe when we look back again 100 years from now this Generation turns out to be the best one?!

Worst Generation is Nakama’s first album with the group’s new member Agnes Hvizdalek. It is also the group’s first fully improvised album. The titles on the CD is in English on one side and Japanese on the other with the imprint in beautiful gloss. The LP version is in lenticular – the motif changes when viewed from a different angle! One thing is always something different and at the same time two sides of the same coin...

Juxtaposition is a studio work of four Oslo based improvisers recorded in the spring of 2016. Various timbres of opposite extremes – as a result of each musicians' different approach and background – coexist without hierarchical restrictions. Having that in mind, the mixing process played a crucial role to deliver a concrete body of equalitarian sonic output. Without compromise, these moments of joy and pain, screams, feedback and bird sounds are layered on top of each other, creating a non-hierarchical, juxtaposed mesh of both organic, generated and pre-recorded sounds.

Agnes Hvizdalek - voice

Magnus Skavhaug Nergaard - el. bass, electronics, field rec.

Utku Tavil - snare drum, no-input mixer, sampler

Natali Abrahamsen Garner - voice, electronics

Neptune. A planet invisible to the naked eye, it was originally discovered through mathematical deduction after scientists noticed unexpected changes in the course of Uranus. It was named after the Roman god of the sea. In addition to being ruler of the liquid element, he was said to have tremendous power over our subconsciousness and emotions, which we ourselves still have little understanding of today. The title represents the unknown, ranging from the depths of the human mind and the oceans out to the vastness and mysteries of space. The music itself is a rubbery mass of composed and improvised ideas stirred and distilled into a concrete pellet with a unique flavor: It is dark like the deep sea, astral as the sky and uncategorizable as our very own subconscious – and it grooves in a minimalistic, awkwardly satisfactory Akmee-kind of way.

Erik Kimestad Pedersen – trumpet
Kjetil Jerve – piano
Erlend Albertsen – bass
Andreas Wildhagen – drums

Neptun is available on CD, LP, digital download and streaming.

Avin is the next solo project from Christian Meaas Svendsen. The album consists of Norwegian lyrics in a traditional singer/songwriter-style wrapped in a somewhat challenging and unconventional format. The music is arranged for an 8-piece band consisting of some of Norway’s finest musicians.

The central theme on the album is their unfinished love, and the texts and the music describe Svendsen’s feelings and reflections in the turbulent phases of a relationship. Loss, anger and despair are repeating themes, but amidst it all there is hope and a strange kind of underlying positivism. The music is inspired from early American contemporary music, modern nordic improvised music and different types folk songs. The result is a more meek version of the modern contemporary music, a slightly more strict version of improvised music and jazz, and a somewhat detached way of presenting conventional singer/songwriter material. It is creative music with some healthy resistance presented in an earnest, convincing and personal way.

Svendsen is also making a music video together with film magician André Løyning. The video is done like a one-take; a 20 minute continuous shot which will result in a video which is just as much a short movie and an art movie as it is a music video. It is challenging our consumption of visual impressions and short attention span, indirectly arguing that the music video as an art form must not be devoured by commercial powers and tabloid formats.

Christian Meaas Svendsen is normally playing bass, leading his own projects or functioning as a sideman in countless other creative projects. But on this recording he is singing his own lyrics and playing the guitar himself. The rest of the ensemble consists of:

Vilde Alnæs - violin
Adrian Løseth Waade - viola
Kaja Fjellberg Pettersen - cello
Inga Aas - double bass
Henrik Munkeby Nørstebø - trombone
Espen Reinertsen - saxophone
Agnes Hvizdalek - vocal

Most Intimate is a collaborative album which portrays Nakama as ensemble players, soloists, composers and improvisers. The record is an exploration of the phrase Most Intimate interpreted through the lense of playing, writing, composing and relating to both the known and unknown. It was recorded at the end of a the band's first tour, and Christian explains "I wanted the tour to culminate in a recording session which took advantage of the fatigue we were suffering from. Great things happen when the discerning, analytic and intellectual mind is bypassed".

The album is available on CD, LP and digital services. The physical version comes with the liner notes embossed into the actual cover. It looks great, feels great and sounds great!

The piano is a vast instrument with a long history. If three pianists with highly dissimilar personalities play three pianos at the same time, would it be possible to get away from what is known as the piano sound?

Ayumi Tanaka - piano
Johan Lindvall - piano
Christian Wallumrød - piano

The curiosity for the piano and its countless possibilities was the outset whereas the wish to bend the common boundaries for piano music was the background for this project. The ensemble has clear connections to the music and the ideas of the twentieth century. The material is developed in their own way by focusing on elements like tuning, register, intervals and dynamics.

No Right No Left is the first solo album of drummer Andreas Wildhagen. The recording is done by simple means in his own rehearsal space late July 2016, but the music is by no means simple. Andreas explains:

"In order to eliminate right and left, one has to imagine a view which is not rooted in a subject or object. If we lack a reference point, right and left disappears. Right and left, good and bad permeate society, but music itself can step outside of this. This record is 40 minutes of drums moving through different sonic and rhythmic territories. Most of the time it is rhythmic/gestural, often super-imposing two or more tempos at the time. With a few exceptions, the titles are a play on perspectives, visualizing the material from different places. For instance; what we perceive as fast may be ultra slow-motion from a different point of view."

No Right No Left is released on CD, LP, digital streaming and downloading.  

Andreas Wildhagen - drums and percussion

Nakama Records’ fifth release features violin duo Jinchuuriki consisting of Norwegian wonder boys Håkon Aase and Adrian Løseth Waade. The duo has seemingly emerged out of nowhere, but their existence seems as natural as night turning into day. The album is entitled «Kyuubi» (both band name and title is derived from the popular anime Naruto) and is a free exploration of sound within the boundaries of their instruments and their own musicality. The album is comprised of 20 small pieces ranging in expression from reductionist and sparse textures, to filmscore-like tonal landscapes with clear dramatic outlines. Their contribution to the label is a treasure box full of surprises.

Kyuubi will be out on CD, LP and digital streaming and downloading. Cover design by the young gentlemen themselves. If you can't find it in a shop near you, just get in touch, and we will be happy to distribute! 

Håkon Aase - violin
Adrian Løseth Waade - violin

Nakama's goal with their second release has not been to restate what has already been defined or accepted, but to challenge recognizable patterns and contribute to the expansion and evolution of our musical consciousness and the multitude of possibilities in which musical events can order themselves. The music on Grand Line is made up of two separate components: musical compositions and form compositions, and as opposed to a form which is completely set or on the other hand totally free, Grand Line investigates form as something malleable. Challenging stuff!

Grand Line will be released on CD, double LP, digital download and streaming. The LP comes in black, beautiful, thick cardboard with the title track from the album embossed into the cover with bronze foil. The inner sleeves are custom made and features each band member wearing a handmade origami-headwear. Recorded in legendary Rainbow Studio in Oslo it sounds just as good as it looks!I

Filosofer consists of an unorthodox string quartet and an experimental DJ, and the combination of these acoustic and electronic ingredients surely put a signature on their music. The recording features three selections from different live shows done in the recent past. Piano player Kjetil Jerve and vibraphone player Rob Waring appears as guests. Check out the teasers!

Available on CD, LP, digital download and streaming. Cover art is done by Japanese artist Jun Fukukawa.

Bendik Baksaas - synth, computer, sampler
Håkon Aase - violin
Adrian Løseth Waade - violin
Erlend Albertsen - double bass, saxophone
Christian Meaas Svendsen - double bass

Video by
Christian Meaas Svendsen

Artwork
Jun Fukukawa

Music by
Filosofer

Forms & Poses is Christian Meaas Svendsen's second solo album, and it explores the relationship between the body and the double bass both visually and auditory.

The album  is released on CD, LP and for digital download and streaming. The CD comes with a 24 page-booklet with pictures taken by Kristoffer Eikrem, and linear written by Christian himself. The LP version features a beautiful square insert with the same info.

Photo by
Kristoffer Eikrem

Nakama — Before the Storm

Released December 1st

Video by Joakim Sture

On December 1st Nakama released their debut album Before the Storm. They made this glimpse behind the scenes from the process, with some musings and descriptions of what the album is all about.

Take a look!

The music is a combination of european contemporary jazz anno 2000, American contemporary music from the 60’s, Japanese traditional music and a hint of romantic, classical music — With silence as constructive element and maybe as the leading ingredient in the four tracks.

Silence is something that fascinates me, both inside and outside of music – so I feel like this album explores the tension between silence and non-silence. Maybe tries to give an answer to what silence can be.

— Christian Meaas Svendsen