- Fredrik Rasten
- Murmuration and Stasis
- Series: Moving Furniture Records
- Format: Cd
- Fredrik Rasten
- Murmuration and Stasis
- Series: Moving Furniture Records
- Format: Cd
Fredrik Rasten (b.1988) is a Berlin-based guitarist and composer focusing on rational harmony and related acoustic phenomena. Reaching for an active state of listening and an intuitive exploration of the complexities of tonal interaction, his work draws on influences from minimalist styles, folk musics and other exploratory modes of sound making. Besides his solo projects, he both performs and composes as a member of the Berlin based ensemble Harmonic Space Orchestra, and the long-lived experimental groups Pip and Oker. In recent times he has also explored experimental approaches to Scottish and English traditional songs, in duo collaborations with Seamus Cater and Alasdair Roberts. Rasten’s compositions have been presented on music festivals including All Ears, Louth Contemporary Music Society and Next Festival, and his recording output has been published on labels such as SOFA, Edition Wandelweiser, Ftarri and INSUB.
Evoked by the sonic experience emerging when tones and their overtones align and synergize, Fredrik Rasten’s new album Murmuration and Stasis explores how sustained, fine-tuned harmonies can give rise to a physical and tactile perception of sound. Performed on a setup consisting of six electric guitars played with Ebows, the four pieces highlight subtly diverging sound facets of just intonation harmony, as the electromagnetically activated strings cast crisp, spectral tones in harmonious fusion. The word ‘murmuration’ denotes the phenomenon of multitudes of birds in collective movement, creating amorphous, ever changing shapes in the sky. Rationally tuned harmonies kindle a similar sense of ephemeral materiality, perceived through our hearing, and felt as embodied vibrating resonance. Murmuration and Stasis is part of Rasten’s ongoing work with just intonation guitar music, following the earlier releases Six Moving Guitars (2019), Svevning (2021), Lineaments (2023) and Strands of lunar light (2025).
Reviews
Vital Weekly, Frans de Waard
Over the (recent) years, I reviewed various releases by Berlin-based guitarist Frederik Rasten. Some of these are solo, and some with others. He’s a member of the Harmonic Space Orchestra and groups as Pip and Oker; I haven’t heard their music. I understand he recently “explored experimental approaches to Scottish and English traditional songs, in duo collaborations with Seamus Cater and Alasdair Roberts”, and his work was released by labels such as SOFA, Edition Wandelweiser, Ftarri and INSUB. This may be an indication of the kind of music he plays, verging on improvisation and modern composition. His latest solo CD, ‘Murmuration And Stasis’, has four pieces using six guitars played with Ebows. This is right up my alley.
Described as “subtly diverging sound facets of just intonation harmony”, which in my book is beautiful, minimalist drone music. It’s part of a series of works by ‘Svevning’ (Vital Weekly 1305) and ‘Six Moving Guitars (Vital Weekly 1183) are also part along with the not reviewed ‘Lineaments’ and ‘Strands of Lunar Light’. Each of the four pieces is around ten minutes. In it, Rasten explores his drones by gradually shifting sounds around, slow crescendos and descrescendos, but without dropping the volume entirely. The music subtly changes. Phill Niblock’s music might be a helpful reference, and I know he liked a massive volume. Still, at home, I enjoy this music at a moderate volume, letting it work the waves of my living room. I go slowly about in this space, and the sound moves with me through this space – different angels make different frequencies, and while that might be the brains playing tricks, I don’t mind being fooled. I love it. This is an excellent release! (FdW)
Percorsi Musicali, Eyal Hareuveni
“…highly resonant drones sound as if they freeze in a futurist and industrial-like, eternal statis, outside of time, and in its own ever-expanding sensibility of space”.
Full review here: Fredrik Rasten: exploring just intonation
Westzeit, Karsten Zimalla (translated with Google Translate)
Fredrik Rasten is another representative of the incredibly innovative Norwegian scene, dedicated primarily to exploring the subtlest sonic differences. Current works include “Murmuration and Stasis” (Moving Furniture), two pieces each around 20 minutes long, which, like most of Rasten’s works, consist of a continuous fundamental tone, seemingly immobile, but actually full of life, as overtone vibrations and subharmonics accompany the almost imperceptible frequency shifts, transforming the whole thing into a highly exciting meditation exercise. 5
