Slaraffenland

Private Cinema (Hometapes)

By Marisa Iacobucci
Published: June 3rd, 2007 | 8:46pm

Slaraffenland. Don’t let this band name scare you. It’s pronounced “Sluh-raf-in-luhnd” and means “the land of milk and honey” in Danish. Hailing from, you guessed it, Denmark, and right from their name to their music, this band with the intimidating name to pronounce sure knows how to confound and impress their listening audience.

Private Cinema is Slaraffenland’s first full-length album on Hometapes. They released their self-titled debut album in 2004 on their own label, Honningmand, followed by the EP Jinkatawa in 2005 when they toured the U.S.

I’d say this first full-length Slaraffenland album is a brave exploration of both dark and resplendent themes, but you have to be a patient listener for them. Most of their tracks are over four minutes long. They play “noise” rock music like Sonic Youth and just when you think you’ve heard enough of them playing their stringed instruments upside down or can’t take any more beats of cymbals crashing or ominous singing, their compositions enter the territory of free jazz where all of their explorations seem to flow smoother and come to a polished end.

The album opens up with “Sleep Tight” and “Show Me The Way,” two songs in which the band crams so many different instruments sounds in the intro, but if they’ve managed to keep you to the midway point, will win you over with their softer harmonies and richer textures right to the end. “Watch Out” features the trombone set to percussion with other instruments (brass, guitar) slowly easing their way in and out overtop the intermittent shout-out “you better watch out.” “Ghosts,” one of the last tracks, is a mix of soft, electronic textures and ominous beats and can almost be dropped right into a sound installation or art film without editing, which makes me wonder if it’s the reason Slaraffendland called this album Private Cinema.