Formed in the summer of 1998, Serras is comprised of members of other well-known Danish bands, including Sorten Muld, DUG, DKLokomotive and Puls. Combining straightforward fiddling with electric and acoustic guitars, bass, drums and saxophones, the band presents a unique take on traditional 18th century Danish songs. The tunes were culled from original sources dating back as early as 1760. According to the liner notes, the themes were found “in old dusty music books from, among others, the clerk Rasmus Storm from the south Funen, the flautist Count Otto von Raben from Lolland and the Faeroese student of theology, Jens Christian Svabonius from Copenhagen.”
The overall sound of the CD is moody, sensual, and hypnotic. I would call it “mood music,” but that may lead others to immediately think “ambient.” This music is far too alive to be mere background music. It is instead very effective at setting a dark, but pleasing, mood. Although the tunes are almost exclusively traditional, with arrangements by the members of Serras, the bluesy, jazzy instrumentation, when combined with electronic looping, beats and sampling is wholly modern in tone and feel. This modernity is far from jarring (though it could have been), melding seamlessly with the aged musical themes.
The thirteen tracks are exclusively instrumental, including a number of traditional dance forms: polonaise (“Francesca,” “’99”), jigs (“Carnera”), kontradans (“Kontradans” and “Reventlow”) and polska (“Kontradans” again). Two are live tracks, recorded at the Tonder Festival in August, 1999 (“Den Lede,” “Danz”). One new song, “Peder Gyes,” nests among its elder brethren, written by the band’s fiddler, Harald Haugaard. It sounds quite at home with the traditional tunes. All the tracks show off the considerable musical talent of the musicians most notably “Serras,” for its frantic, paranoid fiddling; “Den Våde,” for its moody sax; and “Francesca,” for its delicate, lovely acoustic guitar.
For a peek into the past — and a taste of the future — of Danish music, this CD is an excellent choice.
(GO, 1999)
