Artists

Charmstone

Knut Bjørnar Asphol

The debut album from the band Charmstone will be released February 28th. The self-titled album is a journey through monumental, explosive and atmospheric music from Norway. The two band members, drummer Torstein Lofthus and guitarist Knut Bjørnar Asphol has an extensive track record in the music scene both in Norway and internationally. Torstein Lofthus is known from rock-edged bands like Elephant9, Red Kite and Chrome Hill, and has a past in the jazz-metal band Shining. Knut Bjørnar Asphol has released six solo albums within the ambient jazz genre and has a comprehensive catalogue as a producer and composer. This release represents an improvised meeting between these two musicians.

Charmstone is an exhilarating album where two distinctive musical expressions are combined. Where one side is heavy, rocked and with rough edges, the other contrasts into softer moods and feelings. It is impulsive, hypnotizing and beautiful. The album combines progressive grooves and lavish ambience to create a universe where the good and the bad will meet in the darkest hour to find the justice in life. We proudly present CHARMSTONE!

Knut Bjørnar Asphol is a Norwegian guitarist, composer and producer. His music is influenced by electronica and nordic jazz. His debut album Organic Ocean came in 2008 and was the soundtrack of the documentary Tikopia. Then came Mnemonic in 2011 and Wilderness Exit in 2013. On these two albums, Asphol worked with Nils Petter Molvær, Arve Henriksen, Helge Lien and Stian Carstensen among others. In 2014 he made Ragatronic in collaboration with the indian violinist Harpreet Bansal. Asphol's fifth album, "Tabloid Red", was released in February 2016. It is an ambient album best described as reminiscent of the classic works of Brian Eno. On the nine tracks of "Tabloid Red", Asphol's guitar playing is transformed into mostly spherical soundscapes, some – as with "The Silver Thread" – featuring everyday sounds, or else with percussive elements worked into the mix by way of sampling and programming. The album is produced by Jan Bang and was recorded in his studio in Kristiansand, Norway. Erik Honoré mixed the album and did some additional sampling. "Tabloid Red" is an ambient gem of solemn beauty, one that requires a great deal of time and idiosyncratically leads us to rediscover the beauty of slowness.
Then late 2017, the release of The Awakening. His most atmospheric album until now. Big spaces with ambient textures.