Asger Thomsen: double bass, objects
The solo project of Asger Thomsen is an exploration of radical approaches to the double bass as an acoustic sound source. Improvising freely with use of objects and various extended techniques the music is inspired by noise and concrete sound.
He has played concerts in small venues and festivals all over the world and released three solo albums, all of them focusing on different aspects of the raw unaccompanied sound making without the use of overdubbing or other electronic equipment.
Quotes from the press:
“(…) It is that struggle that Thomsen beautifully voices here. But Thomsen struggles with that double bass throughout this album, it is strikingly physical music that he manages to create here. We hear him toil, scrape and wring in ‘Contortions’; wring, purge and scratch in the exciting ‘Spastics’ and create an equally strange sound world in ‘Samsa’, with more than thirteen minutes by far the longest part of this album.”
– Ben Taffijn, nieuwenoten.nl (translated from Dutch)
“The double bass produces countless strange voices, none are associated with conventional double bass, and some even sound like coming from hungry and angry alien insects.”
– Eyal Hareuveni, salt-peanuts.eu
Og det er enormt mye energi i spillet hans, og i den første improvisasjonen, «Laocoön» får vi et godt bevis på hans eminente spill og tekniske ferdigheter. Og hele veien er det en energi i det han leverer som imponerer. Her kan vi ane inspirasjoner fra flere andre av de «frittgående» bassistene vi har hørt de senere årene, som for eksempel tyske Peter Kowald, men hele tiden er det Thomsens personlighet som viser seg best fram. I de stillere partiene, hvor han plukker fram buen, føler vi at det godt kunne vært Barry Guy som trakterte bassen, men ikke uten at det er Thomsens personlighet som trer fram.
– Jan Granlie, salt-peanuts.eu
“What he does on “Solipsis” is uncompromising and that he deserves credit for this. His music is a very physical exploration of the possible sounds of his instrument, including extended techniques, and this in a coherent way (as in the opposite of experimental sounds for the fun of coming up with unheard noises) to create musical narratives. (…)
– Stef Gijssels, freejazzblog.org
His music will not be to everyone’s taste but you can only admire Thomsen’s willingness to “go for it”. “
