Maja Solveig Kjelstrup Ratkje is a Norwegian avant-garde composer and performer. She, of course, releases a wide variety of music but also performs music for films, installations, theatre, dance and performance art. Maja is a member of the Norwegian free improv group Spunk with Lene Grenager, Kristin Andersen and Hild Sofie Tafjord. She performs and records with Hild Sofie Tafjord as the brilliant electronics/noise duo Fe-Mail, and performs as Agrare, with Hild Sofie Tafjord and the Swedish dancer Lotta Melin. She has also played with the Oslo Industrial Ensemble, No Spaghetti Edition with Evan Parker and Rhodrie Davies, Paal Nilssen-Love, Masami Akita (Merzbow), Zbigniew Karkowski, Gino Robair, Jaap Blonk, Oslo Sinfonietta and Lasse Marhaug. She has performed a chamber opera by Dagfinn Rosnes, especially written for her voice, among many other things such as Icelandic film music by Hjalmar Ragnarsson and performing her own music for Ibsen's play "Ghosts" at the Northlands festival in 1999. Maja briefly describes her music and motivations here:
Most of Maja's work is (surprisingly) still available if you look hard enough. I've not included some of the most recent releases. Hopefully, you will find this music as enthralling as I do and start to search it out for yourself!
Maja S. K. Ratkje
2002 - Maja Ratkje - Voice [rune grammofon]
2002 - Maja S. K. Ratkje & Jaap Blonk - Improvisors [kontrans]
2004 - Maja S. K. Ratkje & Lasse Marhaug - Music For Loving [bottrop-boy]
2005 - Maja S. K. Ratkje & Jaap Blonk - Post-Human Identities [kontrans]
2005 - Maja S. K. Ratkje & Lasse Marhaug - Music For Faking [clu clux clam]
2006 - John Hegre & Maja S. K. Ratkje - Ballads [dekorder]
2006 - Maja Ratkje - Adventura Anatomica [semishigure]
2006 - Maja S. K. Ratkje - Stalker (lp) [important records]
2008 - Maja S. K. Ratkje - River Mouth Echoes [tzadik]
Maja S. K. Ratkje - Fra Websiden
Fe-Mail
2004 - Fe-Mail Featuring Lasse Marhaug - All Men Are Pigs
2004 - Fe-mail - Syklubb Fra Hælvete [important records]
2005 - Fe-Mail - live @ wooden octopus skull festival 2005.09.10 flac
2005 - Fe-mail - Voluptuous Vultures [psychform records]
2006 - Fe-mail - Blixter Toad [asphodel]
2006 - Fe-Mail & Carlos Giffoni - Northern Stains [important records]
Spunk
1999 - Spunk - Det Eneste Jeg Vet Er At Det Ikke Er En Støvsuger
2001 - Spunk - Filtered Through Friends [rune grammofon]
2002 - Spunk - Den Øverste Toppen På En Blåmalt Flaggstang
2005 - Spunk - En Aldeles Forferdelig Sykdom [rune grammofon]
Thank you!
ReplyDeleteThe TZADIK scans are also great!
Caligari:
ReplyDeletedidn't like that stuff.
too much abstract.
not my kind of (non)music.
Thanks very much. Cheers!
ReplyDeleteI just saw her live in Mexico city. AMAZING!
ReplyDeleteThanks for this great material!
Ana..I am so jealous...never had the opportunity to experience Maja live....
ReplyDelete...yet...
ReplyDeleteCould you possibly upload Maja Ratkje* & Lotta Melin - Illegal Parking (12", Ltd)? Much thanks for rest of this though, an amazing collection!
ReplyDeletePlease reup the Maja Ratkje ones again! (if not all, at least her split with Lasse Marhaug and the other one, with Jaap Blonk)
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot, amazing collection!
The links that I tried are not available but I appreciate your gesture and gotta agree with everything that was said! I wish I had enough money and that in my country was easy to find such beautiful music, instead I have to do some dirty tricks in order to appreciate music such as this. But the love I feel for music like this is so great, that I can't avoid but going deep on it. Whenever she comes making a show on my country I'll surely be on the first seat!!
ReplyDelete