Pancakes

Jazzkammer has called Pancakes its "punk" record, but anyone expecting something even noisier and more energetic than earlier releases from the Norwegian experimentalists will be seriously disappointed. After 15 seconds of electro-noise-spasm on the first track, "No Place Like Home," the disc settles down for something very quiet and minimal, with the levels so low that at many times you can't hear anything unless the volume is cranked way up. The remainder of "No Place" consists of very low-pitched rumbles and the next track, "Vet Ikke," builds slowly on high-pitched drones, whereas the remaining pieces fall somewhere in between. In places, there are glitchy pops and sputters and clicks, even a "psst" can be heard in the middle of one track, and most of the pieces build and develop slowly rather than remain static, though the album certainly lacks the jarring bits of electronic insanity that punctuate Jazzkammer's better albums like Timex and Hot Action Sexy Karaoke.