Np3

After the jazz/electronic grit of Khmer and Solid Ether, Norwegian trumpeter Nils Petter Molvaer upped the restless qualities of his music for his third release. NP3 wasn't too much out of synch with his older material — other than a magnificent ambient opener, Molvaer returned to a base of house, hip-hop, machine-noise, and gap-filled jazz trumpet, and many of his past collaborators also reappeared, including vocalist Sidsel Endresen, guitarist Eivind Aarset, and co-producer Reidar Skaar. The album's major difference was its magnified sense of structure. Much of the music felt cold and overwrought. There was a growing dance element and even moments of politics, as in the slap on U.S. foreign policy "Axis of Ignorance," which proved to be a mixed blessing. Molvaer was in need of fresh blood here while his musicianship had never been better.