Nood
Shaped Like a Taco!
dbut/Hot Rod magazine

Nood is the two-some project of Ulvers (a.k.a. Ulf Knudsen - one of the true veterans of punk in Norway) and Pepe (a.k.a. Per Platou). Their stage and playground is the Internet; they're "conceiving, processing and looping sound resources from the net- and metaspace". In 1996 they released HettyLettyNetty, which was the first ever internet-CD. They've now presented Shaped Like a Taco, which means another portion of Cyber-sounds.

This project is rather experimental within its conglomerate collage of contributions from all over the world through the ears of computers. The content is rather schizophrenic, but in a healthy way. Here's a colorful mixture of hip-hop rhythms and groovy beats, world music, pop, samples, loops, strange ethnic sounds, joiks and yodels, voices and languages from around the world. You name it. 24 (! - well, some are simply short pieces) tracks altogether, and, yes, a few too many. That said there are plenty of high-lights to find. Check f.i. the Eastern sounding Bang Ras, or the jazzy Clari.net. And the hip-hop-poppy Bumblebee and Do Something, both with the chilling voice of Stine Grytøyr. Other kool tracks are: Ramadan, the guitar-driven Chardonnay Says, the mellotron-pop of The Chair, and the refreshing groove-beat of Server's Must Die.

A lot of people have contributed (either voluntary or by being sampled) to this record. Most famous: William Burroughs (sampled bits of his "version" of We'll Meet Again). Others: Sternklang, and Robert Birdeye of The Tables. S.L.A.T. is an interesting musical journey. Tasty, with as much ingredients as tacos. Go taste yerself. You'll even find mp3 and RealAudio files at if you don't bother to buy it.

Distribution in Norway: Tuba!

Copyright © 2000 Håvard Oppøyen