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Opsvik & Jennings

Commuter Anthems

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by Ruben_James on 06/29/2007

It’s superfluous to classify the latest release from Opsvik & Jennings. The instrumental duo comes from a jazz background, but clearly lean toward pop, electronica, and incidental music on most of their compositions. The closest I can come to classification would be “Music for Films.” Commuter Anthems is a would-be wet dream for the music supervisor of any indie art film. It’s almost as if it is the score to some yet to be released Sundance favorite—covering the breadth of emotions from playful to dark and menacing. This is music to imagine well composed moving images to. And that’s what I’ve done.

Opsvik & Jennings cleverly mix electronic and acoustic as well as I’ve ever heard put to tape (or computer). Commuter Anthems opens with a couple of mildly upbeat tracks that demonstrate this marriage of new and old. Jennings’ combination lap steel, acoustic guitar and banjo over Opsvik’s acoustic bass and drums embody the old, while a flash of electronic sparkles hover underneath for team new. The title track offers an uncharacteristic appearance of the band’s voices with a sweet “da-da-da” melody that explodes into theremin wails and a time signature that only someone with a musical composition degree could follow. And yet, the track is so catchy that Opsvik & Jennings’ musical aptitude doesn’t derail the song or alienate the listener. All is right in the world of our imagined protagonist. [End of Act I]

The menacing “Wrong Place Right Time” is a lumbering combination of bowed upright bass that builds to a majestic anxiety ridden climax. This is the scene in the film when something goes terribly wrong. “Lorinda Sea” has a sense of contemplation and uncertainty that dissolves into “Port Authority.” Things start to look up and our hero gets a little breather—if only for a minute. The next three minutes involve peeking around corners and alluding bad guys. [End of Act II]

“Ways” plays like the distorted milieu of a lonely night in a flophouse on the wrong side of town—neon lights peering through the blinds. It has a distinct film noir feel to it that bleeds into French New Wave on “I’ll Scrounge Along.” Redemption finally arrives on “The Pendler.” It’s a new morning and our friend is disheveled but still alive. No Hollywood ending here, this is an art house flick after all, and the delicate send-off “Apology/Goodbye” appropriately plays under the credits. [End of Act III]

FIN

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My Mixtape Commuter Anthem [MP3]
My Mixtape The Pendler [MP3]

Album Details

Year: 2007
Label: Rune Grammofon
Producer:
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Tracklist

1	The Last Country Village
2	Silverlake
3	Commuter Anthem
4	Wrong Place Right Time
5	Lorinda Sea
6	Port Authority
7	Ways
8	I'll Scrounge Along
9	The Pendler
10	Apology/Goodbye

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