by Moor Mother The Great Bailout is Moor Mother aka Camae Ayewa’s ninth studio album and third with ANTI- Records, with production contributions on various tracks from Mary Lattimore, Lonnie Holley, Vijay Ayer, Angel Bat Dawid, Sistazz of the Nitty Gritty, Aaron Dilloway and more. Called “the poet laureate of the apocalypse,” by Pitchfork, Ayewa’s music contains multitudes of instruments, voices and cacophony that take on themes of Afrofuturism and collective memory with the forebearers of jazz, hip hop and beat poetry in mind.“Research is a major part of my work, and rese ..read more

A compilation featuring a small selection of some of the many interesting female voices on the blossoming field of experimental music in the Nordic countries, working in new collaborations. MEUF vol. 1 features: Maja S. K. Ratkje, Hilde Marie Holsen, Nina De Heney, Maria Laurette Friis, Qarin Wikström, Carolyn Goodwin, Nana Pi, Laura Toxværd, Marilyn Mazur, Julie Kjær, Signe Emmeluth, Anne Efternøler, Guoste Tamulynaite, Maria Dybbroe, Andrea S Giordano, Mirjana Nardelli, Cisser Mæhl, Jenny Berger Myhre, Johanna Borchert, Laura Marie Møller Madsen, Amanda Appel Olsen, Anna Sophie Mæhl og Pet ..read more

We are happy to present the debut album of the duo Stian Westerhus and Maja S. K. Ratkje, two Norwegian composers and performers known to the international scene through numerous works and albums in various constellations over decades. Released 15 March 2024 Crispin Glover Records. To many of their followers’ big surprise, Stian Westerhus and Maja S. K. Ratkje, who are usually associated with effect pedals, samplers, amplifiers and computers at three digit decibel levels, put aside all things electric and performed an acoustic set at Oslo Jazz Festival in 2019. Ratkje and Westerhus, now armed ..read more

Motvind Records continues to collaborate with musician and composer Signe Emmeluth in an attempt to present art music that emphasizes deep listening, reflection and expressive emotions. Vossajazz is a really cool jazz festival, it has a rich program history and are still holding the line. They’ve commissioned many works from composing jazz musicians, and one of the more unpredictable and surprising pieces that has come in recent years was BANSHEE by the alto saxophonist and composer Signe Krunderup Emmeluth, which was premiered there in 2021. A remarkable group of 7 uncompromising musicians ..read more

Poesi på bristepunktet (Poetry at the Breaking Point) is a series of collaborations between author Aasne Linnestå and composer and performer Maja S. K. Ratkje with fellow musicians. The author sits onstage writing poetry in real time, projected on a large screen visible to the audience. The musicians accompany, respond to and interpret the words. Instant poetry – instant song and music. credits releases March 8, 2024 Link to album on Bandcamp. MAJA S. K. RATKJE, KRISTIN ANDERSEN HØVIN, AASNE LINNESTÅ · POESI PÅ BRISTEPUNKTET Maja S. K. Ratkje – voice, harmonica, bells and live electronics Kr ..read more

AnEarful, Best Of 2023: Classical: “Maja S. K. Ratkje & Nordic Affect – Rokkur. The video for Love Take My Hand, directed by the ensemble’s violinist, Halla Steinunn Stefánsdóttir, is the perfect introduction to the moods and music of this thorny album. With Ratkje lending her starlit electronics and creative vocalizing – think Björk and then go beyond – to the Baroque folk-modernism perfected by the Nordics, it’s like a series of postcards from a world in constant twilight. Amidst the darkness is a quest for love, making for experience not unlike the best gothic pop.” (Jeremy Shatan) The ..read more

With a wide range of work by sound artists and musicians, writers, filmmakers, photographers, and visual artists, @ovid’s Metamorphoses uses the COVID-19 pandemic and its far-reaching consequences as an instrument for change, artistic and otherwise. A play on experiment across various fields of artistic practice, all featured work revolves around ideas of transmission and inspiration, conjuring up a massive body of vital and daring artistic expressions unashamedly avant-garde. Link to purchase at Bandcamp. @ovid’s Metamorphoses is a project initiated by Bernd Herzogenrath, professor of Ameri ..read more

For the immersive concert experience Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra (Göteborgs Symfoniker) has commissioned orchestral works from five prominent composers from all Nordic countries, Daníel Bjarnason (Iceland), Miho Hazama (Denmark), Mats Larsson Gothe (Sweden), Maja S. K. Ratkje (Norway) and Outi Tarkiainen (Finland). Drawing inspiration from the Nordic nature, each commission in “Nordic – A Fragile Hope” serves as a poignant reminder of the delicate balance and sensitive resources found in the Nordic region and the problems with climate change. The unique concert experience is created in coll ..read more

Article published in the book A Sound Word Almanac, edited by Bernd Herzogenrath, 2023. To read, order the book at Bloomsbury Academic. This almanac of sound words important to artists and scholars highlights words that expand the way we speak (and write) about sonic experiences. Why write about sound, and how? If sonic philosophy is the attempt “to think about sound by philosophical means,” then a metaphilosophical debate appears almost immediately on the horizon: What is called for is an understanding about sound and language, but also about the preconditions of musical understanding. What ..read more

This article is published on paper in Magasinet Motvind nr. 2, 2022. I might republish it here in the future. Link to website ..read more