Øra Fonogram announces the worldwide release of RÖKKUR, the joint album of Norwegian composer and performer Maja S. K. Ratkje and Icelandic ensemble Nordic Affect (Halla Steinunn Stefánsdóttir, Marie Stockmarr Becker, Hanna Loftsdóttir, Guðrún Óskarsdóttir). RÖKKUR on Bandcamp RÖKKUR on streaming other services (pre-save before Nov. 10) What is ‘rökkur’? ‘Rökkur’ is the Icelandic word for twilight — the hour when shadows fall, a time of transition, ambiguity, and magic. When ‘rökkur’ fell in pre-electric times, a space appeared for storytelling, reading, yarn spinning, singing, or even a drea ..read more

The latest album release by acclaimed Norwegian band Erlend Apneseth Trio is made in collaboration with renowned experimental composer and vocalist Maja S. K. Ratkje. Their impromptu concert together in 2022 was a glorious kick-off for a five-day festival and was luckily put on tape. After reworking and reimagining the recorded material with their steady collaborator Jørgen Træen, the result is a refreshing take on improvisations-turned-compositions. Featuring innovative soundscapes with archival material and an engaging transitory state. The variety of sounds that make up this glorious and ..read more

Tekst skrevet til Da musikken våknet (Absolutt Forlag, 2022) Leste koronaberetningen min igjen, den fra to år tilbake, rett før siste nedstengning av alle scener. En positivistisk holdning i den, tross alt, med en bakenforliggende visshet og forventning om at alt skulle tilbake til normalt igjen. Livet går jo videre, verden beveger seg fra unntakstilstand til unntakstilstand, vi fortsetter å søke gjenkjennelse i kunsten og i andre. Kanskje vi flyr mindre? Shopper mindre? Er det lov å håpe? Koronaen er i dag bare en av flere store bølger som truer oss og hele planeten.  Noe har skjedd med ..read more

2023; dur: 60'30; Audio file and quartet: Fl/Bsn, BCl, Vln, Vc or Hn, BTbn, Vln, Vc; Video by Hypercomf; Score at Score at nb.no Four musicians, a video with landscapes of Greece and Norway, a party on board, and AI developers meeting in the belly of a whale. A surrealistic cruise from the Mediterranean to the northern countries, with the journey of Pytheas the Greek — the unassailable explorer of antiquity — in its very center. Do you find it hard to float through life? Do you feel tangled in the nets of your daily routine and seek escape? Embark on one of the state-of-the-art vessels o ..read more

Michele Bianchini – saxophone Composers: Andrea Nicoli, Anna Clyne, Antonio Agostini, Maja S. K. Ratkje, Malin Bång, Mark Andre, Olga Neuwirth, Salvatore Sciarrino. On this album: ØX Published by Da Vinci Classics 2023 ..read more

Volume 1 double LP version out spring 2023. Volume 2 double LP version out autumn 2023. Volumes 1 & 2 double CD version out autumn 2023. released February 13, 2023 On this album: Blueberry Daydream, performed by Blåbærtoppen Spelemannslag MOTORPSYCHO TRIBUTE SERIES · PSYCHONAUT 101 Link to album on Bandcamp Side A: MONOLITE – Heartattack Mac (Gebhardt/Ryan/Sæther) 6:22 Jonas Stålhammar – guitars, Mellotron, vocals. Per Stålberg – bass, vocals. Kalle Lilja – drums. Recorded and mixed by Per Stålberg and Kalle Lilja at Welfare Sounds, Gothenburg. SILJE HULEBOER – Serpentine (Ryan) 5:53 ..read more

By Vito Camarretta May 4, 2021 “What could be more natural than kids making sounds as part of a composition that’s about our own future?”. By these words, the brilliant composer Maja S.K.Ratjke introduced the idea of giving voice to the inheritors of our world for the project “Vannstand” (Norwegian for ‘sea level’), a project commissioned by nyMusikk in 2015, followed by different sound installations in different cities on the Norwegian coastline, whose excerpts got poured into this album, recently deployed on Motvind Records catalog. Let’s get deeper into it by the words of Maja. Chain  ..read more

2022; dur: 15'; Orch.; Score at Wise Music Classical Starting from open strings like an intense whisper, or is it a prayer? The wide open intervals emerge and spread throughout the orchestra, land like lengthy, contrived sentences eventually falling to the ground, but start anew, rising like a song, more songs, lacking voice, but still… There is yet hope, fragile, but moving. The title is a quotation from Aasne Linnestå’s libretto for Revelations (This Early Song), published at EWH 2017, a work for string quartet and mezzo which A Whisper, or a Prayer or a Song relates to.  ..read more

Album by Hasse Farmen. Released 2022. Maja contributes on theremin to the track Spøkelsesby and on title track, Villa Parafina (del 2). Link to album on Bandcamp ..read more

Released August 26, 2022, on Bandcamp and CD. Label: SANNTIDSMUSIKK · SATIMU 008 Free improvised chaos at Podium, Oslo, 16 June 2009. Recorded by Kjetil Hanssen. Editing, mastering and artwork by Lasse Marhaug. Executive producer: Petter Flaten Eilertsen. Maja wishes to thank Per Gisle and Harald from Dans For Voksne for organizing the event, Kjetil and Petter for getting the idea to record and release this, and Lasse for making the cover and mastering the recording. Originally released on 7 February 2010 as a cassette (Danse Macabre) limited to 100 numbered copies by Kassettkultur (KULT 004 ..read more