Shadows of the Sun

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Shadows of the Sun
Shadows of the Sun cover
Studio album by Ulver
Released October 1, 2007 (2007-10-01)
Recorded Ambassaden, Oslo, Norway 2006-2007
Genre Ambient, electronic, experimental
Length 39:58
Label Jester TRICK041
The End TE089
Producer Ulver
Professional reviews
Ulver chronology
Blood Inside
(2005)		 Shadows of the Sun
(2007)
Alternate cover
Vinyl release cover.
Vinyl release cover.

Shadows of the Sun is the seventh studio album by the Norwegian experimental band Ulver, released on October 1, 2007 in Europe[1] and on October 2 in the United States.[2] The title was announced on July 13, 2007 and the album was described as "low-key, dark and tragic".[1] Shadows of the Sun received generally positive reviews by critics.[3][4]

Contents

[edit] Track listing

  1. "Eos" – 5:05
  2. "All the Love" – 3:42
  3. "Like Music" – 3:30
  4. "Vigil" – 4:27
  5. "Shadows of the Sun" – 4:36
  6. "Let the Children Go" – 3:50
  7. "Solitude" – 3:53
  8. "Funebre" – 4:26
  9. "What Happened?" – 6:25

[edit] Promotion

According to an official press release, Shadows of the Sun would consist of Kristoffer Rygg's vocals, "soothing electronics and natural percussion," while artists like Pamelia Kurstin would be contributing with instruments like the theremin. Furthermore, Christian Fennesz, an Austrian white noise musician, would be adding touches of his associate, the English singer, musician and composer David Sylvian's soft style, helping Ulver to correspond with their vision on the final product.[2]

The track listing and the album front cover was released to the public in a press statement by Ulver's American record label The End Records.[2] As a teaser, the song "Vigil" was released on MySpace on August 29, 2007.[5][6] On August 30, a blog entry on Ulver's MySpace page announced a release party for the upcoming album to be held at the Europa Night Club in Brooklyn, NY on September 20, 2007. Kristoffer Rygg and Tore Ylwizaker were DJing the show while the bands The Austerity Program and Lapdog of Satan were playing live.[7] On 13 September, Jester Records made it possible to pre-order the album, accompanied by several bonus artifacts, including a limited vinyl edition (with alternate front cover by David D'Andrea), a t-shirt, an autographed photo and stickers. The collector's deal also included a 10" red vinyl edition of A Quick Fix of Melancholy.[8] The End Records also released a special deal comprising of the CD edition of the album, a T-shirt, and a screen print by Tomi Lahdesmaki in a limited run of 200.[citation needed] On MySpace, "Vigil" was replaced by the song "Funebre", on 14 September 2007.[5]

The entire album was leaked to the Internet on September 17, 2007.[9] Although it was announced that Shadows of the Sun was to be released on October 1, record stores in Norway had not received the album by that date. According to cdon.com, the album was due for release on October 8 instead.[10] In the American market, the album originally set-up for October 2nd release was pushed to October 9th.[11] The delay of the preorder may have been caused by problems of the vinyl manufacturing.[12] Shadows of the Sun was distributed by Plastic Head, the UK's 10th largest distributor,[13] in Europe.

[edit] Musical style

In an interview with Music Information Centre Norway, Ulver member Tore Ylwizaker commented on the album. He said it would be downplayed and inspired by chamber music in both style and crew. Ylwizaker also took a year off to study classical composers and composition techniques, and said he took a particular liking to Igor Stravinsky's The Firebird.[14]

The genre of the album has been called experimental by Jester Records themselves,[15] but also dubbed new age and art rock by critics.[16] Shadows of the Sun has also been claimed to be influenced by artists and bands like Pink Floyd, David Sylvian, Nick Cave, Coil, Radiohead, and Univers Zero,[17] as well as Guapo and King Crimson.[18]

"Solitude" is a Black Sabbath cover; the original version appears on their 1971 album Master of Reality, while "Eos" is a revisited version of "Gravferd" from the soundtrack of the Norwegian film Uno. "What Happened?" contains approximately 1 minute and 40 seconds of silence at the end.

[edit] Credits

  • Kristoffer Rygg – vocals, writer, producer, engineer, programmer
  • Tore Ylwizaker – writer, producer, engineer, programmer
  • Jørn H. Sværen – miscellaneous
  • Oslo Session String Quartet
  • Hans Josef Groh – cello, solo on track 3
  • Dorthe Dreier – viola
  • André Orvik – violin
  • Vegard Johnsen – violin on tracks 1, 4 and 9

The front photo is taken from the 1978 October issue of Natural History Magazine.[19] Shadows of the Sun is the first album without an appearance from Håvard Jørgensen, a full time member on Ulver's first four albums and a guest on their last two.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Ulver. ULVER - HAYWIRE LYCANTHROPY. jester-records.com. Retrieved on 2007-07-21.
  2. ^ a b c The End Records. "THE END RECORDS sets October release date for ULVER's ' Shadows of the Sun'". theendrecords.com. Retrieved on 2007-08-04.
  3. ^ Jester Records. "ULVER Shadows of the Sun Reviews". jester-records.com. Retrieved on 2007-10-18.
  4. ^ Vegard Ottervig. "Ulver - Shadows of the Sun - Anmeldelser (Reviews)". diskusjon.no. Retrieved on 2007-10-18.
  5. ^ a b Ulver. "MySpace.com - ULVER - - Experimental / Rock / Ambient - www.myspace.com/ulver1". myspace.com. Retrieved on 2007-08-29.
  6. ^ Blabbermouth.net. "ULVER: New Song Posted Online". roadrunnerrecords.com. Retrieved on 2007-10-17.
  7. ^ Mike Swearingen. "ULVER members to DJ exclusive CD release party in New York on Sept. 20th". blog.myspace.com. Retrieved on 2007-09-02.
  8. ^ Jester Records. "SHADOWS OF THE SUN PACKAGES". jester-records.com. Retrieved on 2008-04-18.
  9. ^ Shadows of the Sun was available at several big BitTorrent communities from September 17.
  10. ^ cdon.com. "Ulver - Shadows Of The Sun (Album)". cdon.com. Retrieved on 2007-10-02.
  11. ^ amazon.com. "Amazon.com: Shadows of the Sun: Music: Ulver". amazon.com. Retrieved on 2007-10-02.
  12. ^ Jester Records sent an email to those who had ordered the "Standard Deal" or the "Collector's Deal" on October 2 with the following content: "Hello everyone, this is Jester. We write to inform you that a first package is on the way, with the CDs and the t-shirts. The vinyl is delayed, there has been a fuck-up at the wax plant, unfortunately. It should reach us within a couple of weeks and we will forward it to you as soon as it gets here. Also we will ship the photos along with the vinyl, to make sure that they won't be folded. No extra P&P of course, this is our fault. We are truly sorry for this, and humbly ask you to keep the thugs on hold. The CDs and the t-shirts should be with you in a few days. Thank you for your patience." (E-mail from courier[a]jester-records.com received October 2, 2007).
  13. ^ Plastic Head. About PHD. plastichead.com. Retrieved on 2007-10-05.
  14. ^ Bjørn Hammershaug. MIC Artikkel: I drømmeland (MIC Article: In dreamland). ballade.no. Retrieved on 2007-07-21.
  15. ^ Jester Records. ULVER Shadows of the sun. jester-records.com. Retrieved on 2007-10-17.
  16. ^ roycifer. ULVER - Shadows of the Sun. apeshit.org. Retrieved on 2007-10-17.
  17. ^ Pete Pardo. Review: Ulver: Shadows of the sun. seaoftranquility.org. Retrieved on 2007-10-17.
  18. ^ Chandler N. Ulver - Shadows Of The Sun. musicfortherestofus.blogspot.com. Retrieved on 2007-10-17.
  19. ^ All credits information is taken from the album booklet. Ulver, Shadows of the Sun, Oslo 2007.

[edit] External links

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Kristoffer Rygg · Tore Ylwizaker · Jørn H. Sværen
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