Album Review: The Portland Press Herald


The Portland Press Herald Maine Sunday Telegram

Transported to another planet by the music of Nathan Halverson

By AIMSEL L. PONTI
September 24, 2007

Nathan Halverson's "Nurse/Shark"
So there I was, having just landed my spacecraft in a remote area of Mars. I got into my specially equipped MINI Cooper space buggy and decided to take a drive around to see what I could see. For the heck of it, I switched on the radio. Although the digital display was usually blue, today it was a vibrant pink. I hit the seek button and started my drive. About nine seconds later the tuner landed on a frequency about 20 degrees left of the traditional range. It was then I was introduced to the music of Nathan Halverson. For the next 44 minutes I was entranced as much by the music as I was by the scenery of the planet. Halverson must have traveled as far in his mind as I had in my capsule to arrive at the sounds of his four-song CD, "Nurse/Shark." The record is on Ron Harrity's Peapod label, which is based in South Portland. Harrity is no stranger to the music scene; he was the guitarist for Harpswell Sound. Anyway, back in outer space, as luck would have it, I got a strong wireless signal on Mars and was able to download some info on Halverson. "Nurse/Shark" was built on a foundation of acoustic guitar, an electric guitar, and a couple of boxes, whatever that means. Halverson created it mostly via an improvised session with two guitars. Field recordings and some samples are also sewn into it. On a warm afternoon at a coastal recording studio, "Nurse/ Shark" came to be. Halverson likes to collect found, sampled and original audio fragments. These he fuses with the guitars using his experimental sense of artistry. The four tracks on "Nurse/Shark" -- "Off-Eyed Manx," "Nurse/Shark Pt. 1," "Nurse/Shark Pt. 2," and "Oil/Water" -- lead you deeper and deeper into Halverson's electronic-yet-organic maze. If dishwashers or microwave ovens could make music, this might be what they would sound like. The songs are unstructured yet purposeful, and they are in no hurry to get anywhere; they're more concerned with the journey. At times you'll hear a snippet of dialogue, breathing, chimes, the chirp of a bird or something that sounds like an underwater synthesizer. "Oil/Water" is my favorite. It's a composite of hypnotic sounds and what sounds like old movie clips. I swear I heard a line from "Oklahoma." I have no idea who was broadcasting that day on Mars and how they were doing it, but what I can tell you is that "Nurse/Shark" from the brother from another planet, Nathan Halverson, is all over the Martian charts and they'd love for him to play some dates there. You can pick up "Nurse/Shark" online at Peapod Recordings, and you can visit Halverson at Nathan Halverson.

Aimsel Ponti is a Portland freelance writer.

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