A review from Wind and Wire
kicks some certifiable ass!
Groundrush is a rush! Laced with polyrhythmic beats galore on what sounds like a huge arsenal of both acoustic and electronic percussion, the CD is a groove fest of primal energy....And the unique mixture of beats and melodies certainly kicks some certifiable ass! ... Pretty damn impressive!...This is a shatteringly original piece of work from Green Isac... Groundrush has moved to near the top of my list of favorite ethno-tribal recordings, alongside such classics as Undercurrents in Dark Water (o yuki conjugate), Soma (Steve Roach and Robert Rich) and All Our Ancestors (Tuu). If you are a fan of those albums, then acquiring this CD by Green Isac needs to be a high priority for you. It is that good a CD. Trust me.
- Bill Binkelman, Wind and Wire
A review from Echoes CD of the Month
Groundrush, reminds me why they've been one of our favorite groups on Echoes over the years
It's been much too long between albums for Green Isac, about five years. And I've actually held off making it an Echoes pick, because its charms are subtle and work their ways over time. But their latest CD, Groundrush, reminds me why they've been one of our favorite groups on Echoes over the years. Green Isac is a Norwegian duo working ethno-techno strategies with a sly humor and grace worthy of Brian Eno from his Another Green World days. As they have on previous albums, Green Isac mixes ethnic instruments like the Chinese yang ch'in, African djembe and Indian Bansuri flute. These are spun into kinetic rhythms, sometimes electronically powered, but more often acoustic, with accents from manipulated guitars, and quirky synths, setting them in alien landscapes. Green Isac takes the simplest melodies, from the repeated flute line of ‘Sufi Too’ to the electric piano theme that emerges out of the echoed rhythms of ‘Mifune,’ and turns them into Pachebel-like canons. Groundrush has an air of mystery and intrigue, but Green Isac renders it with a twinkle in their eyes.
- John Diliberto, Echoes CD of the Month
A review from Ambientrance
redefining the otherworldly essences of faraway places, encapsulating them in modern electronics
Ever expanding their horizons, the folks at Spotted Peccary have brought in ethno-minded green isac from Norway. Cybershamanic soundstreams issue from groundrush, redefining the otherworldly essences of faraway places, encapsulating them in modern electronics. Twelve tracks add up to more than 50 minutes of worldly listening.
The plodding rhythmic thrum of a processed framedrum opens the disc as Groundrush (5:54) is joined by flutes, cellos, synths and more in exotic electronic expansions; jangling notes swirl above the intermingling neo-ethno instrumentation. Sweetly spooky atmospheres float behind Wasa, threaded with bassy blurts, mid-tempo beats of several varieties and just a dash of digital grunge to dirty it up a bit. Radio voices are submerged beneath Glue one's glimmering haze, where muffled flutations and sinuous e-bow hover above a bed of busy little e-beats.
A lazy evening under a glowing sunset is brought to mind by the flexible bass riffs and simmering strings of Red Guitar; warbling flutage and lightly pattering percussion stir the airwaves like a warm breeze. Documentary-style spoken samples are stirred (repeatedly) into the metallically twanging notes of Is there any doubt in your mind?. A dash of hip-hoppiness invigorates the cool, tranquil groove of Mifune; hear the crooning glow of the vocoloop, the luxuriant writhing of the e-bow, and the whatever-they-do of the dynacordian and waveberim.
The enticingly shapeless backdrop of Miner receives intermittent applications of slowly thudding drums and softly sparkling chimes. Backed by a grittily churning synthdrone, layers of lively ethnic beats clatter close the disc with Fleetwood (2:02)
With an arsenal of suitably hybridized instruments, andreas eriksen and morten lund forge soundworlds in Norway, but not of Norway... green isac's ancient and futuristic influences are melded (in fairly even proportions) into the smooth-though-rhythmic technotribal output of 8.3-ranked groundrush.