Oneiric by Rural Tapes
LP/CD/DL
Available from Bandcamp and Greedbag
“It’s such a listenable album, weird and woozie in
places, clear and direct in others. Just like your dreams… I’ll wager
you’ll find yourself listening to it two or three times in a row the
first time you put it on”
Moonbuilding
“A masterclass in eclecticism”
Shindig Magazine
“A pupil-flicking riot of joyous befuddlement”
Electronic Sound
“TNT-period Tortoise with a nostalgically psychedelic twist”
Uncut
“Blissed-out sounds with a few chills from Nordic dreamweaver”
Prog Magazine
“Songs presenting themselves as wistful meditations, and others transporting the listener to realms beyond our comprehension”
Far Out Magazine
Read an interview with Arne on the Clay Pipe SubStack
His new record Oneiric is one for the dreamers - a trippy, cosmic aural experience of mostly instrumental music, recorded on analogue equipment at his Nygrenda Vev & Dur studio in rural Norway. Arne is also joined on two vocal tracks by long-time collaborators Alexis Taylor (Hot Chip) and Gary Olson (The Ladybug Transistor).
He says: “The word Oneiric refers to things connected with dreams. I've drawn inspiration from the strange, surreal, humorous, imaginative, and vividly colourful experiences that often unfold within them.”
“I have played with genres, sounds and timbres and put together pieces of music that I think could be the soundtrack to a dream sequence. I love the way a dream can be so bizarre and yet still feel so natural, and I can relate to that otherworldliness in the way I compose and put together musical pieces. Some songs have a clear structure, some have not, some are minimalist, some are maximalist, some are wistful and some are joyful, but I think all of them are quite colourful and playful.”
“I’ve taken inspiration from many different music eras and many different corners of the world, from quirky British music to French dream pop to the 60s New York tape music scene to ambient and psychedelic music. The music is created hands on using old analogue gear such as tape machines, dictaphones, tape echoes and more to colour the music and give the sounds the right textures. This way I feel connected to the music I make.”
Over the past two decades, Arne has established himself as a key figure in the Norwegian music scene. He has played in influential bands including I Was A King and Heroes & Zeros, and more recently has been releasing music and playing live with The No Ones — alongside Peter Buck and Scott McCaughey and The Minus 5, and I Was A King frontman Frode Strømstad.
He
launched his Rural Tapes
project in 2021 with
a self-titled debut which
established
his reputation for inventive, forward-thinking music. He
has continued to draw
widespread praise
across subsequent releases, including Inner
Space Music (2022)
and Contact
(2024).