Cosmic Coincidence is the second album from Norwegian solo artist KaffiMann. All the instruments and effects are arranged by the artist, there have been no other individuals involved. There are no samples anywhere. He’s also done the mastering process in a very cold dark cellar using his own self-built speakers, surviving on self made blueberry wine and fraction-frozen mead, utilizing some quite deranged theories about what sound and music is.
The 11 track album is the result of culminated experiences and theories over the past two decades, bringing together a varied range of instrumental tunes ranging from darkness to light, depressive to loving, shy to bold, manic electro to fluffy kittens and from whispers of silence to the great wonders of the universe.
To sum it up, he’s a somewhat-eccentric-DIY-justabout-everything individual. Planning and designing loudspeakers, building amplifiers and loudspeakers, making music and mastering. KaffiMann is without doubt, a left-field artist, doing his own thing.
Track by track by KaffiMann:
The first track, Pushwagner, was inspired after I had the opportunity to talk to the artist Pushwagner some years ago, for well over an hour straight. He seemed like a very nice person that used to lead a rough life and created his own avatar to deal with various persons and surrounding environment. I think he was misunderstood by the vast majority until the very end, but he was such a good soul. Rest in peace Pushwagner.
Tension was initially intended as a collaboration project, but ended up being a path in a new direction for me. I was contemplating the word “tension” in itself, what meanings the word can bring, a tense string ona koto, harp or piano. Or perhaps a tense situation. It can be very hard to maintain a level head when some situation escalates, but please keep in mind there are many forms of tension, don’t break the strings.
Unconditional, I guess this one is fairly self explanatory. About love of course, and the rush of emotions it can bring. I was trying to make one of the synths sound a bit like someone is running past on a loose gravel track, perhaps to spend time with a loved one, to get as much time together as possible?
Mud, what does it feel like? Cold, dark, heavy, wet, monotone yet layered. Have you ever enjoyed mud? Here’s an opportunity to do so.
Cosmic Coincidence, title track and everything. Thanks to my brother Daniel for sending me the simple baseline melody, that eventually evolved into this. I was thinking about the universe, what sounds we can relate to our understanding of cosmos, some fast beats, some slow, some faint blips, some strong sounds, some dark sounds, small short melodies and also some intense and slightly more complex parts.
The next track is meant as a short Intro, and also a small demonstration of basic beat building, very few elements but there is a fair bit happening even so. Basic but hopefully still somewhat interesting.
I Love Electro, yes I do! What would modern society be without it? Sounds a bit manic you say? Well, perhaps crazy is the new caring. And I also love a bit of distortion in case you might have missed it.
Screw This! Yeah, you heard me! Not normally one for such wording and attitude, but if the situation calls for it, then why not? This tune is just a mellow introduction to what the most basic melodies and patterns can sound like, just going a few centimeters out of the box. This is another one that builds slowly like most of my tunes. Very slightly on the funky side, and perhaps leaning a bit towards dub in some parts.
Ninja Kittens, in part inspired by an unknown band/artist called Retarded Ninja Kitties, the inspiration comes from the name, and not much else. Several layers, only the bass has 3 layers of synths at most. I was trying to capture the essence of busy energetic Ninja Kittens.
Theory 10, accumulated personal music theory at a specific point in time. Intended as a reference for myself, will I evolve or devolve from this point? Who knows? There is sort of a refrain that comes back, and in between each and every instrument gets to have like a mini solo in it’s own way.
Silence, a relaxing but somewhat snappy and dynamic end to this album. Relatively simple, but still with a little bit of variation and depth.
Cosmic Coincidence | Released April 3rd, 2020 on Sliptrick Records
