Solid Ether is the second ECM album by the Norwegian trumpeter Nils Petter Molvær, the sequel to Khmer, his first record as a leader. It takes the same idea further. A lyrical trumpet sound with roots in electric Miles Davis is set against drum and bass, trip-hop breakbeats, rock guitar, turntable noise and wide ambient spaces. Released in May 2000, it remains one of the most radical records in the ECM catalogue, and one of its most direct.
The album was recorded, edited and mixed during 1999 in various studios in Oslo. Molvær produced the recordings himself, with Manfred Eicher credited as album producer. Besides trumpet and piccolo trumpet he plays synthesizers, samples, loops, bass, percussion and piano. Eivind Aarset adds guitar and electronics, Audun Erlien plays bass, and two drummers, Per Lindvall and Rune Arnesen, share the kits. DJ Strangefruit brings samples, voices and scratches. The singer Sidsel Endresen appears on the two short Merciful pieces, recorded by Jan Erik Kongshaug at Rainbow Studio.
The opening Dead Indeed is sharp and fast, close to drum and bass, and largely played and programmed by Molvær, with Aarset's guitar overdubbed. Ligotage, first heard on a single tied to Khmer, returns here in a heavier version driven by Erlien's grainy bass. Against these, Kakonita is slower and almost cinematic, while the two Merciful miniatures pair Endresen's voice with Molvær at the piano. They last about a minute each and open a space of silence between the grooves.
The British and German press took the album seriously. In The Times, Mike Bradley called it "a rollercoaster of a record that combines all kinds of musical styles". Phil Johnson in The Independent on Sunday drew "the obvious parallel" with Miles Davis around Bitches Brew, adding that the record was "equally beyond the pale for jazz purists". Stereoplay made it CD of the month, and in Die Zeit Stefan Hentz heard music that was drum and bass and ambient, musique concrète and improvisation, all at once. Robert Christgau gave it an A in his Consumer Guide.
This is the CD edition, catalogue number ECM 1722, with the ten tracks of the album first released by ECM on 5 May 2000.
