Tobias Hellkvist
Sides
self-released
Tobias Hellkvist is a year younger than me, and he's been making music consistently since his teens. One of those strange anomalies that occur along the varied timelines of musical progression, Hellkvist picks up on a few well-established ideas -- those of folk guitar landscapes and postrock architecture -- and transforms both accepted forms into something greater than the pair combined, an almost 2 + 2 = 5. There is not quite the technical proficiency of Espen Jørgensen, but that is not Hellkvist's aim. "Sides" is an album of layering, of introduction and reintroduction, of something being shaped and remodeled and augmented. One of the best examples of this, and one of my favorite tracks on "Sides", is the fluent and gorgeous "Vintervarm". Hellkvist has quite a nice voice too, as evidenced on "Summer away". All in all, "Sides" is one of those albums that's as hard to pin down as it is easy to fall for. I have no doubt that it will be a strong contender when it comes to choosing The Best of 2008.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson
