Tracklist
1. I Want Some Everest, Mount Everest
2. We Need a Winner in This Family [clip]
3. Could You Please Quit Kissing Beneath My Window
4. Even Dwarfs Started Small [mp3]
5. Birds are Smart, But They Cannot Speak
6. The Skywriter Fell from a Hot-Air Balloon [clip]
7. The Skywriter (Kjempetjukk Remix)

Reviews

English
Angryape, Cracked, Loop, Textura

Norwegian
Adresseavisen, Dagsavisen, Natt & Dag, SKUM, SKUM interview, Studvest, Trønderavisa

Various
Autres Directions (fr), DE:BUG (de), Ever Music (ru), Gaffa (dk), Geiger (dk), Indiepop (it), Indietronica (fr), Mana Mana (hu), Sutemos (lt), Undertoner (dk)

FEN001: Morfar - The Skywriter EP
Released: January 16th, 2006

"A mini-epic in itself"
-AngryApe

5/6 - “Could get anyone to forget the long walk home, and rather fantasize about another universe”
-Natt & Dag

5/6 - "Some intense beautiful musical moments"
-Adresseavisen

9/10
-Sutemos

4/5
-DE:BUG

"Morfar's laptop poptronica merges Khonnor's electronic lullabies with Múm's rustic melancholy to good effect"
-Textura

Behind the dark and cold walls of the Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim, our little hero Morten Samdal tries to live up to his father's expectations after being forced into the cathedral boys choir. He fails. Morten sings horribly out of tune. He comes home with a letter saying that Morten should find himself another hobby. Dad is disappointed, and this could very well have been the end of Morten's musical adventure, but no.

Morten never gave up on the exciting universe of music. After a few years on the ski slopes and the football pitch, he found new ways to express himself by joining the punk band 'Cheeky' as a revolutionary 16 year old. Because of his rather doubtful track record as a vocalist, he was wisely placed behind the drums. After 'Cheeky', Morten played in the bands 'Sifnos Plateau Collective' and 'Rest of My Life' before moving to Bodø to study journalism. Here he started a post-rock band called 'Youth Pictures of Florence Henderson', a band which got much deserved attention in 2005 with their debut album Unnoticeable in a Tiny Town, Invisible in the City.

"Computer music" had never held much interest for Morten up to this point, rather the opposite. But suddenly his eyes were opened up to the intriguing opportunities of the laptop - and so Morten's alter ego, Morfar, was born.

The Skywriter EP is a collection of songs Morfar has been tinkering with for the last three years. On this record he has used glockenspiel, melodica and old dusty Casio keyboards - in addition to the laptop. Against all odds he stands up and, in the face of his nightmares from Nidaros Cathedral; he sings - on every track. The result ends up somewhere between the naive and catchy electronica of 'Kim Hiorthøy', the Northern soundscape of 'Mùm' and at times the distant voice of 'Khonnor'. His own inspiration, meanwhile, comes from bands like 'Mogwai', 'Godspeed You Black Emperor' and 'The Cure'. Even though a laptop may be the most important element of his music, Morfar has crafted an organic and natural-sounding EP for the forthcoming days of spring. It contains 7 tracks, 6 of them originals by Morfar, the last one being a remix by 'Kjempetjukk Bussjåfør', courtesy of Healthy Boy Records in Bergen.

Morten also plays in the noise/rock band 'Build Nest, Sleep' who recently released their debut album on How is Annie Records, a label he founded himself. The Skywriter EP is a split release between How is Annie Records and us, Fenêtre Records, and we're very proud to be able bring you this release. It comes packaged in a beautiful nostalgic cover, made by Morten himself together with his girlfriend Kjersti Solbakken.