Rune Lindbæk’s Ambient Project, Pechenga, Releases Debut Album on Smalltown Supersound May 10th

RUNE LINDBÆK’S AMBIENT PROJECT, PECHENGA, RELEASES DEBUT ALBUM ON SMALLTOWN SUPERSOUND

HELT BORTE OUT MAY 10TH; LISTEN TO PECHANGA’S “GITARO” NOW, PREMIERED YESTERDAY ON ALTERED ZONES!

“A small grouping of accessible guitars (see: track title) and lightly played synths cautiously fills out the midrange, before drawing in a goosbumps-inducing bass to create a delicate mix of elements that manages to feel anything but. Will this be your gateway drug to ambient music? Regardless, it’s certainly another healthy mutation of that genre.” –Luke Carrell, International Tapes (Altered Zones)

Pechenga, the Norwegian ambient duo comprised of Rune Lindbæk and Cato Farstad, are set to release their debut album, Helt Borte, May 10th on Smalltown Supersound. The track “Gitaro” was premiered yesterday on Altered Zones.

Both Lindbæk and Farstad hail from the Norwegian fishing island of Vardø (pop. 2500). While Lindbæk has moved on and lived most of his live in Oslo and Berlin where he has established himself as a musician, producer and remixer working with Lindstøm, Idjut Boys (as Meanderthals), NYC Modal and The Knife, to name a few, Farstad still lives in the area, and is perhaps, Vardø’s one-man musical milieu.

In the winter of 2007, after forming a mutual respect and admiration for each other’s work and a shared love for prog rock and ambient music, Lindbæk and Farstad began creating music together as Pechenga in Lindbæk’s grandmother’s house in Vardø. (The name, Pechenga, comes from an area in Siberia visible from Vardø.) Surrounded by the dark of the season, the flickering northern lights, cold storms, and heavy snow, Helt Borte was born in an intense two-week period. Ambient masters Stars of the Lid, The Dead Texan, Peter Namlook, Brian Eno, Steve Roach, and Biosphere (Lindbæk’s old Tromsø neighbor) were all a great inspiration to them during this time.

Helt Borte, which means “completely gone” or “hero is gone” in Norwegian, was self-released by the duo in 2008, and released only in Norway. It sold just over 50 copies when Smalltown Supersound signed the band. Since the signing, Pechenga has remixed Jose Gonzalez’s “How Low.”

Download/listen to/share Pechenga’s “Gitaro”

Helt Borte tracklisting:
1. Hamningberg
2. Gitaro
3. Pechenga
4. Snowflakes
5. Ununoktium
6. Domen
7. Helt Borte
8. Ultima Thule
9. Gagarin
10. My Frozen Spirit