-
“In Action” reviewed in Lira (in Swedish)
“Gruppen The Opposite gav ut sin första skiva, Intertwined, för tre år sedan. Nu återkommer de med livealbumet In action, som präglas av samma spänningsladdade helhet av polyrytmik, frenetiska gitarrkaskader och ödesmättade klaviaturer. Den tunga attacken bryts upp av meditativa stämningar och lekfullare passager i en rörelse mot nya uttrycksmässiga synteser.
Saxofonisten Marcelo Gabard Pazos bildar frontlinje med gitarristen Samuel Hällkvist och Loïc Dequidt på klaviatu- rer, medan rytmsektionens närvaro känns närmast taktil i den akustiska rymd som musiken öppnar. Det kan verka paradoxalt, men tyngden balanseras av en svävande lätthet som understryker musikens alkemistiska förening, där det abstrakta skapar en förhöjd konkretion. Det är lysande musik.”Magnus Eriksson/Lira (Sweden)
Published on February 25, 2013
-
“In Action” reviewed at Downtown Music Gallery, NYC (USA)
“This bands remains an impressive jazz/rock sextet. “Switch Foot Pogo” has a cool, somewhat funky, elastic, spastic yet infectious groove. It has an electric Miles-like vibe at first and then suddenly the tempo is doubled and it jumps into a hyperdrive. “Gods & Goods” has a fine, laid back, somewhat funky groove with inspired solos from the guitar and tight electric piano interplay. There is a tight, exuberant quality that runs throughout this disc. It sounds quite a bit like some mid-seventies jazz/rock but with none of the problems of fusion, no fast licks or showboating. On “Seau d’air”, the sextet take their time slowly building and creating much suspense without any solos involved. This fine disc ends with a lengthy piece called “I said Haha” which again shows a strong, more restrained side with some long, tasty, sly guitar and sax solos and an overall simmering, hypnotic vibe. Another excellent offering from the fine folks at Kopasetic.”
Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery (NYC)
Published on January 10, 2013
-
“In Action” reviewed on blog.monsieurdelire.com
“Hällkvist’s and Dequidt’s compositions seem to be in direct filiation with Fred Frith’s or Jean Derome’s, i.e. lively avant jazz full of bright ideas, occasional yearning melodies, and lots of virtuoso playing. The ten-minute “Can’t it?” is a tour de force.”
François Couture / monsieurdelire.com
Published on January 10, 2013
-
“In Action” reviewed in Kristianstadsbladet (in Swedish)
“Så märkligt att höra en skiva där man själv medverkar – som publik. Den är inspelad under gruppens turné för jämnt ett år sedan, bland annat i Kristianstad. Musiken är storartad: komplex, viljestark, formstram men tillåtande. På skiva öppnar sig denna rika, både lyriska och frenetiska ljudbild för associationer med visuell sprängkraft.
En ung lyssnare i närheten utbrast efter fem sekunder: ”Det är The Opposite!” Så karakteristiskt är det förhållningssätt som gruppen etablerat, inte minst det rytmiska.
Marcelo Gabard Pazos variationsrika saxspel imponerar i den försiktigt trevande klangimprovisation som blir ett rekviem, med vitsig fransk-svensk titel: ”Seau d’air”, liksom i det virtuosa och lyhörda samspelet med trummisen Peter Nilsson i ”I said Haha”, i gitarristen Samuel Hällkvists ömsinta ”The big grab” och i pianisten Loïc Dequidts obevekliga 13-taktare ”Can’t it?”. Där blir man lätt bergtagen.”
Sven Bjerstedt / Kristianstadsbladet (S)
Published on November 15, 2012
-
Our latest album, “In Action”, is available on CD Baby
Published on November 14, 2012
-
“In Action” reviewed on All About Jazz
The Opposite investigates improvisation and interplay through a collective group sound and open approach, assimilating elements of rock and Indian, African and Cuban musical traditions. In Action documents this Swedish sextet live on a Swedish club tour in 2011. The live setting enables The Opposite to emphasize its formative influences, including early fusion bands like Weather Report, trumpeter Miles Davis’ ’70s groups—even keyboardist Sun Ra’s eccentric Arkestras, through expanded improvisations.
The main composers are guitarist Samuel Hällkvist and pianist Loïc Dequidt. Hällkvist’s fierce guitar playing pushes the sextet into stormy and muscular interplay on his “Switch Foot Pogo”, through rapid shifts of dynamics and rhythms while still keeping an accessible groove. The lyrical “The Big Grab” is more reserved, possessing a cinematic narrative where the guitar acts as a troubled hero amid peaceful scenery.
Dequidt’s compositions offer intricate and colorful textures. “Gods & Goods” and “Can’t It?” swing lightly around engaging themes, allowing each musician to contribute nuanced solos to the powerful and rich collective sound. The pianist’s “I Said Haha” features unpredictable and dramatic transformations in the dynamics and pulse, until it reaches a muscular and boisterous eruption. The group improvisation, “Seau d’air”, folds patiently as an arresting story, slowly adds more sounds and colors to the spontaneous plot until it crystallizes its theme.
The Opposite operates on several levels, referencing its influences while offering fresh, open sonic textures, moving through multilayered and complex dynamics, and stressing accessible and emotional themes with a genuine band identity.
Eyal Hareuveni/All About Jazz
Published on October 29, 2012
-
Our new album, “In Action”, is out now!
You can order it here.
The release was celebrated yesterday at Grand Öl & Mat in Malmö with a concert for a very enthusiastic and numerous audience.
You can listen to some excerpts from the record on our media page and in the player at the top of this page or full versions on Sound Cloud.
Published on September 6, 2012
-
Welcome to our site!
Read more about our band here.
Find some reviews below.
Listen to us in the player at the top of this page.
Watch videos on the Media page.
Book us on the Booking page!
Stay updated about our concerts and contact us!
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter or Spotify through the links on the left.
Published on July 21, 2012
-
Intertwined reviewed in Québec
”Bang, Intertwined is a one-two punch. This sextet is playing what here in Québec we call ‘musique actuelle’: creative, funny music built on confrontations, childlikeness, virtuosity, and byplays. Think Fred Frith or René Lussier. This is a total surprise and I’m completely won over. Discover them too!”
François Couture/blog.monsieurdelire.com
Published on July 19, 2012
-
Intertwined reviewed at Downtown Music Gallery, NYC (USA)
”If someone were to ask, I would call this progressive, electric jazz/rock. Each piece involves a different strategy or structure. You can tell that a good deal of time went into composing and learning these demanding pieces which seem effortless at times. The Opposite is an original and a most gifted sextet.”
Bruce Lee Gallanter/Downtown Music Gallery, NYC (USA)
Published on July 18, 2012
-
Intertwined reviewed in Jazz Magazine (France)
”A personal creativity that feels durable, and something that one would happily follow up on. Choc!”
Thierry Quénum/Jazz Magazine-Jazzman (France)
Published on July 17, 2012
-
Intertwined reviewed in Svenska Dagbladet (Sweden)
”The group moves in several different directions and finds purified emotional states, from the meditative to the frenetic, from the soberly lyrical to the willfully boisterous. Excellent solos breach the rhythmical web, but the entire output is so tight that the internal tensions merge in the collective strife of the group. The dialogue contains surprising angles but finds its form in richly nuanced dialectics.”
Magnus Eriksson/Svenska Dagbladet (Sweden)
Published on July 16, 2012
