Bjerga/Iversen The World Of Pretend Is A Cage, Not A Cocoon HK010 cdr (100 ex.) 2008

Reviews:

Sindre Bjerga and Jan-M Iversen reaffirm the 'speak softly, carry a big stick' ethos on this slurry but dense release.
This could easily be mistaken as drone, but it isn't—at least in the strictest sense of the word. Close listening lifts the veil on a very busy recording, all but understated, relatively quiet and perhaps laconically situated in some sensory deprivation chamber.
That's all well and good. Considering the Norwegian bent for the political, I'd like to address the title and the subtext of this recording. Maybe it's a mirror held up to the world; a considerate one. Not only in the sense that this is a thoroughly meditative release, but also that it suggests a subtextual commentary on our world. The mood is overcast, has a 'veil of tears' feel to it, but is almost elegiacal declarative on, well, the state of things.
Remarkably effective, “The World of Pretend Is A Cage, Not A Cocoon” seems to lie in the shadows, seems muted and even weary, but is anything but. 8/10

P. Somniferum, Foxy Digitalis

It has been quiet from the Norwegian shores, Bjerga/Iversen, for reasons I am not aware of. Maybe the ran out of labels to release their work, after having explored every CDR label in the world?
Heilskabaal Records is still a young label and they release a Bjerga/Iversen recording from January 2006, which is a most remarkable one.
Much of the previous work, and no doubt this one too, has been recorded through improvisation, but whereas some of the earlier stuff could be a hit and miss affair, not unlikely to wander off in the realms of noise, this new one is throughout mostly a quieter affair, of carefully bundled electronics, in a rather soft mood. Things remain careful, but full of tension.
Rather short with five pieces at twenty-six minutes, but no doubt one of the very best releases by them!

Frans de Waard, Vital Weekly 613