Popmotion is still alive! This review was just published on the voluminous All About Jazz-site.
“The result is as spellbinding as it is unconventional. On tracks such as “Accra Underground,” featuring music performed on a bowed dulcimer, and “Benibanatsumiuta” (Japanese folk played on a bamboo flute), Berg’s clarinet and saxophone snake mischievously in and out of Josef Kallerdahl’s infectious bass work and Christopher Cantillo’s solid percussion, which in turn drive the music long nicely and offer buoy of safety in the expensive sea of sounds that makes upPopmotion.”
“In addition to the spectrum of genres and influences present, there is a catchy, lo-fi pop thread to Popmotion; even the cover comes as a foldable movie poster designed and hand-produced by artist Sanna Haverinen”
“The innovation of Nils Berg Cinemascope is found not solely in the use of social media and Video-sharing networks for inspiration; it is in the plasticity and fluidity of the three jazz musicians that make up the trio. As the musicians were not involved in the writing of the original pieces of music, they are presented with the challenge of exploring the music and finding space in which to stretch out and add extra color to the music they have chosen to accompany. The trio has skilfully incorporated the work of strangers into their sound rather than forcing themselves onto the work of others by simply pasting jazz tones onto existing pieces of music, and Popmotion is all the better for it.”