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The danish group Hanuman 5, is hard to place within a category. The name suggests a relation with a Hindu ape-god, and perhaps rightly so, as we can learn that this Hanuman himself is quite the curious god(not George) of this oldest of our major religions. He has a tendency to stick his nose out, and this may land him a back of the hand across the whiskers now and then, but it's all worth it, to find out about the world, to gain new knowledge, to satisfy his hunger.
So too, it would seem, it is the case for this odd squad of musicians.
Guitarists singer, and former rapper with danish hiphop collective Sort Stue, Kristian Haarløv is the writer and composer of all songs on first album 'Ethereo'. Says Haarløv about the music: It's quite spontaneous at first. The songs are written in sudden outbursts and then the real work begins with constructing the backdrop and vibe for the individual pieces. It's almost the other way around with the hiphop we did, where a lot of the music exists before you even know what you want to say.
He is backed by long time partners, Tommy Flood and Morten Schrøder, on drums and bass, respectively. Together they have played theatrical show-music, tango, klezmer, balkan dance, gypsy swing and Kenyan folk music. But they're all originally rock'n'rollers and with the addition of the horn section from danish afrobeat orchestra WhoAreYouPeople, and (post-'Ethereo') Stoner Rock guitar player Rolf Drewsen, the plot thickens.
The album contains pop/rock/folk, basically as we know it, but there's a freshness to each new song, that could have you thinking, if it weren't for Haarløvs inexperienced, but sympathetic and very dynamic voice, that you're listening to a whole different band. Add to this the schizophrenic compositions of bands such as AkronFamily, with abrupt changes into acid-rock freakouts or the griot grooves of Mali, or archetypal country or rock with an almost Zappa-esque irony to it, and you have the Hanumen.
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