’Snöleoparden’ – the snowleopard is a rare and threatened animal, native to the harsh and remote areas of the mountain ranges of central Asia. There are several reasons why multi-instrumentalist Jonas Stampe has chosen this particular animal as his alter-ego; just like the snowleopard, Stampe has roots in Asia, more precisely in Pakistan, and the lithe physique of the snowleopard can also be compared to Stampe´s almost gymnastic ability to switch smoothly between different musical genres.
Bearing in mind the sound of bands like Gang Gang Dance, early Animal Collective and Kemialliset Ystävät, it´s tempting to file Snöleopardens sound under the ”psych folk” -umbrella, but it just wouldn't be fair to the music.
Apart from being mainly instrumental (unlike the above mentioned artists), Snöleoparden´s selftitlted album comprises such different elements as Steve Reich-like minimalism (’Xylofon’ & ’Lillecykel ’), Pakistani folk songs (’Dreng’), childrens pop songs (’Hodja Fra Pjort’ & ’Grieg’), ritual/ceremonial music (’Trance’ & ’Snabel E’), electronica (’Den Evige’) & psychedelic rock (’Water Puppet Theatre’). Elements of world music also has a strong influence on Snöleoparden´s music, but to simply label it world music, wouldn´t do it justice either.
What unites the tracks is the fact that they're created in a state of childish ingenuousness, musicalcuriosity, and with eminent instrumental skills rarely heard like this. During recordings as well as live sets Snöleoparden uses mostly homemade instruments, reel-to-reel tape recorders and guitar pedals to create his music. The hypnotic rhythms are all hand-played and only in one case (’Trance’)based on a loop, done the old fashioned way of course, using a reel to reel tape.
Most tracks have small stories to accompany them. Like the track ’Dreng’ which were done with a 6 year old busking boy from the town of Sadikeabad in Pakistan on vocals. Or the charming rendition of Danish composer Sebastian’s ’Hodja Fra Pjort’, where the voices were recorded in a kindergarden and the instruments in the music room of a public school, using only the available instruments.
The vinyl version comes housed in either a black or grey screen printed sleeve. Only 300 have been pressed of each design and we have a very limited amount of both.
