'Rolling Bomber' is the solo debut of drummer Erland Dahlen. He has played on over 130 records since the mid-1990s, and has toured with an impressive list of top-ranking artists in a variety of genres: Mike Patton/Kaada, Eivind Aarset, Mathias Eick, Arve Henriksen and Hanne Hukkelberg, to name just a few. He is probably best known as the drummer in the successful band Madrugada for the last years of the band's life, and as the drummer in Nils Petter Molvær's explosive new trio.
The album is named after the special drum set Erland plays on the album, a Slingerland Rolling Bomber kit from World War II. The mechanical parts of this set are made of rosewood, as the arms industry appropriated all available metal during the war. In addition, he uses an instrumentarium consisting of a variety of percussion instruments, electronic instruments and specially constructed instruments.
The album has a playful, richly visual mood, but is also quite dark and menacing in places. Elements of krautrock, drone music, ambient music and contemporary music are woven together with rock-inspired energy. Erland produced the record himself along with Jens Petter Nilsen and Hallvard W. Hagen, who form the electronica duo Xploding Plastix. Erland has worked with them for nine years. The dark second cut on the album, "Funeral", is a remix by Hallvard W. Hagen.
