PETE KNUTSEN ORCHESTRA Vinyl & CDs

Review: The Moving Music label continues to unearth some ridiculously odd and inspired Norwegian movie soundtracks. Their latest is taken from 1978's Operasjon Cobra, a "youth movie" with a plot that involves a group of Oslo teenagers foiling a terror plot. The soundtrack, which appears to be one of the first to be completed by obscure Norwegian composer (and former prog rocker) Pete Knutsen, flits between Blaxploitation-inspired jazz-funk, cheery, horn-and-Clavinet-heavy post-disco instrumentals, experimental jazz, creepy synthesizer soundscapes, jazz guitar-rich ambient and heavy funk-rock. Throughout, the production is admirably lo-fi, with Knutsen keeping the tracks largely free of effects or post-production trickery.