When The Quietus was asked to curate a day of music at this year’s Desertfest, there was one group whose name immediately sprang to the mouths of John Doran and myself: the mighty Arabrot. The Norwegian group have been one of our core favourite artists since the early days of the site six years ago, and John and I have been known to travel far – even unto the ends of an Oslo underpass – to seek out their coruscating, intense live shows. What makes Arabrot so exciting is their joy at seeking out dark exuberance in whatever form it might take, seeking inspiration from black metal, the avant-garde, punk, hardcore and industrial alike, marauding across boundaries of genre and sound to create a music that’s guttural, fierce, brutal but… well, there aren’t many bands of their ilk who are quite so sensual with all the bash and hollering. At the core of Arabrot, and the sole remaining founder member, is Kjetil Nernes, a quietly spoken chap, always with a good hat, who you’d never suspect was possessed of the kind of bellow he unleashes on record on in concert as the rest of Arabrot surge and roar around him. As part of our Desertfest preview content, Nernes wrote us a list of his favourite albums for a Quietus Baker’s Dozen. This is what he has to say: "To bring to life a personal best-of list is tough. There are several parameters to such a list. I usually try to implement the different aspects which are important to me: For instance a record influential to how I play the guitar, maybe a record changing the way I pursue music, even music that make my hair stand or my heart cry. Some records on this list I don’t even listen to that much anymore. It’s just the importance of that seed they planted deep within me once upon the time. The seeds which spawned most of what Arabrot has become today."
For more information on Desertfest, where Arabrot join Dragged Into Sunlight, The Body, 11paranoias, Hey Colossus and Slabdragger on The Quietus stage, go here. Click the picture of Kjetil and his friend below to begin the Baker’s Dozen
