Chicago Reader

Trumpeter Eivind Lønning and reedist Espen Reinertsen, two young Norwegians performing as Streifenjunko, knocked me out with their unassuming debut album, delivering one of the most potent and original spins on free improvisation I’ve heard in years. Both players have mastered the full range of extended techniques common to the genre, and in their meticulous performances they communicate a clear compositional logic even as they avoid falling into any clearly identifiable idiom, shaping the most abstract sounds and textures into unexpectedly pretty melodies.