Ugress sounds like the soundtrack to a cult sci-fi film that was never made. It is a dense, high-velocity blend of trip-hop rhythms, big beat energy, and orchestral drama. The music is characterized by its 'dirty' edge, where crisp digital production meets the grit of sampled vinyl and obscure movie dialogue. It manages to be simultaneously catchy and unsettling, moving from lounge-ready downtempo to aggressive, floor-filling electronica without losing its signature cinematic identity.
What truly sets Gisle Martens Meyer apart is his obsessive use of sampling as a narrative tool. Rather than just looping a beat, he weaves in snippets from horror movies, vintage TV shows, and scientific documentaries to create a world that feels lived-in and slightly dangerous. The percussion is often heavy and forward-leaning, reminiscent of the late-90s big beat era, but it is tempered by a very Norwegian sense of melancholic atmosphere and cold, crystalline synth work.
Start with 'Cinematronics' to hear the project at its most grand and cinematic. It perfectly captures the balance between accessible electronic grooves and the weird, wonderful world of B-movie aesthetics. If you prefer something darker and more modern, 'Black Anorak' showcases a more aggressive, industrial-tinged side of the Ugress sound.
Ugress is an electronica project from Bergen, Norway, the main project of electronic musician Gisle Martens Meyer (GMM). Meyer started his music career in the early 1990s making Scream Tracker and Fast Tracker modules under the alias Gnosis. Among Meyer's other projects are Nebular Spool, Shadow of the Beat and Ninja9000 as well as scoring soundtracks for moving pictures and several TV-shows. Ugress has released multiple albums, singles, and EPs to date. Their first five albums: Resound, released in 2002, climbed to the second place on the official Norwegian chart board. A second album, Cinematronics, was released two years later. It reached the third place on the same list. A third Ugress album titled Unicorn was released on January 28, 2008. On June 15, 2009, Ugress released their fourth studio album, called Reminiscience. Collectronics, a compilation album including previously unreleased material, was released in July 2010. Ugress is notable for providing free mp3-versions of many of its songs through its web page and the web pages of associated acts like Nebular Spool. The Norwegian word ugress means "weeds" (not as in cannabis).
Shares sample based, layered dense, digital clarity (production style); trip-hop, downtempo, glitch (subgenres)
Shares trip-hop, downtempo, big beat (subgenres); sample based, digital clarity, layered dense (production style)
Shares sample based, layered dense, digital clarity (production style); glitch, trip-hop, downtempo (subgenres)
Shares trip-hop, big beat, downtempo (subgenres); urban night, rainy day, focused work (atmosphere)
Shares sample based, layered dense, digital clarity (production style); mysterious, brooding, tense (moods)
Shares sample based, layered dense, digital clarity (production style); glitch, downtempo, trip-hop (subgenres)
Shares big beat, trip-hop, glitch (subgenres); sample based, layered dense, digital clarity (production style)
Shares sample based, layered dense, digital clarity (production style); trip-hop, downtempo (subgenres)
Shares trip-hop, downtempo, big beat (subgenres); sample based, layered dense, digital clarity (production style)
Shares sample based, layered dense, digital clarity (production style); trip-hop, glitch, downtempo (subgenres)
Shares trip-hop, sample based, downtempo, ethereal (signature)
Cassette uses generative AI to enrich its catalog. How we use AI →