JÓHANN JÓHANNSSON

ARTIST / BAND: JÓHANN JÓHANNSSON
SONG (MP3): ODI ET AMO
ALBUM: Englabörn
FILE UNDER: Electronica / Psych / Prog
LABEL: 4ad
INFO: spellbinding in its beauty.
Johann founded the label / art-organisation Kitchen Motors in his native Reykjavik, and he has also performed as a member of psych / prog / minimalist / drone mavericks Apparat Organ Quartet. But developing alongside these projects was an increasing interest in music for instrumental ensembles, which has given birth to Englaborn - written for string quartet and electronics to accompany a play - and Virthulegu Forsetar, a slow-motion fanfare written for 11 brass players, percussion, organ and piano. Both these pieces were released by the Touch label.
Johann has also written a performance piece called IBM 1401 - A User's Manual for the dancer / choreographer Erna Omarsdottir. The music is inspired by the first mainframe computer to arrive in Iceland, in 1964, and together Johann and Erna have performed it all over Europe.
Johann's first release for 4AD will be an expanded version of IBM 1401 - A User's Manual. The score - rewritten for 60 piece string orchestra - was recorded at the legendary Smecky studios in Prague. It will be released in the second half of 2006.
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