Jóhann Jóhannsson lives in a world haunted by ghostly choirs, lonely hums, ominous silence, and the occasional thunderclap. On "And in the endless pause there came the sound of bees", the Icelandic composer's newest full-length, he takes his cinematic leanings to an all-time high. It works beautifully, even when divorced from source material (Marc Craste's BAFTA-nominated animated short film "Varmints")
While "City building" features the delicious urgency of driving strings, the descriptor that could best be applied to the majority of the album is glacial, which, it should be noted, is used as a compliment. Jóhannsson teases out his undercurrent of sadness through thirteen tracks, underscoring it with pervasive wistful highlights such as "Rainwater" and "The gift". Thematic, without falling into Philip Glass repetition, spare without becoming dull, Jóhannsson's pristine sensitivity and light touch has the power to elevate both film and life alike. - Laura Studarus
Ja Ja Ja has announced their next showcase which is set for May 20, curated by Stuart Clarke of Music Week, and will feature the artists Snorri Helgason, No and the Maybes and Mariam "Manna" Jäntti. More info: http://www.jajajamusic.com/events.php?id=16
01. The Mary Onettes
02. The Radio Dept.
03. Familjen
04. Håkan Hellström
05. Jens Lekman
06. Hello Saferide
07. Bob Hund
08. Jonathan Johansson
09. Kent
10. Jónsi
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Oddly fitting: tonight's Ja Ja Ja metal showcase in London has been cancelled due to Iceland's volcano shutting down all air traffic. However, all is not lost -- Finnish act Thunderstone already made it to London and will be playing for free at The Lexington by themselves. Read more: http://www.jajajamusic.com/news.php?id=32
When the album was announced in December, I wondered whether Jónsi's unfettering for his solo debut "Go" could signal a return to the emotive restraint of Sigur Rós' earlier work. At the time it seemed promising: "Go" began as an acoustic album, with kits by demure Múm stickman Samuli and early production by composer Nico Muhly. All of the pre-release teases seemed to indicate that a self-aware Jónsi was distancing himself from the annoyingly percussive bent of Sigur Rós' last half-decade.
And "Go" begins accordingly, with Jónsi's signature coo, studio-chopped into a startling twinkle. Elated, I imagined this reduction of Jónsi's emblematic voice indicative of the stripped, back-to-basics reinvention that this album deserved. I was wrong. It only took seven seconds to bury all hope under four-to-the-floor theatrics, the drum-heavy frenzy that trampled "Agaetis"' depth and subtlety, giving way to latter-day Sigur Rós' canned euphoria.
Even the album's bright spots are marred by Samuli's perplexing choice to lean heavily on Sigur Rós' drum aesthetics. The breathy breakdown on "Animal arithmetic" arrives, beautiful and intimate, but it's almost immediately carried off by a frenetic mess of percussive garbage. And though lead single "Boy lilikoi" has some catchy moments, its melodramatic sense of urgency is stultifying. The drumless tracks, then, are welcome, but they come off more as Sigur Rós retreads than any real change in direction -- fittingly, the album closer "Heniglas" is drone-for-drone the same elegiac statement as SR closers "Heysátan" and "Avalon". On the whole, "Go" is little more than a would-be Sigur Rós long player -- it takes few chances, and those it does take are drowned out by increasingly histrionic arrangements. Am I the only one who remembers the days when Jónsi effortlessly accomplished "epic" without being overly busy or stiflingly melodramatic?
Don't get me wrong. I'm still a Sigur Rós-lifer who will listen to this album on repeat, until the busywork of it starts to seem intricately wrought, my heart full-stop when Jónsi croons "o hjartað" on "Heniglas". But when longtime producer John Best says he hasn't "felt this excited about a project since the time [he] first heard 'Agaetis byrjun', right back in 1999", he's just getting everyone's hopes up. Yeah right, John. - Nathan Keegan
The folks at The Swede Beat are presenting event at the Music Doc Film Festival in NYC on April 15 featuring a screening of the Broder Daniel documentary "Broder Daniel forever" plus "Fuck you very very much - A film about Leila K", "Electronica Reykjavik" and more. Full details, including the rest of the Music Doc events: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=347005224972&ref=ts
Icelandic artist Jóhann Jóhannsson is coming to North America for a few select dates at the end of the month:
04/30 - Le Poisson Rouge, New York, NY
05/01 - Littlefield, Brooklyn, NY
05/02 - Brattle Theater, Boston, MA
05/03 - L'Astral Theatre, Montreal, Quebec
05/04 - Mod Club, Toronto, Ontario
05/06 - Garfield Artworks, Pittsburgh, PA
05/07 - Lincoln Hall, Chicago, IL
05/08 - Cedar Cultural Center, Minneapolis MN
05/11 - Biltmore Theater, Vancouver, BC
05/12 - Triple Door Theater, Seattle, WA
05/13 - Aladdin Theater, Portland, OR
05/14 - Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA
05/15 - El Rey Theater, Los Angeles, CA
Jóhann Jóhannsson
Jónsi
