About This Item
Double LP version. Includes download code. +ôlafur Arnalds and Janus Rasmussen finally their unique Nordic electronic sounds in album-size. After dropping several tracks and performing at select festivals throughout the years, +ôlafur Arnalds and Janus Rasmussen dedicated the year 2014 to explore the area in-between +ôlafur's more acoustic, piano-based solo work and Janus' synth-heavy electro-pop, with their collaborative electronic project Kiasmos. By focusing solely on their self-titled debut album, +ôlafur and Janus have been able to combine and further develop their unique sound aesthetics to complete an album driven by their mutual love for electronic music. Made in +ôlafur's newly-built studio in Reykjavik, Iceland, a majority of the album was recorded using acoustic instruments next to a variety of synthesizers, drum machines and tape delays. It features a live drummer, string quartet and +ôlafur performing on the grand piano, producing an ambient, textured sound which makes it a perfect home listen and equally danceable record. If you listen closely, you can spot them recording the thumb piano, finger-snapping, and even the sound of the metal grinder of a lighter used to replace the usual electronic hi-hat sounds, giving the album a far more intimate and unique atmosphere. Long-time Erased Tapes graphics collaborator Torsten Posselt at Feld Studios in Berlin created the cover artwork. Feld Studios was a natural choice for Kiasmos, seeing how he also designed the cover for their Thrown EP. Kiasmos is made up of Icelandic BAFTA-winning composer +ôlafur Arnalds, known for his unique blend of minimal piano and string compositions with electronic sounds, and Janus Rasmussen from the Faroe Islands, known as the mastermind of the electro-pop outfit Bloodgroup. Based in Reykjavik, Arnalds used to work as a sound engineer, often for Rasmussen's other projects, where
