Cielo [MP3] Cosmos I [MP3] Listening to Murcof was always an imaginative labor, and it’s the same with his upcoming third release - Cosmos. To a certain extent Murcof abandoned his orchestral side, and replaced it with an increasing atmospheric vibe. The underlying of his music, and as it seems of his body and soul, is the mild Techno beats running in the background and dictating the path the tracks are taking. The images drawn from his new work are of a cold desolate world, paved with deserted highways and without a single soul in the horizon. Murcof seems to become more bleak, but at the same time proves he is a great artist on his own terms. While it seems that the world is abandoning cold Electronica, Murcof is embarking on a voyage to explore a new part of it and does it in new wonderful ways. Murcof doesn’t leave us feeling neglected as he abandons the violins, which made previous albums into beautiful masterpieces, and replaces them with cold airy vocals. Cosmos is scheduled to release on the Leaf Label on September 17th. Links: Official website The Leaf Label Lost Highway by David Lynch @ Wikipedia
Be Still [MP3] Exhale [MP3] Give In [MP3] They say cold electronica is dead. Humanity, the ever alienated nation, has understood the disinterest of fellow men in one another, the unwiilingness to get close, really close. Society understood this, and thus cold electronic music doesn’t thrill as it used to, it revealed what it had to say, and now it can disappear like all the true prophets.
But if we add Jazz to it? Jazz, maybe the warmest music, a blend of the classical elite and the common passion. Let’s blend Jazz and Electronica together, then they shall both say: “yes, man is an alienating creature, but he is also warm, caring and loving”. Eurica, a new revelation, a new truth for us to marvel at, a new prophet has come to town. The music world suggested, and Adrian Klumpes did it, starting with the wonderful Triosk project, and following, depending on the piano only, he did his solo project of, his debut - Be Still. Links: Adrian Klumpes - official website Adrian Klumpes @ Myspace The Leaf Label Triosk’s website Be Still @ Posteverything.com
In 1964, a computer - the IBM 1401 Data Processing System - arrived in Iceland, one of the very first computers to be imported into the country. The 1401 has been called the “Model T” of the computer industry - the first affordable, mass produced digital business computer . The chief maintenance engineer for this machine was Jóhann Gunnarsson, my father. A keen musician, he learned of an obscure method of making music on this computer - a purpose for which this business machine was not at all designed. The method was simple. The computer’s memory emitted strong electromagnetic waves and by programming the memory in a certain way and by placing a radio receiver next to it, melodies could be coaxed out - captured by the receiver as a delicate, melancholy sine-wave tone.
When the IBM 1401 was taken out of service in 1971, it wasn’t simply thrown away like an old refrigerator, but was given a little farewell ceremony, almost a funeral, when its melodies were played for one last time. This “performance” was documented on tape along with recordings of the sound of the machine in operation.
When my father told me about this in the year 2001, I felt that, besides being a nice, touching story, it reflected many things that I was interested in. Man-machine interaction, old, discarded technology, the nostalgia for old computers, human and artificial intelligence, technological progress and human evolution, the “spirit” and the machine. I started to write music using those themes, basing it on those 30 year old recordings of the IBM 1401 computer.
IBM 1401 was also adapted to a dance act, which has been touring around Europe for the last few years. A true masterpiece and one of the best albums of the last few years.
Listening to Murcof was always an imaginative labor, and it’s the same with his upcoming third release - Cosmos. To a certain extent Murcof abandoned his orchestral side, and replaced it with an increasing atmospheric vibe. The underlying of his music, and as it seems of his body and soul, is the mild Techno beats running in the background and dictating the path the tracks are taking. The images drawn from his new work are of a cold desolate world, paved with deserted highways and without a single soul in the horizon. Murcof seems to become more bleak, but at the same time proves he is a great artist on his own terms. While it seems that the world is abandoning cold Electronica, Murcof is embarking on a voyage to explore a new part of it and does it in new wonderful ways. Murcof doesn’t leave us feeling neglected as he abandons the violins, which made previous albums into beautiful masterpieces, and replaces them with cold airy vocals. Cosmos is scheduled to release on the Leaf Label on September 17th.
They say cold electronica is dead. Humanity, the ever alienated nation, has understood the disinterest of fellow men in one another, the unwiilingness to get close, really close. Society understood this, and thus cold electronic music doesn’t thrill as it used to, it revealed what it had to say, and now it can disappear like all the true prophets.
The best way to describe Johannsson’s IBM 1401 was found inside, beside the CD on a narrow slip of paper:
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