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Reviews : There are times when even the most hardened sonic explorers among us need something...well, nice to listen to. When the thought of punishing your stereo system with the latest Merzbow box set or clearing a dinner party with a spot of Autechre doesn't appeal,this prime slice of Icelandic electronica should do the trick. Sprinkled with satisfying sonic tricks but stuffed full of good old melody, í págu fallsinswill appeal to those whose ears are massaged into states of bliss by Boards of Canada, Telefon Tel Aviv or savaath + savalas. Shifting beatsystems wriggle away underneath soft, chiming melodies and blurry smears of analogue synth, all washed down with a light drizzle of digital clicks and pops. It's melancholic, but never chilly in the way that much electronica can be and doesn't ever abstract itself out of existence. It's not afraid to be pretty. Sk/um (aka the union of Icelandic IDM types Skurken and Prince Valium)understand the power of economy too; nine fragile constructions glide by in 35 minutes. Listening under headphones uncovers teeming sonic minutiae, much like observing a drop of water under a microscope reveals a world of otherwise invisible creatures. Following Eno's dictum that ambient music must be as 'ignorable as it is interesting', this music repays pretty much any level of attention you're prepared to give it. The unity of mood throughout makes it hard to single out individual pieces, and maybe that accounts for the album's charm. But 'Finaleria" seems particularly noteworthy, if only for the totally unexpected and quite beautiful little guitar solo that emerges towards the end. Blissful. If your idea of chillout is something a little more enterprising than William Orbit dicking around with polite C20 classical music, this'll be right up your street.Diamond Geysers BBC.CO.UK (link)
Behind
nine impenetrable track titles and a sleeve that betrays little useful
information, lies the debut release from a Reykjavik-based duo named
Johann Omarsson and Thorstein Olafsson aka Sk/Um. An unfortunate moniker
to operate under, since the music they produce together is pure, joyful,
uncomplicated electro-pop made with a hedonistic heart and a heavy head. COMES WITH A SMILE
What is it about Iceland? there's clearly something about the air, the water, the chill or good cheer. 'Tomatar' opens the album with finely spun mesh of drone-based strings, 'Lummur' adopts a more electropop stance to bouyant melodic effect. 'Bonetrix' treads lightly alongside the river marked 'melodic dsp' and manages not to fall in. 'Tasco' is a crunchier beauty, imagine the melodic charms of The Remote Viewer with a more urgent tempo, then spin through 180 degrees. A largely enjoyable album which reveals still further the surprising musical depths flowing in the currents of icelandic music. For all followers of the beguiling icelandic sounds of Mum, this is a pleasant album well worthy of further exploration. BOOMKAT
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