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Release Info :
Reviews :
ROCKSOUND
One half of Icelandic electronica duo Sk/um, Thorsteinn Olafsson has given his sound an epic makeover for this his solo debut on Resonant. The skittering micro beats and gentle, filtered melodies of old are still very much present, but on Andlaus they're less central. Here the focus is the kind of echoic electric guitar-based post-rock that you'd expect from Morr Music's Manual or Olafsson's Resonant labelmate, Stafraenn Hakon. 'Crying Hearts' comes closest to a concise pop song, but it's most notable for inviting national stereotyping: with - and it pains me to make such lazy comparisons (though apparently not enough to stop myself) - majestic bowed guitar lifted straight off the first Sigur Ros album, and a vocal that (here I go again...) inevitably sounds a bit like Björk. As the album progresses, Olafsson delves deeper into his shoegazing electronica repertoire to create an atmospheric body of work which evocatively, if utterly predictably, reflects the vast, icy topography of his homeland. Lovely. BOOMKAT
Icelander Þorsteinn Ólafsson (aka Prince Valium) produced Andlaus (‘without breath') in his bedroom using nothing more than a guitar and computer but the results are anything but hermetic. The willowy electronics add wide-screen atmosphere but it's primarily Ólafsson's chiming guitar reverberations that give the material its expansive scope. With the guitar style so purposefully grandiose, it's hard to not think of Sigur Rós when a piercing guitar swells in the regrettably-titled “Goofy Takes A Bath” and in “Crying Hearts,” a splendid ballad that's unfortunately marred by a female singer's occasionally off-key vocalizing; Andlaus' densely-layered material (e.g., “Romantic Shopping”) sometimes calls Manual to mind as well. Though the album's pitched as an ‘electronic ambient album,' it's hardly wallpaper music, especially when a dramatic lurch like “Tomleikar” escalates to such a cathedralesque pitch and when brooding shudders of six-strings resonate throughout the material elsewhere. Ólafsson upholds interest through constant shifts in mood: “Redecoration In Four Dimensions” is stately, “Afsal” melancholy, and “Burning My B.A.” both brooding and fulminating. Despite the aforementioned imperfections, Andlaus is often alluring, and never more so than during the radiant waltz “Guo Blessi Pig” that closes the album so sweetly. TEXTURA
Prince Valium is one
half of the Icelandic duo Sk/um (the 'um' side of it to be precise) that
produced the well-received electronica mini-album 'I Pagu Fallsins' in
early 2003. Engaging ambient music, if this is not a misnomer, can sometimes teeter on the edge of too ‘nice’ (read insipid). An album that in one mood appears calming and meditative may reveal itself as hackneyed and trite under different listening conditions. Icelandic bedroom producer Þorsteinn Ólafsson’s debut effort under the Prince Valium moniker should NOT be listened to in the car, on the freeway. This is what could be referred to as not giving an album a ‘fair go’ (supposedly a defining characteristic of the Australian national psyche). This is an album made for headphone listening, or on a quiet Sunday morning when the world is at peace. Under such conditions, Andlaus grew on me—I had been initially inclined to dismiss it as pseudo-new-age massage music. Stylistic comparisons could be made with label-mate Stafrœnn Häkon’s releases—occupying a sugary space where the melodies and atmosphere almost need a good kicking to give them a bit of attitude, but are nevertheless compelling. The Kranky label’s releases by Labradford and Roy Montgomery inhabit a similar space to Andlaus. The opening three tracks are wonderful, especially the single vocal track of the album ‘Crying Hearts’. The remainder of the album drifts by in ambient shoegazing mode. Small nuances and effects come to the surface only to be wrapped up in the aural equivalent of fairy floss. Which, depending upon your mood, could be a good thing. CYCLIC DEFROST
One half of the Icelandic IDM electronic duo Sk/um, Thorsteinn Olafsson has gone in a completely different musical direction on his debut album under the name Prince Valium. Andlaus (meaning "without breath") is a twelve song, fifty-minute journey through cavernous spaces, where guitars and electronics heavy with reverb mingle with occasional programmed beats in a wide-open head space. Prince Valium has things in common with a lot of other artists working in a similar style, and his downcast creations call to mind the work of Beef Terminal, Yellow6, and other artists who largely use guitar as the melodic centerpiece of their work and then bathe it in effects and atmosphere. Album opener "Mixed State" is all of those things, as a far-off guitar melody drifts through soft ambient drones and some very murky beat hits. It's as if the song is being played on the other side of a valley filled with fog, and making out any fine detail is prohibited because of the distance. That said, the next song "Following Hearts" comes as an almost complete surprise, as pinging electronics and a watery beat carry more drifting drones while cooing female vocals give the track a pop lean despite the icy instrumentation. Although Olafsson lets his IDM side show through in a couple tracks (most notably the pitter-patter programming and sonar pings of "Butter Cookies" and the choppy but subdued breakbeats of "Burning My B.A."), the album is largely a semi lo-fi exploration of downcast ambience. The mid-section of the album is especially chilly, with a slew of seriously melancholic tracks that all layer sparse guitar lines with wash after wash of fuzzy soundscapes. Even tracks with lighter titles aren't exempt from the gloom, and "Goofy Takes A Bath" is a perfect example, with a skeletal beat providing just enough structure for a repetitive bass, ringing guitar notes, and multiple layers of both sparkling and gritty drones. Like many of the tracks on the release, it doesn't have any production qualities that mark it as modern, and it sounds like everything from an early 4AD release to what it in fact is (an album created in 2006 by a guy with a guitar and a computer). While there are definitely some great tracks on the album, Andlaus ultimately fails to really separate itself from the slew of other like-minded music coming out. If you like slower, lo-fi shoegaze-inspired ambient music, you could certainly do worse, but if you're looking for something to knock your socks off... ALMOST COOL
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