Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #51256 in Digital Music Album
• Released on: 2007-10-16
• Running time: 0 seconds

Customer Reviews

Simply breathtaking
To see where the future of music is heading, look no futher than this album. Originally a producer on the Bjork albums, Valgeir (also from Iceland) is now donning his composer hat for his first solo debut, and what a debut it is. This is an amazing meld of classical music with experimental electronic music that provides an amazing sonic texture. Some tracks are wordless while a few feature vocals from the legendary Will Oldahm and others. There is soul just dripping off this record from start to finish. Do not think twice about buying this amazing piece of art, you will thank me.

Headphone Commute Review
The founder of the Icelanding collective, Bedroom Community, finally releases his solo debut on his own label. Although this is a first full length album for Valgeir Sigurðsson, he is no stranger to the studio. His musical career spans over a decade, and includes a lot of production work for Björk (Selmasongs, Vespertne, Medúlla and Drawing Restraint 9). He has also worked with múm on Finally We Are No One and CocoRosie on The Adventures Of Ghosthorse And Stillborn. On Bedroom Community releases, Valgeir contributed towards Ben Frost's Theory of Machines and Nico Muhly's Speaks Volumes. Nico in turn reciprocated, and played piano for six (out of ten) tracks on Ekvílíbrium. Which finally brings us to the album. Ekvílíbrium captures some of the most essential elements of today's electronica [if such genre dares to exist]. From tightly produced, programmed, cut up, and re-arranged sounds to organic drums, guitars, full blown strings and brass section, Valgeir toys with sounds and melodies that speak out in their own unique music tongue. The vocals from Will Oldham (aka Bonnie "Prince" Billy) and Faun Fables' Dawn McCarthy, are neatly folded and cradled by the top-notch mastered instrumentation. Some pieces contain that toytronic sound with music-box-like-quality, that is so reminiscent by the aforementioned múm. What I'm trying to say is this: if "Icelandic" was a sub-genre of electronic music all on its own, then Sigurðsson should be mentioned in the headline for its definition. For now, I can only attempt to throw around labels like leftfield, downtempo, and modern classical, to capture this unique sound. Whip out your best headphones [and not necessarily the most expensive] - Ekvílíbrium is a sure treat for audiophiles. Recommended for the above mentioned names, plus Sylvain Chauveau, Deaf Center, Helios, Marsen Jules and Jóhann Jóhannsson. Favorite track: Winter Sleep.