Jóhann Jóhannsson IBM 1410 – A User’s Manuel Label: Beggars Group Release Date:10/24/2006

For those who aren’t in the know, Jóhann Jóhannsson is a composer from Iceland, but it’s much deeper than just that. His newest album is much like the inside of a computer, I know that it works but I have no idea how to explain it. Johann Johannsson’s newest “masterpiece,” “IBM 1401 – A User’s Manuel,” is a rich, textured look – at the inside of a computer?

Well, Jóhannsson originally scored this work while working with dancer and choreographer Erma Omarsdottir. “IBM 1401” is an expanded version of his original score and now features a 60 piece string orchestra and a new final track, the brilliant “The Sun’s Gone Dim and the Sky’s Turned Black.” I cannot pretend that I understand scores of music with orchestras or pretend I know in what term of classical music this will be classified under, but I do know that for someone who is interested in broadening their horizons into another style of music, this is a good place to start.

The ambience is rich, the synthesizers and electronica elements bring into, what some people would view as archaic music and places Jóhann Jóhannsson’s work into the twenty-first century. “Part 2 – IBM 1403 Printer” begins with painfully spaced chimes leading to an instructional message on the mechanization of an IBM machine with a voice straight out of old Cold War duck and cover propaganda. The music cascading over the voice and chimes is absorbing; you have to listen because you want to know how to finish this machine and because you need to know what the hell is going on.

From hard to soft, “Part 3 – IBM 1402 Card Read Punch” is that epic you will want to compose in your bedroom mirror. “Part 5 – The Sun’s Gone Dim and the Sky’s Turned Black” is the only track with vocals, which are heavily distorted with angels harmonizing in the background over Jóhannsson’s tight orchestra. I may not know much about composing or anything, but this was a great listen. Now if only I could figure out what it all means…

Jóhann Jóhannsson - Myspace

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 26th, 2006 at 12:30 am and is filed under CD/LP. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.