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Loom
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We Contain Multitudes
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'some kind of peace' is the stunning new album from the ground-breaking composer and producer Ólafur Arnalds, available now on Mercury KX. The record features a brand new track 'The Bottom Line' ft. Josin, alongside a beautiful video featuring the work of Japanese flower artist Azuma Makoto out today, and 'Loom', Arnalds' collaboration with Bonobo. Also out now is 'finding some kind of peace', a very special behind the scenes film about the new album.
Ólafur has been confirmed as the closing act for Iceland Airwaves' virtual festival, ‘Live from Reykjavík', on November 13th, where he will perform mostly new material played live for the very first time. Ólafur's music will also play a major role in the forthcoming Netflix documentary on Shawn Mendes, 'In Wonder', which is set to be released on November 23rd. Ólafur has also recently surpassed a staggering 1 billion streams, an incredible milestone for the Icelandic multi-instrumentalist.
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Olafur Arnalds plays NPR: Tiny Desk Home concert
Posted At : March 4, 2021 12:00 AM
NPR's Bob Boilen writes.....The Tiny Desk is working from home for the foreseeable future. Introducing NPR Music's Tiny Desk (home) concerts, bringing you performances from across the country and the world. It's the same spirit - stripped-down sets, an intimate setting - just a different space. Using an Edison "Fireside" cylinder phonograph and his own Stratus music software, Ólafu...
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Within Olafur Arnalds most revealing and vulnerable work to date, is a self-confessed perfectionist grappling with the messier realities of everyday life / The Catholic universe
Posted At : January 11, 2021 12:00 AM
'some kind of peace' is the stunning new album from the ground-breaking Icelandic multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer Ólafur Arnalds, available now on Mercury KX. More than anything he's ever made, 'some kind of peace' is the story of Ólafur Arnalds' life - and there is quite the life-story to tell. Throughout Ólafur urges you to embrace all that...
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Olafur Arnalds - some kind of peace makes Bob Boilen's 'Top 10 Albums Of 2020' / NPR
Posted At : December 29, 2020 12:00 AM
Ólafur Arnalds has recently surpassed a staggering 1 billion streams, an incredible milestone for the Icelandic multi-instrumentalist. 'some kind of peace' is the stunning new album from the ground-breaking composer and producer. Available on Mercury KX. Bob Boilen selected 'some kind of peace' for his 'Top 10 Albums Of 2020' and he writes; Ólafur Arnalds, the Ic...
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Olafur Arnalds - some kind of peace makes NPR: Best Music Of 2020
Posted At : December 4, 2020 12:00 AM
This week we shared NPR Music's best songs and albums of 2020, lists voted on, politely argued over and presented by our staff, station partners and contributors. Today we're featuring the good stuff from the private reserves. Below you'll find lists of top 10 albums and songs from the members of NPR Music's staff. Bob Boilen HOST, ALL SONGS CONSIDERED writes Quietude. More than h...
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Olafur Arnalds - some kind of peace makes Echoes November 2020 Top 25
Posted At : December 1, 2020 12:00 AM
'some kind of peace' is the stunning new album from the ground-breaking composer and producer Ólafur Arnalds, available now on Mercury KX. The record features a brand new track 'The Bottom Line' ft. Josin, alongside a beautiful video featuring the work of Japanese flower artist Azuma Makoto out today, and 'Loom', Arnalds' collaboration with Bonobo. Also out now is '...
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Olafur Arnalds 'Spiral' from 'some kind of peace' makes NPR Music's 'No. 1 Albums And Songs Of November'
Posted At : November 30, 2020 12:00 AM
On this edition of All Songs Considered, we pick our favorite music released in November 2020, featuring Kali Uchis' heart-struck devotionals, Tierra Whack's playful pop, metal duo Jucifer's tribute to Arabic music and Salaam Remi's star-studded soundtrack of the Black experience, as well as; Ólafur Arnalds: "Spiral" from Some Kind of Peace. Some Kind of Peace is a perfect desc...
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Olafur Arnalds leads UK record store chart with 'some kind of peace' / live4ever
Posted At : November 14, 2020 12:00 AM
The latest UK Record Store Chart is topped by Icelandic multi-instrumentalist Olafur Arnalds with his new album Some Kind Of Peace. There's re-entries not far behind Arnalds from Dermot Kennedy and Phoebe Bridgers, while Bruce Springsteen is at #11 this week with his recent E Street Band LP Letter To You. 'some kind of peace' is a stunning new album from the ground-breaking composer, availabl...
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Max Richter - Voices & Olafur Arnalds - some kind of peace make 'Rough Trade 2020 Albums of the Year' / BrooklynVegan
Posted At : November 12, 2020 12:00 AM
Always first out of the gate with end-of-year lists, Rough Trade has just announced their 2020 Albums of the Year list. Making the list are Max Richter - Voices & Olafur Arnalds - some kind of peace. Over a decade after its inception, ground-breaking composer Max Richter announced the release of VOICES via Decca Records – a major new recording project inspired ...
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The passionate calm of Olafur Arnalds / NPR: All Songs Considered
Posted At : November 10, 2020 12:00 AM
Ólafur Arnalds' album some kind of peace is the most impactful record NPR's Bob Boilen has heard this year. The album, centered around Ólafur's melodic piano sounds, is packed with passion but generates an aura of calm. The songs work as a background music, but they're also rich in the kind of textures and intricacies that make it the perfect headphone album. Boilen spok...
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Olafur Arnalds becomes Apple Music curator for 'Peaceful Music' playlist / udiscovermusic.
Posted At : May 17, 2019 12:00 AM
Ólafur Arnalds believes that travelling the world playing music is an inspiring experience. "Travel is an influential part of my life," says the Icelandic multi-instrumentalist and composer. "It feels like your mind gets slowly pushed open, because you are seeing new things, learning new things and you are breaking down prejudices. That feeling induces a lot of creativity. When you come home from ...
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Olafur Arnalds - re:member makes echoes: january top25
Posted At : February 1, 2019 12:00 AM
BAFTA winning artist, composer, musician and producer Ólafur Arnalds has unveiled his new track ‘re:member' featuring his ground-breaking new software, Stratus, which transforms the humble piano into a unique new instrument. The Stratus Pianos are two self-playing, semi-generative player pianos and the centrepiece of Ólafur's new works. The custom-built software controlling th...
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Olafur Arnalds manipulates an impressive array of sounds and tempos at the London Palladium / musicOMH
Posted At : October 30, 2018 12:00 AM
Icelandic composer Ólafur Arnalds‘ new album Re:member, released this August, was a beguiling combination of intricate, impeccable craftmanship and human warmth, capable of scaling heights few of his contemporaries can match. A collection of often beautiful keyboard/strings pieces underpinned by subtle electronica, it achieved extra layers of harmonic complexity through Arnalds' use of his p...
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With Olafur Arnalds starting world tour, let's recall his path / sonofmarketing
Posted At : October 12, 2018 12:00 AM
Two years after Island Songs, Icelandic BAFTA winning artist, composer, musician and producer Ólafur Arnalds released a new album. re: member is out now via Mercury KX. Arnalds has unveiled ‘re:member' featuring his ground-breaking new software, Stratus, which transforms the humble piano into a unique new instrument. The Stratus Pianos are two self-playing, semi-gener...
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Olafur Arnalds live setup on musicradar: rig tour
Posted At : October 12, 2018 12:00 AM
Ólafur Arnalds has been refining the Stratus Pianos for his latest album re:member and we managed to hook with him, on stage, to find out more about the tech behind the live setup. We find out how it all works, the constant tuning schedule required when touring with three acoustic pianos and how much fun it really is to play generative pianos with their very own synced-up light show. The UK-pa...
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Unpeeling the sonic layers of Olafur Arnalds - re:member / musicOMH
Posted At : September 12, 2018 12:00 AM
Listening to a record as accomplished as Re:member, it's hard to comprehend that Ólafur Arnalds became a classical composer almost by accident. Back in his native Iceland in the mid-2000s, drumming for an obscure hardcore band, he was asked to write some short piano and string pieces for an album by German metal group Heaven Shall Burn after sharing demos of his own prog rock-influenced compositio...
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Olafur Arnalds' re:member is Echoes 'CD of the Month' for September
Posted At : September 1, 2018 12:00 AM
BAFTA winning artist, composer, musician and producer Ólafur Arnalds has unveiled his new track ‘re:member' featuring his ground-breaking new software, Stratus, which transforms the humble piano into a unique new instrument. Ólafur has been performing The Stratus Pianos across the world including a sold-out shows at London's Royal Albert Hall and New York City's Le Poisson...
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Olafur Arnalds goes far beyond the use of innovative software on re:member / AP
Posted At : August 29, 2018 12:00 AM
Icelandic composer Olafur Arnalds goes far beyond the use of innovative software involving self-playing pianos on "re:member," a wistful album also incorporating various string ensembles, fast and slow beats and even the human voice as it alternates between being buoyant and calm. The multi-part title track launches the album as a good sampler of the rest of the record. A swirling string section latches ...
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Olafur Arnalds' adds AI on first solo project since 2013 / RollingStone
Posted At : August 26, 2018 12:00 AM
On his first solo project since 2013, Icelandic composer Ólafur Arnalds adds a new element – robots! – to his mix of post-minimalist repetition, indie swoon, film score frisson and ambient drifts. Re: Member is a conversation between Arnalds and algorithms, the programmed and the human, his own intentions and new inspirations, composed with a software called Straus connected to two pla...
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Shhhh....uffle! University librarians are creating spotify playlists ending the days of silent study / Daily Mail
Posted At : August 18, 2018 12:00 AM
University librarians are creating Spotify playlists to help pupils focus while studying – an about-turn after years of telling students to ‘be quiet'. Oxford, Newcastle and Liverpool universities are just some of the many institutions throughout the UK which are now encouraging students to listen to music on their headphones to improve focus. However, eight years ago, Spotify was banned at O...
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Olafur Arnalds returns to Australia for run of shows / MUSICFEEDS
Posted At : July 30, 2018 12:00 AM
Post-classical Icelandic composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist Ólafur Arnalds has announced his return to Australia for a run of headline shows in 2018. Performing songs from his impressive back catalogue and upcoming album RE:MEMBER, Arnalds will be hitting up expansive theatres in Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne and Adelaide between November and December. RE:MEMBER - which is se...
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BrooklynVegan tours announced. Includes; Bela Fleck, Olafur Arnalds
Posted At : July 21, 2018 12:00 AM
He's usually out with The Flecktones, but banjo master Béla Fleck will go on a short solo tour in late summer, hitting Washington, CT, Brooklyn, East Hapton, NY, North Adams, MA, Flagstaff, AZ, and Berryville, VA. The Brooklyn date (his first-ever solo show in NYC) is at Murmrr Theatre on 8/4. Then in the fall, he'll be out on an extensive tour with bass fiddle player Edgar Meyer and tabla master ...
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Olafur Arnalds, Nils Frahm, and A Winged Victory For The Sullen hit the road / Under The Radar
Posted At : July 16, 2018 12:00 AM
In honor of avant-classical label Erased Tapes' fifth birthday, Ólafur Arnalds, Nils Frahm, and A Winged Victory For The Sullen are hitting the road for a brief European tour. Check out the full jaunt below. 10/8 - HAMBURG (DE) – Fliegende Bauten 10/9 - PRAGUE (CZ) – Palac Akropolis 10/10 - BUDAPEST (HU) – Trafo 10/11 MANNHEIM (DE) – ...
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Olafur Arnalds, set for Luminato / Toronto Star
Posted At : June 24, 2018 12:00 AM
"No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main," wrote John Donne 400 years ago. But one meeting with Olafur Arnalds would have changed his mind. Arnalds is an Icelander who has carved out a musical niche clearly influenced by classical Western music as well as ambient pop. But it would be unfair to place him in either slot. The 31-year-old is about to ar...
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Olafur Arnalds - re:member on NPR: all songs considered
Posted At : April 11, 2018 12:00 AM
On this episode, a couple of remarkable new discoveries for co-host Robin Hilton: the summery, early-'70s psych-pop of Whyte Horses and the transfixing voice and carefree pop of Dallas native Caleb Campbell, who writes and records as Ari Roar. Host Bob Boilen shares the band Khruangbin and the trio's mostly instrumental songs that are both genre and mind-bending. Bob's also got a heart-rendin...
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Spitfire Audio joins Olafur Arnalds for Chamber Evolutions
Posted At : January 22, 2018 12:00 AM
Spitfire Audio joins forces with BAFTA-winning composer Ólafur Arnalds (Broadchurch, Kiasmos, Erased Tapes) to record an all-star ensemble performing his latest set of awe-inspiring evolutions. Based in Reykjavík, Iceland, Ólafur's approach to sound and composition has inspired a new generation to enjoy and create orchestral music, and following the success of his own Spitfire librar...
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Olafur Arnalds scores three episodes from Amazon's 'Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams' / Brooklyn Vegan
Posted At : January 13, 2018 12:00 AM
Today is the premiere of Amazon's Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams which is based on stories by the acclaimed science fiction writer of the title, whose work has been adapted into such films and series as Blade Runner, Minority Report, Total Recall, and Amazon's The Man in High Castle (to name just a few). The 10-episode first season includes such notable actors as Bryan Cranston (who is also...
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Olafur Arnalds performs 3 sold-out shows in Tehran / Mehr News
Posted At : December 11, 2017 12:00 AM
Overcoming a distance of almost 6000km and five years of negotiations finally brought the Icelandic BAFTA-winning multi-instrumentalist composer Ólafur Arnalds to sold-out, jam-packed shows in Tehran. Music connects us all. It may sound like a platitude, but it is no less true. Have any doubts? Don't. Here is a beautiful experience I would like to share with you all: p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0p...
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Olafur Arnalds shares trailer for new video series 'All Strings Attached / LEMON WIRE
Posted At : December 6, 2017 12:00 AM
Pianist and composer Olafur Arnalds has shared the trailer of a new video series with the world. Before he embarks on what he calls his most "ambitious' tour ever, Arnalds has decided to turn the experience into a video series he is calling "All Strings Attached." As Arnalds and his collaborators put together music for the tour, fans will be able to watch the process on each new episode. In the trail...
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New Kiasmos EP on the way / XLR8R
Posted At : August 17, 2017 12:00 AM
There's a new Kiasmos EP on the way. 'Blurred' is scheduled for October 6 release. Kiasmos is the electronic music duo of composer Ólafur Arnalds and producer Janus Rasmussen. With a number of releases coming on Erased Tapes, including their seminal 2014 self-titled full-length and their most recent work, the 2015 Swept EP, the duo return now with a new six-track endeavor, entitled Blu...
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Decca Records Group launches new label - Mercury KX / Music Business Worldwide
Posted At : February 26, 2017 12:00 AM
Universal's Decca Records Group has launched a new record label, Mercury KX – dubbed ‘the first post-classical imprint operating within a major music group'. A fresh incarnation of the Mercury Classics label, the imprint was unveiled with a special launch event at London's Omeara this week, introducing the label's newest acts. Already home to Icelandic composer Òlafur Arnalds, Mercury ...
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Olafur Arnalds - Island Songs / theguardian review
Posted At : November 4, 2016 12:00 AM
This sleekly produced project involved indie-classical composer Ólafur Arnalds travelling around his native Iceland recording seven songs in seven small-town locations with various local musicians. The vibe is picturesque hipster melancholia, with accompanying music videos by Baldvin Z showing long shots of rustic venues in bleak, gorgeous landscapes – not a dissimilar aesthetic to Sigur R&o...
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Olafur Arnalds - Island Songs / Second Inversion 'Album of the Week'
Posted At : October 31, 2016 12:00 AM
On Olafur Arnalds - Island Songs, Arnalds starts us off in a church on a hillside in Hvammstangi, a remote town on the shore of an inlet. This is where poet & collaborator Einar Georg Einarsson comes to escape his everyday worries and explore creativity through writing. Einarsson begins "Árbakkinn" with a recitation of one of his own poems; a poem about the landscape he painted his childh...
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Olafur Arnalds set to release: Island Songs / The Line of Best Fit
Posted At : October 27, 2016 12:00 AM
Ólafur Arnalds is set to release a new record this week - it compiles his recent Island Songs project plus new, unreleased material. The album contains Arnalds seven "audio-visual collaborations" from earlier this year, plus a bonus track titled "Study for Player Piano (ii)". It's available as a CD/DVD, which also contains each accompanying short film, as well as a vinyl package. The AV collab...
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Olafur Arnalds - Island Songs / TOWERLOAD review
Posted At : September 1, 2016 12:00 AM
Composer Olafur Arnalds' latest project - Island Songs, is a collection of seven tracks recorded over seven weeks in seven locations in Iceland. You could see Island Songs as a companion piece Arnalds' quite stunning 2011 album Living Rooms Songs but he has moved out of home in Reykjavik to explore the island. Icelandic musicians seems to be in love with their island (in fairness, there is an awful lot t...
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