Jóhann Jóhannsson solo
Jóhann Jóhannsson has released four solo albums, two on Touch, 2002's Englabörn and 2004's Virthulegu forsetar, Dís on Worker's Institute (2005) and now in 2006, IBM 1401, a Userｴs Manual on 4ad. For a detailed look at these releases visit the discography.
Apparat Organ Quartet
Apparat Organ Quartet is a 5 piece band: 4 organists and 1 drummer. They sometimes describe their music as Machine Rock and Roll" but the standard definition of their sound is Organ Quartet Music", a completely new genre. They have been compared to such different acts as Kraftwerk, Wagner, Goblin, Terry Reilly, Steve Reich, Sigur Rós, the Glitter Band, Stereolab and Trans Am.
Their sound has been described as quite unique and their concerts frequently inspire high praise: "Apparat Organ Quartet has grown into a phenomenal force, playing soul-stirringly portentous mechanical music, equal parts progressive rock and horror film soundtrack, reminiscent of older acts like Kraftwerk and Goblin... as innovative and meticulous as Sigur Rós but who sound nothing like it." Neil Strauss The New York Times
Apparat Organ Quartet released their second single on June 9th 2003 in the UK. "Romantika", on the Duophonic label, is a song taken from their eponymous debut album. They have also released tracks on compilation albums from Kitchen Motors, a pioneering label/art-organisation in Iceland, and a limited edition 7 inch of the single Stereo Rock and Roll" on the 13amp label in the UK.
Apparat Organ Quartet was originally formed to take part in a series of improvised concerts organized by Kitchen Motors in September of 1999. (Apparat member Jóhann Jóhannsson is a founding member of Kitchen Motors). The idea was to put together an electric organ ensemble, in part inspired by Steve Reich´s pieces for electric organ (e.g. "Four Organs"). The band was in fact initially motivated by a desire to play these early minimalist works in concert. These ideas never came to fruition and instead they started to compose their own pieces, slowly evolving their unique sound through trial and error.
Apparat Organ Quartet´s debut album, simply entitled "Apparat Organ Quartet" was almost 3 years in the making, a long but happy process. The Quartet´s members say it took so long because they had to discover by themselves how to record an organ quartet. We couldn't just go to the record-store and ask for an organ quartet album. We had to invent the genre." The album seems to have many layers. The oldest takes date back to 1999 while some of the songs underwent major changes during the last few days of mixing. The many strange and beautiful sounds heard on the album come from AOQs vast collection of antique synthesizers, Farfisas, Hammonds, home-organs, cheap portable keyboards and all sorts of malfunctioning machinery.
AOQ use old discarded technology, home organs and cheap consumer cast-offs often salvaged from garbage dumps and then customized by the band for the rigors of live use.
Their passion for out-moded musical machines and ancient communication technologies is clearly reflected in their collaboration with TF3IRA, a trio of ham radio enthusiasts. This performance, documented on the Kitchen Motors CD "Motorlab 2", featured an enormous electric sound sculpture involving shortwave receivers and morse code transmissions mixed in with the organ quartet´s ethereal soundscapes.
The album cover art features oil paintings of the band as Playmo characters by the artist Markús Þór Andrésson.
Apparat Organ Quartet has been invited to numerous festivals and prestigious venues in Europe before even releasing an album, including the Roskilde Festival in Denmark, London´s ICA, Batofar in Paris, as well as performing in St. Petersburg and Helsinki to name a few places. Recently, the band have played New York´s Central Park Summer Stage, Denmark´s Spot Festival, Stockholm´s Kulturhuset as well as Holland´s Lowlands and the Belgian Pukkelpop festival.
Apparat Organ Quartet´s members include:
Musikvatur, who has collaborated with Múm and has released several solo singles.
Hordur Bragason, a former associate of Austrian artist Hermann Nitsch and by day, an organist in Reykjavik´s largest church congregation.
Ulfur Eldjarn, also a member of the group Trabant and former member of Kanada.
Arnar Geir Omarsson, who has worked with Magga Stina, Ham, Lhooq and others.
Jóhann Jóhannsson.
Apparat Organ Quartet is a part of a closely knit collection of musicians working in Reykjavik. This extremely active and vibrant scene includes members of Sigur Rós, Múm, Kanada, Trabant, Funerals, Slowblow and others. Some of these bands share members and frequently collaborate on other music and art projects.
"An otherworldly fusion of Spiritualised and Static and a very full stage" Flux
"A highlight of the cd... Terry Reilly meets Stereolab" The Wire
"'Romantika' manages to veer between Scott Joplin ragtime, BBC Radiophonic Orchestra and 16-Bit computer games; they can do what they want because no-one's told them where the boundaries lie. Why 'Romantika'? Why not? Here lies the bleeding heart of electronica, and it's never been so emotional." Logo Magazine
"A lovely electric whirlpool of a thing, mind, not too removed from being a more daybreak-friendly cousin of the 'Lab´s masterpiece 'Simple Headphone Mind'. Tremendous stuff, anyway" Playlouder
"Apparat Organ Quartet has grown into a phenomenal force, playing soul-stirringly portentous mechanical music, equal parts progressive rock and horror film soundtrack, reminscent of older acts like Kraftwerk and Goblin and newer ones lie Stereolab and Trans Am. ... as innovative and meticulous as Sigur Rós but who sound nothing like it." Neil Strauss, New York Times
"A pulsing electronic drone - hints of Kraftwerk, Wagner, Sigur Rós and terrifying prog rock bands from the dark ages" Ian Watson, NME
"Now this you have to like - deadpan Icelanders playing like a clockwork replica of the Glitter Band intoning the vocodered slogan 'Stereo Rock & Roll' like a catechism" The Guardian
Apparat Organ Quartet releases are detailed in the discography section of this site.
A clip of Apparat Organ Quartet performing "Cruise Control" live at the Lowlands 2003 festival can be found here (Windows Media Player required).
Kitchen Motors
Kitchen Motors is a record label, a think tank, and an art organization specializing in instigating collaborations and putting on concerts, exhibitions, performances, chamber operas, producing films, books and radio shows based on the ideals of experimentation, collaboration, the search for new art forms and the breaking down of barriers between forms, genres and disciplines. The main area of interest is in music, with special emphasis on the electronic and improvised kind.
How about a symphony for 20 electric basses, 4 electric organs playing in unison at deafening volume or a Canadian jazz singer screaming from a refrigerator while someone plays with wet fingers on the insides of his synthesizer? There was a time when thoughts like these and other alike were mere fantasies. Now the Motors are bombarding the Icelandic and international experimental scene with odd performances and challenging Icelandic musicians and artists to step out of their "natural context" and explore.
Learn more about Kitchen Motors here. Jóhann Jóhannsson's contributions to Kitchen Motors CDs are listed here
Music Theatre
Created by Jóhann Jóhannsson and Erna Ómarsdóttir, "IBM 1401, a Userｴs Manual" is based around the story of the first computer to come to Iceland, in 1964.
The piece was first performed in 2002 in the Dansem festival and it has been performed over 60 times since in more than 40 cities across Europe.
For more information and Quicktime video clips, please visit the IBM1401 page.
"Mysteries of Love" is a new collaboration between Erna Ómarsdóttir and Jóhann. In this piece they are joined by the dancer/choreographer Margrét Sara Guðjónsdóttir and the musicians Flosi ﾞorgeirsson and Valdimar Jóhannsson.
"Mysteries of Love" is a suite of 10 "songs", which followed a similar structure, i.e. 10 small works that merge music, movements, song, words and performance in a new way. The voice and the performance were intertwined and unseperable from each other, the voice being an extension of the body, fusing the movements and the music together.
For the first "song" we sought material in an old rhyme, which fascinated us in its peculiar and eminently Icelandic mixture of horror, beauty, pathos and irony. For this project, as sources, we wanted to involve, among other things, texts, films and themes connected to teenagers and adolescence. The changes happening to the body, hormones, transformation of the body and personality. Moods, extreme emotions, seen in an anthropological nature documentary sort of way, what is happening inside, what mystery is developing in this great swamp of hormones and emotions. We took a sociological and anthropological approach to teenage social dynamics, exploring the dynamics of girl gangs and social stigmatization and pecking order in teenage social spheres. Films like Blue Velvet and countless horror films show the manifestations of the dark side, young people losing innocence, virginity, discovering deeply ambivalent and conflicting emotions and we drew inspiration from this.
In the piece IBM 1401, a user's manual, we started to work with the voice as an extension of the body and as an instrument. We will in this new piece take this idea further and explore the boundaries between the concert and dance theatre. Erna and Margret use their voices as an extension of the body, not simply in a ｫ musical ｻ capacity, but as a source of sounds and vocal textures. At times, the voice is used melodically, but sometimes more as a generator of sounds and noises, ranging from animalistic and primitive screams and shrieks, deep rumbles and grunts (partly influenced from the grunts of death metal singers) to childlike babble, almost imperceptible warbles and tweets and high pitched, uncanny siren songs. Sounds that are connected with emotions, sobs, distorted laughter, sighs, moans, wails, sounds of despair and pity used in a textural way, like an instrument. This use of the voice will blend with more melodic singing. The singing is often modulated by unnatural breathing (hyperventilation) and by letting violent movements affect the voice. Erna applies the same logic to her voice as to her body using the same principles she applies to movements.
For performance dates of "IBM 1401, a User's Manual" and "Mysteries of Love" please visit the Information page.
Production
Jóhann Jóhannsson has produced and written music with artists as diverse as Marc Almond ("Stranger Things" album), Barry Adamson and Pan Sonic, The Hafler Trio, Magga Stina and many others.
Sound art
Jóhann's sound art projects include "Strange noises at the supermarket" (with Kira Kira and Hilmar Jensson, in collaboration with NIFCA) and "Please make my space noisy" which was part of the Rotho exhibition in Skt. Petersburg.