it has been my sincere pleasure to get to know the music of nordic duo kiasmos over the past couple months. made up of neoclassical composer olafur arnolds and synth tech producer janus rasmussen, the project wanders somewhere between each artist’s respective genre. a stormy hybrid of minimal, contemplative techno, and melancholic contemporary classical. stunning, to say the least.
after weeks spent listening to the same couple tracks (the only ones available on the erased tapes soundcloud), i made up my mind to attend their album launch at watergate here in berlin late last year. sadly, a mix up with the time slots meant i had to leave the gig early in favour of reviewing the arca x jesse kanda show at berghain, so i missed their live. needless to say, getting a hold of their music has been a frustrating experience. luckily for me, i was gifted an rdio subscription and have had their album on loop for the past month. every track is beautifully complex: electro-influences are scattered throughout, popping up, staccato-like atop steady techy beats or a fluid piano piece.it’s the perfect soundtrack to the grey skies and ubiquitous thunderstorms in berlin. even if the weather here isn’t perfect, it’s certainly a fitting backdrop for music. music to watch the skies to.
