Icelandic electronica has always sounded wonderfully alien to me, and the Tvenna EP by Einoma is no exception. This is excellent stuff, a lovely cocktail of ambient, minimalist textures kept in line with beats that are just dancey enough to put you on the floor if you’ve had enough Viking Lager.
It’s wrong to use the “a” word to describe this record, though. The very word “ambient” leads some to imagine mindless, directionless keyboard noodling. Boredom on wax. Tvenna is NOT that, not by a long shot. Tvenna–like so much Icelandic electronica–has the same audio qualities of Iceland itself. There’s a chill in the air, the wind outside is howling across the lava fields, but the heater’s on and the alcohol is good.
That’s actually a bit of cliche when it comes to describing Reykjavik’s electronica scene, but so be it. I’m an outsider, and having lived two years in Iceland I truly believe just as California and Texas climates have unique effects on bands in those areas, Iceland’s midnight sun, sunless afternoons, and high winds definitely make their mark on records like Tvenna. So sue me.
Einoma is a duo–Bjami Þór Gunnarsson and Steindór Grétar Kristinsson, who have been recording in Iceland on a number of labels. This limited edition EP is a delicious slab of vinyl, and me personally, I’d love to get my hands on some of these trax individually (bass, drums, textures all separate) for remix purposes.
If you’re into the dancey minimalist electronica sounds coming out of Iceland, Belgium and elsewhere far away from America, I strongly urge you to have a listen to Einoma. Currently, I’m doing a bit of “browser core” mashup fun with the samples at the official site–I’ve got two sample tracks playing over the top of one another, and it’s making for some unique brain-swelling the artists never intended. Try it, it’s fun!
