Ólafur Arnalds - ...and they have escaped the weight of darkness

Born in 1987, Ólafur Arnalds hails from the suburban Icelandic town, Mosfellsbær, just a few kilometres outside of Reykjavík. He is an extremely talented artist, who explores the crossover from classical to pop by mixing chamber strings and piano with discreet electronics which makes him a perfect fit for cinematic pop label Erased Tapes. His is previous albums Eulogy for Evolution (already posted in this blog) and Found Songs (available for free here) are awesome. This is his latest album, which is - once again - excellent!

Artist: Ólafur Arnalds
Album: ...and they have escaped the weight of darkness
Year: 2010
Genre: neo-classical, ambient, piano

Tracks:
1. Þú Ert Sólin
2. Þú Ert Jörðin
3. Tunglið
4. Loftið Verður Skyndilega Kalt
5. Kjurrt
6. Gleypa Okkur
7. Hægt, Kemur Ljósið
8. Undan Hulu
9. Þau Hafa Sloppið Undan þunga Myrkursins

Official Website
Last.fm
MySpace

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Distrails - Virginia Creeper

Distrails is a musical duo from North Carolina, composed of vocalist/ guitarist/ percussionist Jared Draughon and pianist/ keyboardist Bitsy Pina. This is their debut album, released in 2008. A unique fusion of piano, lush orchestration, layered sounds, and the phenomenal range of Jared Draughon’s melodic, haunting vocals. Jared Draughon’s mellow, beautiful voice is complemented well by Bitsy Pina’s complex piano themes. This year's EP, "Dry Flies", is also great. Highly recommended!

Artist: Distrails
Album: Virginia Creeper
Year: 2008
Genre: indie, piano

Tracks:
1. Virginia Creeper
2. Always
3. Hourglass
4. Pursuit...
5. Critical Mass
6. Attractive Nuisance
7. Broken English
8. Waning and Waxing

Official Website
Last.fm
MySpace

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RQTN - Monolithes En Mouvement

RQTN is the solo musical project of the young french producer Mathieu Artu. His music is a subtle mix between classical music and modern influences such as new-wave, post-rock and pop music. This is his first full-length album, released in 2009. Stunning piano-based neo-classical/ambient music. Highly recommended!

Artist: RQTN
Album: Monolithes En Mouvement
Year: 2009
Genre: neo-classical, ambient, piano, instrumental

Tracks:
1. Debout, Decharges Passives
2. Comme Suspendu a Regarder Passer, Sans Jamais Toucher
3. Le Point Culminant, le Reveil, les Mains Brumeuses
4. Effleurer du Doigt, Deplacer les Masses
5. Remuer les Pieds dans L’Eau, les Yeux Clairs
6. Aurore, Lettres Manuscrites (G. Hoepffner)
7. Departs et Decalages
8. Marcher a L’Envers et Detourner le Regard. Sur le Rebord
9. Photographies, Emulsion. Interpretations

Official Website
Last.fm
MySpace

Download (direct link from archive.org)

Bosques de mi Mente - Lo-Fi

Bosques de mi Mente (Spanish for Forests of my Mind) is an independent project started in 2007 in Spain. The music is melancholic, piano-based ambient/neo-classical. All the albums are available for free download from the artist's website. Recommended!

Artist: Bosques de mi Mente
Album: Lo-Fi
Year: 2007
Genre: ambient, neo-classical, piano, melancholic

Tracks:
1. Paseo 1, primavera 5:17
2. Los titánicos esfuerzos de una bicicleta oxidada por avanzar
3. Un niño que ya no existe jugando con el viejo piano
4. Paseo 2, verano (la niña de Hiroshima)
5. Tormenta de verano
6. El amanecer reflejado en tus ojos, parte 1
7. Paseo 3, otoño
8. El mensaje de las ballenas
9. El amanecer reflejado en tus ojos, parte 2
10. Paseo 4, invierno (el largo y tedioso camino a casa)
11. Cuando se hayan ido todos, tan solo quedará el crujir de sus columpios al viento

Official Website (free albums here!)
Last.fm
MySpace

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Aufgang - Aufgang

Aufgang is a French trio comprised of Juilliard-trained pianists Francesco Tristano and Rami Khalifé as well as drummer Aymeric Westrich. They explore the line between avant-garde, modern classical and four-to-the-floor drumming. This is their debut, released in 2009. Excellent mixture of piano, drums and electronics!

Artist: Aufgang
Album: Aufgang
Year: 2009
Genre: electronica, piano, experimental

Tracks:
1. Channel 7
2. Channel 8
3. Barock
4. Sonar
5. Prelude du passé
6. Good Generation
7. 3 vitesses
8. Aufgang
9. Soumission

Last.fm
MySpace

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Heinali - Film Music (El Mar)

Oleg "Heinali" Shpudeiko is a minimalist composer, music producer from Kiev, Ukraine. Never took music lessons, self-taught, his sound evolved with time. Experimenting and trying to find his sound, he produced a wide variety of tracks in almost every music genre and style, from noise and ambient to jazz and guitar industrial. In late 2007, he started playing live and mixing hip hop, acid jazz beats with old jazz, soul vocals, dark drum’n’bass basses.  The first single “Ghost of s Chance” was released on Don’t Panic Records in 2008. In 2009, he’s moving away from electronic music and, as the part of Soloma art group, is composing music for art installations and performances. Current sound flows from minimalist, contemporary classical to electronic avant-garde. The music in this album, which (I think) combines the tracks from the EP "In to the Sea" with some additional tracks, is a brilliant blend of ambient and neo-classical. A good one!

Artist: Heinali
Album: Film Music (El Mar)
Year: 2009
Genre: ambient, neo-classical, piano, instrumental

Tracks:
1. Into the Sea
2. Elegy
3. Into the Sea part II
4. A Short Day
5. Million Light Yearning
6. To Live (with Maria Navrotskaya)
7. The Fall of Autumn
8. Icarus
9. Hollow Path
10. Troubled Waters
11. Tu Fantasma

Bandcamp site
Last.fm
MySpace

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Nyctalgia - Time Changed Everything

Nyctalgia is Silvio, an amateur musician from Basel, Switzerland and this is his first mini album, released in August 2009. His music is a mixture of of ambient and post-rock with neo-classical influences. Excellent! Very promising debut!

Artist: Nyctalgia
Album: Time Changed Everything
Year: 2009
Genre: ambient, post-rock, instrumental, piano

Tracks:
1. Nyctalgia
2. Time changed everything
3. Remains of a blue rose
4. Mira
5. Falling into nothingness

Last.fm
MySpace

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Please support this artist. Buy the album: send an e-mail to nyctalgia@hotmail.de

Soap&Skin - Lovetune for Vacuum

Soap & Skin is the piano-driven musical project of 19-year-old Austrian artist Anja Plaschg. After releasing a string of songs on compilations and a series of live appearances throughout 2008, Plaschg released an untitled EP the same year, consisting of four tracks and including a cover of Nico’s “Janitor of Lunacy.” This is her first full-length album, released on Coach Records. Absolutely brilliant debut!

Artist: Soap&Skin
Album: Lovetune for Vacuum
Year: 2009
Genre: piano, dark, melancholic, experimental

Tracks:
1. Sleep
2. Cry Wolf
3. Thanatos
4. Extinguish Me
5. Turbine Womb
6. Cynthia
7. Fall Foliage
8. Spiracle
9. Mr. Gaunt PT 1000
10. Marche Funèbre
11. The Sun
12. DDMMYYYY
13. Brother Of Sleep

Official Website (buy from here)
Last.fm
MySpace

Check the comments to listen before you buy.

Rachel Grimes – Book of Leaves

Rachel Grimes is a core member and pianist for Rachel’s, a fantastic neo-classical/post-rock group (check this post). This is her first solo album, a neo-classical, piano-based album that everyone must listen. Flawless!!

Artist: Rachel Grimes
Album: Book of Leaves
Year: 2009
Genre: neo-classical, ambient, piano

Tracks:
1. Long Before Us
2. Every Morning
3. The Corner Room
4. She Was Here
5. On The Morrow
6. My Dear Companion
7. Far Light
8. Mossgrove
9. Bloodroot
10. At The Pond
11. Starwhite
12. The Side View
13. Every Morning, Birds
14. A Bed of Moss

Official Website
Last.fm
MySpace

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Hauschka - Ferndorf

Hauschka is the alias of German pianist/composer Volker Bertelmann, who currently resides in Düsseldorf. His music combines the sound of piano with modern electronic music and minimalism. Ferndorf is his fourth album, released in 2008. Everyone must give it a try! Excellent!

Artist: Hauschka
Album: Ferndorf
Year: 2008
Genre: electronica, piano, experimental, minimalist, ambient

Tracks:
1. Blue Bicycle
2. Morgenrot
3. Rode Null
4. Freibad
5. Barfuss durch Gras
6. Heimat
7. Nadelwald
8. Schönes Mädchen
9. Eltern
10. Alma
11. Neuschnee
12. Weeks of rain

Official Website
Last.fm
MySpace

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Takahiro Kido - Fleursy Music

Takahiro Kido is a composer residing in Tokyo, Japan, also member of the post-rock band Anoice. His music is a blissful combination of various classical instruments - piano, violin, viola, organ and guitars with a little electronics. Fleursy Music was released in 2008 on PLOP records. Beautiful music!

Artist: Takahiro Kido
Album: Fleursy Music
Year: 2008
Genre: neo-classical, piano, ambient, electronica, instrumental

Tracks:
1. Y
2. Smile-Spotter Chronicle
3. Poco!
4. Milk Tea
5. You Lost What?
6. Landscape with Snow
7. Gentle Afternoon
8. Christmas Song
9. Izze
10. Good-Bye...

Official Website (buy from here)
Last.fm
MySpace

Check the comments to listen before you buy.

Jordan Rudess - Notes On A Dream

Jordan Rudess is a progressive rock keyboardist best known as a member of the metal band Dream Theater. He is also an exceptional piano player. This is an album of his own piano interpretations of Dream Theater songs. A pure masterpiece from a modern day genious! Get it!

Artist: Jordan Rudess
Album: Notes On A Dream
Year: 2009
Genre: piano, progressive, instrumental

Tracks:
1. Through Her Eyes
2. Lifting Shadows Off a Dream
3. Perpetuum Mobile
4. The Silent Man
5. Another Day
6. Hollow Years
7. The Grand Escapement
8. The Spirit Carries On
9. Speak To Me
10. The Answer Lies Within
11. Collision Point
12. Vacant

Official Website
Last.fm
MySpace

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