Kiasmos

Faroese-Icelandic musical duo

Electronica
Electropop
IDM
techno
minimal techno
ambient

Years active2009 (2009)–presentLabelsErased TapesMembers

Ólafur Arnalds
Janus Rasmussen

Websitewww.kiasmos.is

Kiasmos is a Faroese-Icelandic minimal, experimental techno duo, composed of Ólafur Arnalds and Janus Rasmussen. They started in 2009 and released their first extended play, Thrown, in 2012 and their album Kiasmos in 2014.

History

In 2009, the duo started with the 65/Milo, a split 12"' release, together with record-label colleague Rival Consoles. In 2014, they released their debut LP, Kiasmos, on Erased Tapes Records Ltd.^[1]

Kiasmos released their fourth EP, Blurred, in 2017, which PopMatters described as "one of the most emotionally engaging electronic releases of the year . . . It is an intricate yet unforced and natural sounding set of songs with every song allowed room to bloom gradually."^[2]

Members

Ólafur Arnalds and Janus Rasmussen worked together when Ólafur was a sound engineer for Rasmussen's Bloodgroup project.^[3]

Ólafur is a multi-instrumentalist and producer from Mosfellsbær, Iceland.^[4] His work is characterized by strings and piano, with loops and edgy beats as a fusion of ambient/electronic and pop.^[5]^[6]

Rasmussen, from the Faroe Islands, is a member of Bloodgroup. Rasmussen also worked along with other artists such as Guðrið Hansdóttir in the band Byrta.

Discography

Thrown (2012 Erased Tapes EP)
Kiasmos (2014 Erased Tapes)
Looped (2015 Erased Tapes EP)
Swept (2015 Erased Tapes EP)
Blurred (2017 Erased Tapes EP)
II (2024 Erased Tapes) - To be released

References

^ "Kiasmos". Erased Tapes Records. Retrieved 2016-04-07.
^ "kiasmos-blurred, PopMatters". PopMatters. 25 January 2021. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
^ "Interview at KEXP in 2015, at 13:35". YouTube. 11 December 2015. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
^ "Ólafur Arnalds: Beautiful the Same way the Arctic is". Headphone Commute. August 2008. Archived from the original on 2010-11-24. Retrieved 2014-12-04.
^ "Ólafur Arnalds' Myspace page".
^ Fischer, Tobias. "Interview with Olafur Arnalds II". Tokafi. Retrieved 1 March 2014.