Johann Johannsson - IBM 1401 - A Users Manual (Music CD) available on December 28 2014 from Base for 7.79
4ad / Ada available on November 18 2014 from Amazon for $9.85
UPC bar code 652637260922 ξ2 registered September 27 2014
UPC bar code 652637260922 ξ1 registered November 18 2014
Product category is MUSIC CD - CD - Pop & Rock Electronic
Manufacturered by 4ad / Ada
Product size is 0"x0"x0"
Product weight is 0.13 lbs.
The first album for 4AD from this Icelandic composer is an expanded version of a performance piece originally written for the dancer and choreographer Erna Omarsdottir, and which has been performed in more than 40 European cities. This new incarnation was scored for a 60-piece string orchestra and the four original movements were joined by a completely new finale. The final mix incorporates electronics and vintage reel-to-reel recordings of the IBM 1401 mainframe computer which inspired the piece in the first place.
For some reason or another, I held off on buying IBM 1401 - A User's Manual right away. The reviews that I read on the piece were somewhat spotty, and while I enjoyed Jóhann Jóhannsson's first two albums Englaborn and Virðulegu Forsetar, his more recent Dis album left me a bit cold. As it turns out, I was a bit dumb for not seeking out this album a little sooner, as it's another gorgeous modern classical entry from Jóhannsson. The story behind the release is interesting, and definitely worth retelling,..
inspired by a computer,put your headphones on and your mind will do the rest,classical in style using voice and orchestra,it is a slow evolving dream like music in five movements,you may never hear any thing this ellegant again,two years on,i'm absorbed by it.
I ran across this release almost by accident. It was reviewed in an obscure corner of a website I visit infrequently, and I'm not sure how I wound up there. I read the review and listened to the sample, and I had to have it.Music fascinates me, and so does old technology. This album includes phantasmal electronic sounds recorded by placing a radio receiver next to, as you might guess from the title, the memory stack of an IBM 1401 computer. The IBM 1401, one of the first affordable business computers, w..
