Mica Levi & Oliver Coates - Remain Calm

It's been a week of electronic music of the experimental variety here on Immortal Reviews, and to send it off, we have a unique blend of two unlikely genres. Mica Levi hits heads with Oliver Coates to create Remain Calm, an odd album that is neither here or there.

Remain Calm combines classical music with electronic samples. It's an eclectic mix, but when balanced, they work well together. It's a short album, clocking in at under thirty minutes, but in that time there is definitely variety. The pair dabbles with different textures throughout the record, exploring minimalism amidst a seemingly shocking combination of genres. The dark sounds of 'Barok Main' contrast the upbeat, sampled vocals of 'Xhill Stepping,' really showing the divid of sound on the record.

It's hard to describe what exactly this album is. It's avant-garde, but it's also contemporary classical. Furthermore, it dabbles with experimental electronica and sampling. "Deep minimalism" is a term being thrown around to describe this record, and it works out well. Many songs find atmosphere amongst their simplicity: see 'Bless Our Toes,' creepy strings harmoniously sounding beneath weird samples without anything sounding too upfront. Oliver Coates is a behind-the-scenes collaborator with Radiohead, his strings being the contribution to their albums and this one. Mica Levi provides the odd samples and synths, creating the somewhat left-field sounds this record has to offer.

Our previous reviews have had much the same criticisms, but Remain Calm suffers from different problems. Ironically, one of the album's biggest problems is that it's just too weird. There are flashes of great ideas and dark textures that interlace themselves into each song, but the glitching sounds sometimes distort the atmosphere. The playtime is both a blessing and a curse; the song's are generally short and don't build to something that never comes, but it's laced with pointless, thirty second interludes that really don't add anything to the record.

Remain Calm has great ideas, but none are executed in the right ways. Mica Levi and Oliver Coates had the right mindset, but perhaps they can reconvene in the future to make something that's more substantial and has direction. Remain Calm just feels like a mess.

Favorite Track: Barok Main

Least Favorite Tracks: Interludes, County H

Rating: 43 / 100

Jóhann Jóhannsson - Orphée

I believe I've made my obsession with Icelandic music clear in past reviews. Now, we delve into classical music from the country, in a beautifully scenic array of strings. Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson has released his sixth album, Orphée - the first since 2008's Fortlândia. Combining beautiful symphonies with subtle ambience and electronica, Jóhannsson has crafted something special.

Creating classical music in the modern era is perhaps a bit of a contradiction. Still, however, it does make a statement. Modern classical music is full of expression and innovation. There's different things we can do with music today and different techniques. Most importantly, there are different experiences. Contemporary classical is all about giving the music a voice without speaking.

Orphée does exactly that. Instead of speaking, per se, it paints pictures. It creates motion in its movements and vivid details with each resonating chord. The first song 'Flight From The City' introduces the peaceful and imaginative pictures with its spacious piano and backing strings that build slowly with traces of electronica slowly pilling up behind them. 'A Song For Europa' is similar, creating a much starker experience with a greater feeling of isolation than wonder as a droning woman's voice sounds in an out-of-reach place.

The first thing you need to understand about Icelandic music is that it makes something out of nothing. The barren landscapes of Iceland are awe-inspiring, and that's clear in all of its artists. It affects people in different ways, and there's no one way to really define it. There is a core of isolationism in the music, though - when you listen, you feel alone in the music. It's you and your feelings - nothing else.

This album does a lot with that loneliness. It's a journey through the mysteries of Iceland - the volatile but incredible volcanoes in the dramatic organs and pulsing electronics of 'The Burning Mountain'; the grassy, barren plains in the electronic spirals and peaceful piano of 'By The Roes, and By The Hinds Of The Field'; and the grand glaciers in the dark string leads of 'A Deal With Chaos'. The imagery on the album is phenomenal. The dynamics of the deep basses, the high stings of violins, the cry of the pianos all working together in a tragic, captivating dance that invigorates your mind and your emotions.

Jóhann Jóhannsson is a modern genius. The layers and beauty of Orphée is stark and almost incomparable. The only complaint I have is that lots of tracks don't really resonate too deeply or don't have enough strength to them to really leave a lasting mark, but there is imagery in every corner of the record. The beautiful pictures this album paints are some you can never forget. Iceland is a beautiful mystery, as it proves again and again.

Favorite Tracks: By The Roes, and By The Hinds Of The Field; Flight From The City, Good Morning, Midnight; A Pile Of Dust

Least Favorite Track: De Luce Et Umbra

Rating: 80 / 100