Chris Garneau / Olafur Arnalds

Show Description

“[Garneau's] strong command of the piano and quirky operatic voice call to mind Regina  Spektor. Like her, he combines classical sensibilities with folky ones, inviting cello lines and harmonium drone into his ballads.” -Time Out New York

Chris Garneau's voice lies somewhere between liquid and matter on the scale of all that is and ever was. He is certainly a rare bird. When he's not spending his free time at the town fairs, Chris can be found at his piano, singing haunting strains and playful stanzas, both equally refreshing as amber pints of beer on humid New York summer evenings.  His music is uniquely Brooklyn in substance, but in his musical valise he carries tokens from Boston, France, and New Jersey, all of which inform his style. With his brow alternating between a doleful furrow and a mischievous arch, Garneau communicates simply and frankly about issues ranging from reverberating sorrow to the fine home cooking of Hamburger Helper.   The Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter has released his debut full-length "Music for Tourists" on Absolutely  Kosher Records after Jamie Stewart of Xiu Xiu brought him to the label’s attention in spring of 2006.

"Iceland’s best new export!" –Clash Magazine (UK)

Only 21 years of age, Ólafur hails from the suburban Icelandic town, Mosfellsbær, just a few kilometres outside Reykjavík. He has immersed himself completely in the world of delicate symphonic compositions in a near weightless orchestral undertaking. Mixing strings and piano with loops, ambiance, electronics and beats, his music fits into the Erased Tapes catalogue like a piece of a jigsaw puzzle. His debut album 'Eulogy for Evolution' takes the listener on a journey, representing different periods in life, from birth to death. The follow-up 5-track EP ‘Variations of Static’ so far has only been available as a limited tour edition. While keeping the classical foundations of his debut album, here Arnalds incorporates crackling electronics and the dead voice of a machine; like vague memories of tradition lost within the digital age we all live in.
This winter Ólafur and his live string quartet performed at unique venues in the UK including the oldest custom-built concert hall in Europe, the Holywell Music Room in Oxford, before he continued playing of mostly sold out shows throughout the rest of Europe.  Ólafur is already working on his second full-length record and a string arrangement for Erased Tapes friends 65daysofstatic, which will be released as part of the first label compilation towards the end of the year.