Kiasmos – Kiasmos

Something must be going on in Iceland, where Kiasmos formed. Between Ólafur Arnalds' classical piano and ambient soundscapes and Janus Rasmussen's beats, their self-titled album has an impeccable grandeur that's also dancefloor-friendly. The glacial movements of "Lit" are carried along by the house rhythms until it shifts into the moody contemplations of "Held" and "Looped." "Swayed" and "Bent" put the beats up front for more of a electro feel take center stage, though the piano line is never far behind, and the chug of "Thrown" adds an urgency. The breaks of "Dragged" offer a rhythmic variation that melds well with the contrasting lightness and depth of the melodic lines. The extended groove of "Burnt" closes the album, once again blending the two musical modes together into a cohesive whole. Strongly recommended.

A bit of surface noise throughout but not enough to detract from the experience. Great sound, very nice warm bass! And the embossed/textured logo on the sleeve is very cool.

This album is a classic in my book such a perfect vibe these guys captured. The sound of the vinyl is really good and vastly better to the streaming digitally experience in my system. I can't say it's perfect there is some surface noise and crackles throughout. Not the best, not the worst I've heard. I'll take it over the digital and am happy to hear this gem of a record in it's best light.

I may be among the lucky ones but I got a super-clean, flat copy.

Great album!

Sadly the version I got has an off-center pressing on the A1 and A2 sides. Sadly not the first time I've got problems like that with vinyl from Erased Tapes, the pressing quality is not the best. Got more lucky with the B1 and B2 sides, those sound perfect!

Packaging was also quite bad, both LPs could easily slide out of the sleeve, and they cut through the plastic wrapping during transport. Luckily it seems like they weren't scratched because of that.

Sadly another garbage pressing of this beautiful record. Noise on all sides. (I know B2 has a record noise sample worked into the recording) - I took it back.

Absolutely outstanding record, both in content and presentation. Perfect pressing to my ears -- gorgeous mastering, dead quiet where it counts, and just as beautifully dynamic where that counts. Plus, nice paper/poly archival sleeves in a really nice jacket. (Love the embossed logo). I suppose the only gripe would be that it's a single jacket for 2 LPs, rather than a gatefold, but I think the nicer sleeves do a good enough job of protecting them from each other.

I need more LPs like this.

Swayed sounds exactly like a mix of Kollektiv Turmstrasse and Acid Pauli!

Unbelievably powerful and beautiful music. The album flows so well from track to track, shifting from calm to almost overwhelming moments.

Where is this 24-bit / 44.1 kHz digital version available?