Graham Reid | | 1 min read
Elsewhere has always had an affection for compilations in the Late Night Tales series (as it did with the not dissimilar Back to Mine) because it is a triple opportunity: You can be introduced to a compiler you'd not previously encountered; it is highly likely you wouldn't know half the artists included so it's a doorway into new music and the albums segue from one piece into another so can provide ambient listening for late at night.
This collection by the man from Iceland who provided the score for the television series Broadchurch (for which he collected a BAFTA) fulfills all those remits as it edges seamlessly from gentle electronica through pieces by Julianna Barwick, Four Tet, Jai Paul, James Blake and a few other familiar names, but mostly introduces you to those not previously encountered perhaps . (Round our way Koreless, Anois, Samaris, Kiasmos and others had us scrambling to the internet)
Arnalds also includes some of his own work (Kiasmos turns out to be a side project of his) and a discreet cover of Destiny's Child's Say My Name delivered with quasi-classical reverence and sung by Arnor Dan.
A decade or so ago there was a movement in Britain under the banner "quiet is the new loud". As with all such things which get a slogan before the ideology has been thought through, it was stillborn.
In its own way however the Late Night Tales series is advancing the quiet. In its own excellent and hished way.
It's likely these albums don't sell, but those who still harbour a sense of curiosity might find this series a real portal . . . and pleasure in themselves.
For other albums in the Late Night Tales series at Elsewhere go here.
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