Johann Johannsson – Retrospective II – Rarities (2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 20:16 minutes | 223 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Deutsche Grammophon (DG)
Complementing the April 2019 release of Retrospective I, which included such seminal works as The Miners’ Hymns, Copenhagen Dreams and Free the Mind, this second and final volume offers a wide-ranging selection of Jóhannsson’s multi-award-winning film scores and influential studio albums. Presented as a limited edition deluxe hardcover book, it comprises eight CDs and a bonus DVD of his 2016 “Live at Funkhaus Berlin” concert. It also contains rare photographs of the composer, as well as two new essays by John Schaefer and Wyndham Wallace that provide insights into Jóhannsson’s life and his aesthetic outlook.
Retrospective II spans the remarkable inventive range of Jóhann Jóhannsson’s multi-award-winning film scores. First on the list is his Golden Globe-winning and Oscar- and Grammy-nominated soundtrack for James Marsh’s Stephen Hawking biopic The Theory of Everything (2014) which, as the composer himself noted, reflects Hawking’s “zest for life” as well as a sense of nostalgic melancholy.
Also included here are Jóhannsson’s groundbreaking compositions for two films directed by Denis Villeneuve: the action-thriller Sicario (2015) and science-fiction drama Arrival (2016). The former score, it too nominated for an Academy Award, picks up on the dark and violent atmosphere of the film, blurring the line between acoustic and electronic sounds. The Arrival soundtrack, meanwhile, mirrors the theme of communication explored in the film, using strands of real and altered voices to form a thread that runs throughout. The score was nominated for a Golden Globe and a Grammy, and is enhanced here by the addition of two previously unreleased tracks. “Arrival built bridges with the unknown and Jóhann’s sounds definitely help create that illusion,” says Villeneuve. “I cannot imagine Sicario or Arrival without his music.”
Tracklist:
1. Johann Johannsson – Jóhannsson: A Perfect Machine at the Centre of Time (03:23)
2. Johann Johannsson – Jóhannsson: The Markovian Parallax Denigrate (01:37)
3. Víkingur Ólafsson – Jóhannsson, Ólafsson: Flight From The City (Víkingur Ólafsson Rework) (06:26)
4. Johann Johannsson – Hannah (From “Arrival” Soundtrack) (02:46)
5. Johann Johannsson – Epilogue (From “Arrival” Soundtrack) (06:02)
