Great new album from Olafur Arnalds - a long time favourite of Rough Trade. The highly anticipated record features Ólafur’s ground-breaking new software, Stratus, which transforms the humble piano into a unique new instrument. He is currently performing his new material on a huge worldwide tour. The Stratus Pianos are two self-playing, semi-generative player pianos which are triggered by a central piano played by Ólafur, and are the centrepiece of his new works. The custom-built software is born out of two years of work by the composer and audio developer, Halldór Eldjárn. The algorithms generated from Stratus were also used to create the innovative album artwork. On the album Ólafur uses these methods reinvigorate the compositional experience, feeding back into the creative process in a completely new way. As Ólafur plays a note on the piano, two different notes are generated by Stratus, creating unexpected harmonies and surprising melodic sequences.

冰岛新的年轻天才，很有涵养的Olafur Arnalds 能把古典元素融合在氛围和微电子节拍里，有Sigur Ros的味道，也有Mum的感觉。 Olafur Arnalds原来在家乡Mosfellsbaer离雷克雅维克偏壤的一个小镇上，他同时身兼多支Hardcore乐队的鼓手职务，先是替友人的乐团My Summer as a Salvation Soldier担任多项乐器伴奏，还获邀为美国Indie-Rock乐团Cursive担任德国巡回演出的伴奏乐手。Olafur Arnalds的个人音乐作品以钢琴和弦乐为主， 与其说是post-rock， 不如干脆说是modern classical。

亚当·郝斯特，是一位获奖无数的大提琴家和作曲家，其深受中东、印度和欧洲传统音乐影响，他的独奏浪漫空灵、静怡忧伤，富有诗意并充满激情，旋律厚重能够震撼聆听者的心灵。