Ólafur Arnalds

Ólafur Arnalds
Ólafur Arnalds in 2007
Background information
Born	3 November 1986 (1986-11-03) (age 25) Mosfellsbær, Iceland
Genres	Neo-classical Indie Experimental Electronica
Occupations	Musician, Composer, Record Producer
Instruments	Piano Drums Guitar Banjo Violin
Years active	Early 2000s–present
Labels	Erased Tapes Records
Website	Official Myspace Page

Ólafur Arnalds (born 3 November 1986) is a multi-instrumentalist and producer from Mosfellsbær, Iceland.^[1] Ólafur Arnalds mixes strings and piano with loops and edgy beats crossing-over from classical to pop.^[1]

Arnalds was a drummer of hardcore/metal bands Fighting Shit and Celestine, as well as others.

In 2004, Arnalds composed and recorded the intro and two outros for tracks on the album Antigone by German metal band Heaven Shall Burn.

On 12 October 2007, Arnalds' first solo album Eulogy for Evolution was released. It was followed by the EP Variations of Static in 2008. In the same year, Arnalds toured with Sigur Rós. He is also reported to have sold out The Barbican Hall in London.^[1]

In April 2009, Arnalds composed and released a track daily for seven days, instantly making each track available within 24 hours from foundsongs.erasedtapes.com. The collection of tracks was entitled Found Songs. The first track was released on 13 April.

In October 2009, the ballet Dyad 1909 premiered with a score composed by Arnalds. Choreographed by Wayne McGregor and performed by Wayne McGregor Random Dance, the ballet was inspired by Ernest Shackleton’s Nimrod expedition to the South Pole in 1909.

In April 2010, Ólafur released a new album entitled ...And They Have Escaped The Weight Of Darkness.^[2]

On October 3rd 2011, Arnalds started another seven-day composition project similar to Found Songs, this one entitled Living Room Songs. The tracks are made available at livingroomsongs.olafurarnalds.com/ each day throughout the week. The project is set to be released as an album on December 23rd, 2011.^[3]

Ólafur Arnalds has been involved with various other projects and has his music appear in many films, television shows and advertisements. His song Brotsjór was featured on So You Think You Can Dance Season 8.

Ólafur's cousin Ólöf Arnalds is also a well known singer/songwriter.

Discography

• 2007: Eulogy for Evolution
• 2008: Variations of Static (EP)
• 2009: Found Songs (EP)
• 2009: Dyad 1909 (EP)
• 2010: ...And They Have Escaped the Weight of Darkness
• 2011: Living Room Songs ^[4]

Film Scores

• 2010: Blinky TM (Short)
• 2010: Jitters
• 2011: Another Happy Day

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} "Ólafur Arnalds: Beautiful the Same way the Arctic is". Headphone Commute. http://www.headphonecommute.com/exclusive/olafur_arnalds/olafur_arnalds.htm. 
2. ^ Ólafur Arnalds. "Ólafur Arnalds' Facebook page". http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/olafurarnalds?v=feed&story_fbid=272151700674. Retrieved 2010-01-31. 
3. ^ erasedtapes.com. "Ólafur Arnalds' Store at Erased Tapes". http://www.erasedtapes.com/Store/Index/ERATP037. Retrieved 2011-10-05. 
4. ^ Ólafur Arnalds. "Living Room Songs' page". http://livingroomsongs.olafurarnalds.com. Retrieved 2011-10-10. 

External links

• Ólafur Arnalds (Official Site)
• Ólafur Arnalds on Myspace
• Article on Ólafur Arnalds.
• interview on tokafi
• Olafur Arnalds on …And They Have Escaped The Weight of Darkness, July 2010

Persondata
Name	Arnalds
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	3 November 1986
Place of birth	Mosfellsbær, Iceland
Date of death
Place of death