JÓHANN JÓHANNSSON

Fordlândia (reissue, 2008) 4AD

7/10

Vinyl reissue for late composer’s magnum opus

Originally released on vinyl in a very limited edition and pressed on his NTOV label, Fordlândia arrived just as Jóhannsson’s career as a modern classical composer was hitting its global stride. Every bit as heavily conceptual as his 4AD debut, IBM 1401 – A User’s Manual, but far grander in scale and more extravagant in execution, it has two central themes: utopian failure – in particular, of Henry Ford’s Brazilian rubber plantation project – and the connections between rocket science and mysticism. Of course, none of this is conveyed by the music itself, although it is signposted by titles like “The Rocket Builder (Lo Pan!)” and “Melodia (Guidelines For A Propulsion Device Based On Heim’s Quantum Theory)”. These 11 tracks are a less radically exhilarating form of transport, a majestic but never bombastic fusion of classical orchestration and electronics, with Jóhannsson playing occasional piano, pipe organ, guitar and fuzz bass. Particularly beguiling are “Chimaerica”, where processed strings augment the pipe-organ lead, and “The Great God Pan Is Dead”, which features exquisite choral singing, text from a poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning and a storm recording, plus strings and organ.

Extras: 6/10. Previously unpublished liner notes from Jóhannsson.