So, so sad to read this news today. Johann Johannsson has died at 48.
I’ve been listening to his beautiful work since the early 4AD records. It’s been so gratifying to see him step into film composing, especially with his stunning work on Arrival.
Saw an amazing story about Johannson today in one of the online memorial stories about him. Apparently he was signed on to score Mother, Darren Aronofsky’s polarizing film from last year.
Johannson went through the entire process of scoring the film from start to finish, watching it multiple times, obviously, as he did so.
And then he went to Aronofsky and said “Look, this movie is much more affecting and disturbing with no score at all whatsoever.” And Aronofsky eventually agreed, and that’s how it went.
So, in the end, you could sort of say Johannson did in fact “score” a movie with no musical score at all, simply by going through the process and coming back to say “Here’s what your score should be: nothing.” (It does have some sort of "soundscape thing happening in the background that Johannson did create, but neither he nor Aronofsky considered it strictly “music” per se.)
New albums out today by Field Music, Ought, Superchunk, and Car Seat Headrest (which I gather is a re-recorded album of his from 2011.)
Plus new tracks from Courtney Barnett…
…and my total favorite, The Amazing.
And yet more new tracks from OMD and Wolf Alice and Okkervil River, a new Ride EP, and part 3 of Belle & Sebastian’s How to Solve Our Human Problems EP series. PHEW! Busy listening day.
For no particular reason, I remembered The Essex Green out of nowhere today. I mean, their 2006 record (Cannibal Sea) was tree-mendous…and then they just sort of faded away and broke up.
But…apparently they’re coming out with a new record in 2018 on Merge. Hope it happens.