Kiasmos/ Rival Consoles - 65/ Milo

Ólafur Arnalds new minimal techno side project KIASMOS shares split 12” debut with label colleague Ryan Lee
West aka RIVAL CONSOLES. Icelandic neo-classical prodigy Ólafur Arnalds teams up with Bloodgroup mastermind
Janus Rasmussen for a new project – KIASMOS. In order to shorten the waiting period on Arnalds’ forthcoming
new album, Erased Tapes Records release their first tracks ‘65’ and ‘Walled’ on March 30, 2009. As huge fans of
label colleague Ryan Lee West alias RIVAL CONSOLES, Arnalds and Rasmussen share this debut split 12”/
Download release ‘65/Milo’ with West, who contributes three more acidy, electro-laden tracks - ‘Milo’, ‘Func’ and
‘ARP’. After Arnalds had worked several times as a sound engineer for Rasmussen’s main project Bloodgroup, the
two musicians discovered their common love for minimal, experimental techno music. At first they only met on
weekends for a few drinks, and used the time to create experimental sounds with beats and various samples. The
project developed and it became more serious – the result is KIASMOS. Rasmussen, who has more experience
with electronic music, usually crafts the beginning of the songs. As both have touring commitments, Rasmussen
sends the first beats via email. With Arnalds’ good ear for pure and timeless melodies, he is then responsible for
the overall song structure and the fine-tuning. ‘I am really enthusiastic about this project. Finally, I can make
music that the people can dance to’, explains Arnalds in an interview with the German electronic music magazine
Beat. RIVAL CONSOLES is 21-year old IDM-smith Ryan Lee West from Leicester in the Midlands of England. After
having supported his city neighbours and label comrades Kyte on an extensive European tour in November 2008,
West locked himself away all winter to finish his first full-length album. The three 12” tracks on ‘65/Milo’ are a
teaser for his forthcoming album ‘IO’, set to see the light of day in mid 2009. Ryan repeatedly performed at the
Tate Britain Museum in London where he drew over 2000 visitors into his unpredictable, yet detailed sound
drawings. With unusual influences from impressionists such as Claude Debussy and modern electronic artists such
as Autechre, Ryan Lee West created a unique signature sound for Rival Consoles. A clever and complex mix of
hard electronic beats with warm and catchy melodies. This quality can already be found on his 10” debut ‘The
Decadent EP’ and the recent 7” follow-up ‘Helvetica’, where West played classical against dance music instead of XBox
vs. Playstation…

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