Olafur Arnalds/ Nils Frahm - Stare (10" vinyl)

This is a dream pairing for you neo classical types. The Laurel & Hardy of all things neo classical come together for a very special limited release just for record store day. You should read the (very long...) press release for this. It's a fascinating story of veggie pizza, falafel and analogue synths (surely 3 of any rational human beings favourite things?). For those who can't be arsed it basically explains the story of how this record came about and that's pretty much it. Note this isn't a split 10”... It's a collaboration between the 2 artists and if you're expecting a massive tinklefest then you may as well go home now. 'Stare' sees Abbott & Costello on a more analogue synth route. The pearl of the EP is the epic track B1 with it's cyclical electronic microbeat before some ominous misery strings come in and create an almost perfect combination of neo classical and electronics. If I used the words fucking gorgeous it'd be an understatement. It's not a million miles away from the kind of electronics and classical music Max Richter was doing around the Blue Notebooks era. Anyway I could listen to this all day as it's wonderful. I did listen to the A side but I got totally sidetracked. Sorry.