Johan Agebjörn - Subtracted Soundscapes (2023) [Official Digital Download 24/96]

On Subtracted Soundscapes, Johan Agebjörn reworks eight pieces from across his career into something warmer, calmer than the originals—but no less moving and profound. Unlike the original versions, these “subtracted” updates are entirely beatless; the sonic threads of the originals unraveled and rewoven.

Agebjörn describes his remixing process as “leaving only the key elements of the music, and also working with different combinations of lowpass-filtering, slowing down, adding reverb, and mixing the music differently.” Opener “Four Hours to Karhumäki” exemplifies this. From a gentle piano intro, the piece swells to a sonic vastness both rich and austere. Reverberant textures drift through piano chords like wind through asperous rock formations. Subtracted Soundscapes moves fluidly between the naturalistic and otherworldly. After the earthbound stillness of “Karhumäki,” “Swimming Through the Blue Lagoon,” recalls Vangelis’s soundtrack work. On “Lagoon,” otherworldly voices shimmer across contrapuntal Berlin School tones. “As I Passed the Vyartsilya Border Crossing” uses synthetic voice as a marching ostinato. When the melody comes in, it is both alien and familiar: the major key refrain of adventure wrapped anew in sterling pearlescence.

On Subtracted Soundscapes, Agebjörn revisits past work with a new compositional mien: a focus on calmness and serenity. The result is an album that is both dazzlingly otherworldly and startlingly intimate, both a sonic sanctuary for the listener and another world to explore.

Tracklist:
01. Four Hours To Karhumäki (Subtracted Version)
02. Swimming Through the Blue Lagoon (Subtracted Version)
03. Ambient Computer Dance (Subtracted Version)
04. As I Passed the Vyartsilya Border Crossing (Subtracted Version)
05. Sleep In My Arms (Subtracted Version)
06. Dulciter Somni (Subtracted Version)
07. Siberian Train Part II (Subtracted Version)
08. Zero Gravitation (Subtracted Version)


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