Interview: Olafur Arnalds
Icelandic composer and keyboardist Olafur Arnalds sculpts an ambient chamber music landscape full of pensive moods and melodies that insinuate themselves in slow motion elegance.  We talk with him about the chilled ambiences of his concept album, And They Have Escaped the Weight of Darkness  and his old punk group, Fighting Shit.  Can we say that on the radio?

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Interview: Sigur Ros
Sigur Ros is the enigmatic Icelandic band that has entranced listeners inclined towards a more abstract and atmospheric sound.  Heavy reverb, bowed guitars and lyrics sung in a high, wispy falsetto call to mind a fantasy world of hidden shadows and dark corners.  But there's also a naivete to this music which often has childhood as a source of inspiration.  We head into shadows of sound with Sigur Ros.

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Interview: Johann Agebjorn
Johann Agebjorn is a musician who lives in two worlds connected by electronic wires.  With a project called Sally Shapiro, he makes smooth electronic dance music.  Under his own name, he explores ambient sounds, environmental spaces and gothic tinged melodies.  Agebjorn talks about his snow shrouded sound.

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Interview: Johann Johannsson
Johann Johannsson's Fordlandia was one of the most haunting albums of 2008 with its deep ambient chamber music designs.  From his home in Reykjavik, Johann talks about music that explores the philosophical ramifications of IBM computers from the 1960s and the failed totalitarian utopia of Fordlandia.

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Interview: Röyksopp
In Norway, musicians seem to spin dream pop and electronic ambiences straight out of the arctic air.  We'll hear one of the leading exponents of electronica, Röyksopp, when they talk about their music from their surprisingly ambient new CD, Senior.

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Interview: Nils Petter Molvaer
Nils Petter Molvaer is a 21st century trumpeter from Norway who employs electronic rhythms, free improvisation and elaborate processing on his trumpet for a breathy, introspective sound.  He talks about his music and latest album, Hamada.

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Interview: Erik Wøllo and Steve Roach
Steve Roach and Erik Wøllo are contemporaries from opposite sides of the world and opposite ends of the thermometer.  But after three decades of mutual admiration, they got together to collaborate on an expansive CD that took both musicians out of their comfort zones and into new terrain.  We connect these artists over transcontinental space to hear their Stream of Thought.

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Interview: Aes Dana and Solar Fields

Ultimae is a boutique French record label that's turning into the ECM Records of downtempo and ambient music.  Run by Vincent Villuis, who also records as Aes Dana, it's creating a unique identity in the faceless digital age.  We talk to Vincent Villuis, his partner, Sunbeam, and Sweden's Magnus Birgersson of Solar Fields about life in the downtempo zone.

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Olafur Arnalds
In the studios of Echoes affiliate WITF in Harrisburg, PA, Icelandic composer and keyboardist Olafur Arnalds orchestrated an ambient chamber music landscape full of pensive moods and melodies that insinuate themselves in slow motion elegance.  Hhis band included a string quartet and electronics.  They play the poetic music of his album, And They Have Escaped the Weight of Darkness.

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Amiina
Imagine Arvo Part played on a music box and you get close to the mix of charm and contemplation conjured up by Amiina.  They started out as a string quartet, touring with Iceland's Sigur Ros, but on their own, they play musical saws, bells, wine glasses, metalophones, nyckleharpes and yes, a music box.  They came into the Echoes living room and entranced us as they played live on Echoes.

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Erik Wøllo
Norwegian guitarist Erik Wøllo returned to the Echoes Living Room in 2010 for his fourth visit.  He sculpted electronic landscapes for guitar synthesizer, drawing upon themes from his Echoes CD of the Month (June 2010), Gateway.

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