Johann Johannsson (4AD) is an Icelandic composer. His stately, slow-building and haunting postmodern minimal compositions have been quietly bewitching many since the release of Englaborn and IBM 1401, A User's Manual. Experimental yet sublime, Johannson is a singular new presence in European music.

Johann Johannsson's first two solo records - Englaborn (2002) and Virthulegu Forsetar (2004) - were released by the singular British independent Touch label. The Englaborn album was derived from music that Johann wrote for an Icelandic play of the same name, written for string quartet, piano, organ, glockenspiel and percussion. These elements were processed and manipulated, adding delicate electronic accents to the otherwise entirely acoustic recordings. Johann's second album, Virthulegu Forsetar, was one hour-long piece for 11 brass players, percussion, electronics, organs and piano. Virthulegu Forsetar shares Englaborn's quiet, elegiac beauty, but replaces the brevity of the first album's exquisite miniatures with an extended sweep of sound that reveals a long, slow process of evolution.

Johann Johannsson's many other projects include membership of the group Apparat Organ Quartet, collaborations with the dancer and choreographer Erna Omarsdottir over several years; and has producing and writing music with Marc Almond (on the Stranger Things album), Barry Adamson, Pan Sonic, The Hafler Trio, Jaki Liebezeit and many others.

Music for films and theatre figure prominently in Johann's work. His most recent, for the film Blodbond (2006) by Arni Olafur Asgeirsson, features (like IBM 1401, A User's Manual) a symphonic score for a 60-piece string orchestra. Johann's soundtrack album for the film Dis was released in 2005 in the US and in 2006 in Japan. Johann's music was been featured in the film Wicker Park (Paul McGuigan, 2004) as well as forming an integral part of several art projects such as Lev Manovich's Mission To Earth (MIT Press 2005) and Gregory Colbert's acclaimed film haikus Ashes And Snow (2006). Johann is also a founder member of the Icelandic label / think tank / art collective Kitchen Motors.

Music Videos
* Sun's Gone Dim
* IBM 1
* Odi Et Amo

For further information, visit Johann's site www.johannjohannsson.com