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Baker's Dozen

Found Songs: Ólafur Arnalds' Favourite Albums
Wyndham Wallace , March 11th, 2013 12:56

The Icelandic neo-classical composer and producer takes a break from producing his cinematic soundscapes to pick out his 13 favourite records, ahead of his set at the Barbican tonight

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Ryuichi Sakamoto - 1996
The main reason I put that record on here, and not some other stuff by him, is that me and Ryuichi are rather close. And the reason for that is he invited me to support him on the redo of his 1996 tour where this record comes from. He did that tour again a couple of years ago, and played kind of the same songs in the same setting. So that record has felt really close to me since then, because it was the start of a really good companionship, and I love it. When I was starting out doing this kind of music, and I really started getting into piano music and modern classical music, he was one of the first people I discovered, and the first person I became a fan of. I’ve worked with him a little bit. There’s nothing released, but we are working on something. I was just trying to come to terms with this last weekend after me and Ryuichi spent some time together in my studio. It’s like, ‘What the fuck has happened with my life?’ All these people that I looked at as superstars, who were my absolute idols in my life and my music, are coming to me. It’s a really strange feeling.