Johann Johannsson - Fordlandia 2xLP
$31.98
Label: 4AD
Originally released just as Johann's star was rising in the world of modern composition, Fordlandia is a beautiful meld of strings and electronics, with two themes running throughout; "This album is like a film with two separate story lines that at first don´t seem to have a lot to do with each other, but actually they do," said Johann at the time.
The idea of failed utopias is the main thread, with the album's title is a reference to the Fordlandia rubber plantation in Brazil that Henry Ford built with grand plans in the mid-1920s but abandoned after a mere eight years at a huge cost and without a single tire for one of his cars having been produced. The collision of mysticism and rocket science is the other theme explored – made apparent by song titles such as "The Rocket Builder (Lo Pan!)" and "Melodia (Guidelines for a Space Propulsion Device Based on Heim's Quantum Theory)" – a topic Johann was fascinated by at the time of writing this album, keenly studying the leftfield works of John Whiteside Parsons and Burkhard Heim.
Previously only available on vinyl as a small run pressed by Johann himself on his NTOV label, this new pressing comes spread across two 180g pieces of black vinyl and is housed in a beautiful gatefold sleeve.
