Liminal

Sigur Ros' ambient side project released new songs ahead of David Lynch fest

liminal is more than an ambient sigur rós mixtape curated by jónsi, alex somers and paul corley. liminal sees sigur rós as an eco-system. it identifies the connections and blurs the boundaries between work done and work to come; between new music and ideas barely yet born; between songs written 20 years ago and collaborations to be made tomorrow. in bringing together these collaborations and commissions – for choreographers, visual artists and new technologies – with solo work and remixes, film score and generative music, as well as friends in the wider sigur rós ‘family’, liminal aims to take the listener to a place neither here nor there, a “liminal” space. liminal will live as an ‘endless’ mixtape, always growing but never done…

Earlier this year, Jonsi (of Sigur Ros), Alex Somers and Paul Corley launched the “endless mixtape” Liminal (that’s the description above), and they just released another installment of it, including the “first official digital release” from Jonsi’s noughties alter-ego Frakkur (a Paul Corley remix of Frakkur’s “A Drop In The Ocean”), Jonsi’s previously unreleased “Missir,” an Alex Somers remix of Julianna Barwick‘s “The Harbinger,” Vatican Shadow‘s “Yemeni Telephone Number (Excerpt),” Ian William Craig‘s “Either Or (Edit),” and more. You can stream the whole thing below.

Meanwhile, Jonsi, Alex and Paul just presented an immersive Soundbath installation for Liminal at at David Lynch’s Festival of Disruption in LA this past weekend. From mxdwn‘s review:

A few blocks away at the Cooper Design Space, inside the Cooper Building, Jonsi of influential Icelandic experimental rock band Sigur Ros, held a “Liminal Soundbath,” with the help of Alex Somers, and Paul Corley. Inside this space, mats were spread across the floor, with scented candles, light sculptures and fog to give the perception of a sonic bath, meant to help the audience achieve a sense of peace and calm.

This experience could be described as pure ambiance as the sounds were completely engaging. Laying down it was easy to get lost into the music that was playing that sounded like a mixture of ambient noises with loud bass sections that shook the very space that it was in. This experience was made to help the audience get lost in the music as they meditated in a way that suited them.

“They create a very beautiful ambient soundscape so people can basically enter a deeper layer of their consciousness, through music,” Martin explained. “So it tied in beautifully with the concept of meditation.”

And here’s the first installment of Liminal:

Liminal 2 Tracklist
Alex Somers – Swallow
Jónsi & Alex – Chapter Three (Alex Somers remix)
Julianna Barwick – The Harbinger (Alex Somers remix)
Sigur Rós – Varúð (Liminal remix)
John Somers – Poppies (Liminal remix)
Vatican Shadow – Yemeni Telephone Number
Hymnalaya – Xll (Alex Somers remix)
Chris Watson – Vatnajökull (Liminal remix)
Jónsi – Missir
John Somers – A Candy Coated Slow Down (Alex Somers remix)
Ian William Craig – Either Or (edit)
John Somers – Sea Organ (Liminal remix)
Sigur Rós – Untitled #7 (Paul Corley remix)
Frakkur – A Drop In The Ocean (Paul Corley remix)