Calder

 

Calder formed in Iceland when musical instrument maker Lárus Sigurðsson and Ólafur Josephsson, who is perhaps best known for his recordings under the alias Stafrænn Hákon, met and decided to join forces. Lárus' background is in classical music, having played with various Icelandic musicians and self-released a handful of solo recordings. Ólafur Josephsson has been experimenting with ambient guitar arrangements under the name Stafrænn Hákon since 1999.

Calder’s debut CD was released in 2005 on Ólafur’s own Vogor Recordings and later reissued by UK indie Unlabel. Work began on a follow-up, with Ólafur and Lárus exchanging ideas and composing music collaboratively, Lárus handling acoustic melodic ideas and Ólafur adding electronic elements. On the resulting album, entitled “Lower”, melody, structure and beats have come more to the fore, although the beautiful and haunting guitar atmospherics of their debut are still evident.