Hugar - The Vasulka Effect: Music for the Motion Picture '2020

Tracks list

Icelandic multi-instrumentalists Bergur Þórisson and Pétur Jónsson
are releasing their second album for Sony Masterworks next month. Under their
alias of Hugar, The Vasulka Effect: Music From the Motion Picture sees the duo
composing the score for the Icelandic film of the same name, which was directed
by Hrafnhildur Gunnarsdóttir.

Both musicians have extensive experience, and this shows within the score.
Berger has worked with Björk and took the role of musical director while she
was on tour, and they’ve also collaborated with fellow Icelandic legends
Jóhann Jóhannsson and Ólafur Arnalds. Their dreamy and
largely-improvised self-titled debut was independently released back in 2014.
Since then, their rise has been nothing short of meteoric. Using multiple
layers, their quiet ambient music fits in well with the compositional role of
the film score, which is unobtrusive but adds another vital element to the image
on film, not only supporting it but injecting it with vibrancy and authentic
emotions.

Their film score for The Vasulka Effect will be premiered at Nordisk Panorama
Film Festival on September 21. The film follows video art pioneers Steina &
Woody Vasulka, who are described as being ‘grandparents of the YouTube
generation’. After a struggle in their retirement years, the pair are
rediscovered by an art world which had largely forgotten about them; their
rediscovered popularity ensures that people and institutions are suddenly
fighting over who will represent them after they are gone.

Blending drone, elegant ambient, calm and cool electronics, and modern classical
music, The Vasulka Effect is a stunner. Right from the opener, where a slow,
washed-out, and electronically-smudged chord progression drips like rain over a
soft melody, the music engages the mind as well as the emotions. The pedal point
of the piano on ‘Santa Fe’ allows a melody to shine through its
slanted gaps of light, and as the bass walks around, a syncopated melody skips
over the lower notes, creating a beautiful rhythm and instilling the music with
a playfulness as well as a softly-spoken, understated sound. The piano becomes a
focal point, but the ambient layering is never far away, and the record feels
atmospheric without going OTT. Everything feels balanced, and that’s
perhaps the most striking thing about the album. With the arrival of this score,
Hugar have demonstrated their brilliance once again. The Vasulka Effect will be
released October 2 on Sony Masterworks.

Tracklisting:
01. Hugar - A New Renaissance (3:13)
02. Hugar - Santa Fe (2:15)
03. Hugar - Life (2:25)
04. Hugar - All Active (3:03)
05. Hugar - Debt (2:02)
06. Hugar - Faded Reflection (2:29)
07. Hugar - The Past (1:51)
08. Hugar - A Different Place (2:52)
09. Hugar - SoHo (1:19)
10. Hugar - The Future (1:51)
11. Hugar - Did We Find This Place? (1:47)
12. Hugar - Blue Dome (2:11)
13. Hugar - Enigma (3:58)
14. Hugar - Warhol (1:47)
15. Hugar - Alternate Reality (2:34)
16. Hugar - Dali (1:22)
17. Hugar - The Kitchen (1:47)
18. Hugar - Reykjavík (2:43)
19. Hugar - Evolution (2:02)
20. Hugar - Reinvented (2:13)

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