Artist » Kimono

• Release date: 03.09.2010
• Format: CD // LP // MP3
• Website: www.kimono.is
• Myspace: kimono myspace
• Press Sheet: kimono

Third studio album from Icelandic progressive guitar rock band kimono is being released on Kimi Records next September. Easy Music for Difficult People marks a significant change in style for the band, returning as a trio and with their first album in three years. kimono, which was formerly a quartet, has been active for 9 years and has released three studio albums, one EP and one dub album based on their 2003 debut.

At just over 30 minutes and featuring nine songs, Easy Music for Difficult People represents a shift from the “calm before the storm” soundscape (with which the band has been associated on their previous records) to a full-on post-punk album where urgency, darkness and immediacy hold sway.

This time around kimono took their time polishing their sound and a new set of songs that comprise Easy Music For Difficult People. After experimenting with live multi-track recordings in their studio, called “onomatopoeaic”, in downtown Reykjavík, the band recruited Arctic Death Ship engineer Aron Arnarsson and recorded the entire album live over a long weekend in the summer of 2009. Lead singer and guitarist Alex MacNeil manned the post of producer.

All instruments, amplification and drums were set up in one space with no dividers to isolate the roaring interplay of guitars from the relentless sonic attack of the drums. The result is an electrifying studio album where the band has attempted and succeeded in bringing its notable live experience to your stereo.

Reviews:

“And clocking in at under 30 minutes, ’it just socks you with baritone power and then finishes, saying “Call me” without leaving it´s number. But like the guitar rock slut that I am, it just makes me want to go back the beginning and play it again (and again)…” – Bob Cluness, Reykjavik Grapevine

“It is nothing less than astounding that Easy Music For Difficult People was recorded entirely live in the studio over the course of a long weekend! Claustrophobically tight, painfully raw, and staggeringly intense, its approx. 30 minutes showcase a mature, down-to-earth blend of rare quality and discipline, indifferent to international acclaim.” – Vasilis Panagiotopoulos, Drowned in Sound

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