HAXAN ALBUM

Bardi Johannsson has long been acclaimed as one of Iceland's most intriguing creative enigmas. Sole member of Bang Gang and one half of Lady and Bird with Keren Ann, Bardi is a composer, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, designer, presenter, satirist and fine purveyor of surreal humour.
His work can be heard from Europe to Hollywood, from silent movies to major theater productions, from the LA teen-drama The OC to advertisements for haute couture – and his versatility and vision is displayed nowhere better than here, on this compelling, largely minimalist selection of Johannsson's classical film, TV and theater compositions.
Like his fellow sonic adventurer, former Pop Will Eat Itself member Clint Mansell, who has written soundtracks for movies such as Moon and The Black Swan, Bardi also developed within the claustrophobic 1990s indie cocoon before emerging to create music of dreamlike space and reflective, pared-back magic.
Bardi has written scores for the National Theater of Iceland and Centre Dramatique D'Orleans (Museum of the Sea, Biederman and the Asterios) and numerous shorts, documentaries and feature films - his soundtrack for Oskar Jonasson's Reykjavik Rotterdam (2009) winning Best Original Film Score at the Icelandic Edda Film Awards. Another notable Johannsson screen project is Haxan (Witches), the controversial Swedish 1920s silent horror movie directed by Benjamin Christensen, for which Bardi completed the score. This particular work would later be arranged for symphony orchestra and performed in 2005 by the National Symphony Orchestra of Iceland.
It is hardly surprising that Bardi's music is also frequently used to make everything from cars to cosmetics to TV series more enticing. The tracks 'Sleep' and 'Liar', from the 1998 album You - a trip-hop-esque release with pop edges – have appeared in adverts for Citroen and Yves Rocher respectively, while the pensive 'Inside' (from the 2003 album Something Wrong) features in Brit movie Cashback (2006) and the trailer for Colin Farell flick Triage (2009), as well as an advertisement for Emporio Armani.
'Lost In Wonderland', from Bang Gang's third album Ghosts From The Past (2008), graced the Academy Award season trailer on Sky Movies; the track is a perfect juxtaposition of fragility and toughness, glitter and pain. (And doesn't that just about sum up the Oscars?)
Through this release the listener can experience the highlights of Bardi's work from the stage and screen as complex, impressionistic soundscapes in their own right with, crucially, no visuals to detract from the potent spells they cast…
Bardi is currently working on the fourth Bang Gang album, and is also preparing to launch his own clothing range.
www.bardijohannsson.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bardi_Johannsson
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bang_Gang
Discography
Lady & Bird (w. Keren Ann & Iceland Symphony Orchestra) - La Ballade of Lady & Bird
Delabel / EMI / Mute 2009
Bang Gang - Ghosts From the Past
Discograph / Bang ehf 2008
Bardi Johannsson (w. Symphony Orchestra of Bulgaria) - Haxan Soundtrack
Discograph / Bang ehf 2006
MinusBardi (with the band Minus) - Strakarnir Okkar Soundtrack
Bang ehf 2005
Bang Gang - Something Wrong
Discograph / Recall / From Nowhere Records / Bang ehf 2003
Lady & Bird (w. Keren Ann) - Lady & Bird
Labels / EMI 2003
Bang Gang - You
Sproti / East West Warner 1998-2000



Work for films & docs
Fiasko - Feature Iceland (2000)
Red Death – Short Film, Co-Director, Writer & Music. Centre Pompidou, Paris (2004)
Viets et Morts d'Andy Warhol - Documentary. Musical Contribution by Lady & Bird (2005)
Africa United - Documentary Iceland (2005)
Eleven Men Out - in Collaboration with the Band Minus Feature Iceland (2005)
Haxan - performed by the Sinfony Orchestra of Iceland conducted by Esa Hekkila (2005)
Reykjavik Rotterdam - Feature Iceland (2008)
2008 Winner of the best film score for Reykjavik Rotterdam at the Icelandic Film awards
2009 Nomination : Scandinavian Film Score of the Year: Gotenborg International Filmfestival.
Stelpurnar Okkar - Documentary Iceland (2009)
Still Point - Documentary France (2010)



Music for theater
Museum of the Sea – Iceland National Theater & Centre Dramatique National d'Orleans (2008)
Biederman and the Asterios - Iceland National Theater (2009)
Hedda Gabbler - Iceland National Theater (2011)



Music for advertisements
Including : Citroen C5, Emperior Armani, Lancia Musa, Hollywood oxygen, TGV (with Keren Ann), Volkswagen Passat, Volkswagen Tiquan, Sterling Air, Foroya Banki