This cassette is part of the lovely series Pan Thorarensen has put out over the last few years featuring live electronic performances at Space Odyssey, his record-store-meets-music-space in Reykjavik. Artists perform live in the intimate setting and the sessions are made available to the world on the Spacey Odyssey Bandcamp page. A limited number of cassettes are also put out for those of us, like me, who simply can’t resist physical media. Over the last three or so years upwards of 60 different performances have received the cassette treatment, each of them a tiny sonic gift.
DJ Flugvél Og Geimskip is a musician and producer known for her eccentric style, one that incorporates mysticism, child-like wonder, storytelling, and, quite often, cats. Her live performances, while not for everyone, are unique and mesmerizing, sonic storytimes full of wonder. I was curious to see how this would translate to Lookaround, her Space Odyssey live set from 2022.
Lookaround is DJ Flugvél stripped down to her aural core. There is a spacey, dreamy flow to her sounds, intersected by quiet warbles and the occasional chirping bird, but the story aspect is left the listener’s imagination – there are no vocals to guide you along the journey. But that’s OK because they aren’t needed, all is peaceful in this early morning soundscape, one that conjures up feelings of walking on a path during a cold, damp morning just as the sun is thinking about rising above the horizon, that magical time when the sky’s tint is starting to turn to blue but if you’re lucky perhaps the bright light of Mars or Venus is still visible in the sky.
This is a lovely performance, a perfect ambient accompaniment to your day. You can stream and purchase digitally at the Space Odyssey Bandcamp page HERE. Tracking down a cassette copy will likely be a bit more challenging and I don’t have any tips for you there other than to add it to your Discogs wantlist.