LONG PLAYER OF THE DAY: Jóhann Jóhannsson, ‘And In the Endless Pause There Came the Sound of Bees’

The Details: Jóhann Jóhannsson, And In The Endless Pause There Came The Sound Of Bees
(Type, 2010)

The Reason(s) We Can’t Stop Listening: It works every time; it being the brain balm effect of neo-classical LPs like Jóhann Jóhannsson’s latest film score. Written with an animated short (a devastating adaptation of the award-winning picture book Varmints) in mind, And In the Endless Pause… is melodramatic but moving–a mood-destabilizing mix of fallen sopranos, rich strings, sustained minor keys and subtle electronic flourishes. As cliched as the terms “epic” and “sweeping” are on the critic speak scale, there’s really no better way of describing this record.

Check out the trailer for Varmints and a streaming version of Jóhannsson’s entire record after the jump…