Home #newagemusic Johan Agebjörn & Mikael Ögren – Artefact

Johan Agebjörn & Mikael Ögren – Artefact

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Johan Agebjörn and Mikael Ögren have just released their second collaborative release, “Artefact”, an “unofficial soundtrack” inspired by Arthur C. Clarke’s classic novel “Rendezvous with Rama.” The album is released on Spotted Peccary Music and music fans can listen, view or purchase the music on the platform of their choice at https://orcd.co/artefact

Press release by Beth Ann Hilton – The B Company

On the album, the warm pulse of vintage synthesizers blends with the steely atmospherics and electronic sounds of a modern sci-fi soundtrack. With styles ranging from ambient to trance, Artefact also features collaborations with a fellow Spotted Peccary recording artist Stefan Strand (aka Between Interval) and independent musician Johan Emmoth (aka Le Prix), as well as ethereal soprano vocals by Martina Björk.

The album is available on Bandcamp:

The gear is always an interesting part of the journey, and this trip included Access Virus Indigo II, Alesis Micron, Clavia Nord Lead 2, Kurzweil K2000, Novation Supernova, Propellerheads Reason 11 with Korg MonoPoly, Roland DJ-70, Roland JD-800, Roland JP-8000, Thoraiz AS-1, Waldorf Blofeld, Yamaha AN1x;  all blend into the ethereal atmospherics and electronic sounds of a classic sci-fi soundtrack, traversing styles ranging from ambient to trance.

“Stefan Strand is an old friend of mine,” explains Agebjörn. “This is the first time we have collaborated on an original track. I love his music.” He continues, “Johan Emmoth is a talented musician who I got to know when we made a few tracks and remixes together in disco/synthwave style, but this is more ambient/experimental than the earlier ones.”

Martina Björk — a friend of Ögren — is a soprano singer with a PhD in Latin. He says, “She managed to catch the very special, kind of sacred, ancient feeling and combined it with the almost melancholic, sad sense of abandonment that saturates the very moment of the Rama story that this song is trying to depict.”

The audience is beckoned to join the brave space expedition inside the artefact, revealing the inner landscapes and prompting the imagination of the listener. Despite the heavy use of synths of the ’90s, the whole album carries more of a timeless character than their previous album, covering different styles and images from the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s, and even an echo from the 18th and 19th century through Björk’s beautiful soprano voice.

“The main reason why Rendezvous With Rama attracted me to such an extent, was that the main theme seems to be the encounter with the otherworldy, the very Other, the big unknown,” explains Ögren. “This has been such an exciting journey from the beginning ’til the end. The first visions and sensations that unfolded as I laid on a beach on a sunny Greek island, reading Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C Clarke’s astonishing masterpiece.”

About Johan Agebjörn: Gothenburg-based Swedish producer Johan Agebjörn works in a range of electronic genres, from electro-disco and house to ambient new age, but always grounds his approach in a deep appreciation for the roots and history of electronic music. Agebjörn had been largely focused on ambient electro productions inspired by fellow Scandinavians like Krister Linder and Biosphere.

About Mikael Ögren: Mikael Ögren is a Swedish synthesizer musician heavily influenced by electronic pioneers such as Kraftwerk and Jean Michel Jarre, as well as ’90s trance innovators Jam & Spoon. A priest by profession, he’s been active as a musician mostly as a hobby until he began collaborating with Agebjörn during the mid-2010s.

For more information and music samples, visit https://spottedpeccary.com/shop/artefact/