Blog Archives
Video: Starwalker – Le President
Following their excellent 2014’s Losers Can Win EP, Air’s Jean-Benoît Dunckel and Bang Gang’s Bardi Johannsson, aka Starwalker, have shared the video for their new song “Le President”, directed by Luis Vanegas. The track will appear on their forthcoming debut album.
Meanwhile, the other half of Air, Nicolas Godin will release in the U.S. his solo album “Contrepoint” on February 26 2016 via Because Music (official audio here). You can watch Godin perform “Bach Off” at Aéroport Paris Orly as part of a La Blogothèque Take Away Show, below.
Bang Gang – Out of Horizon (Daniel Hunt [Ladytron] Remix)
Blown in by Reykjavik’s icy winds and guided by the bewitching Northern Lights, Iceland’s own Bardi Johannsson announces the details of the long-awaited new Bang Gang album. Entitled “The Wolves Are Whispering” and out in the U.S. on May 19th, this album is Bang Gang’s first in over 7 years. The album features guest vocals by Helen Marnie (Ladytron), Keren Ann (Lady & Bird), Jofridur Akadottir (Samaris, Pascal Pinon) and Bloodgroup. Press here to listen to the album’s soaring and melodic lead single “Out Of Horizon”, and stream the single’s Daniel Hunt/Ladytron remix, below. The remix is available as a free download.
Though it’s been nearly a decade since the last Bang Gang record, Ghosts From The Past, the brooding Icelandic composer Bardi Johannsson has kept busy with multiple projects. His recent collaborations include the electro-pop duo Starwalker with Jean-Benoît Dunckel of Air and Lady and Bird with French songstress Keren Ann. Johannsson has also scored numerous films and documentaries including David Guy Levy’s Would You Rather (with Daniel Hunt), and the French success De Toutes Nos Forces, directed by Nils Tavernier.
Press here to pre-order The Wolves Are Whispering on digital, CD and vinyl starting today via Pledge Music. Special, limited time only fan giveaways can be found on Pledge Music, as well.
Bang Gang – Out Of Horizon
“Out Of Horizon” is the soaring, melodic first single off of Bang Gang’s upcoming forth LP – their first in almost a decade! As Bardi Johannsson describe it: “This song is like a drive to an unknown space where everything is accepted and nothing is condemned.” Get it here.
Johannsson spent last year with Starwalker, an electropop project with Air’s Jean-Benoît Dunckel. Check out their latest video here.
Video: Starwalker – Blue Hawaii
Following the release of their excellent debut EP Losers Can Win earlier this year, Starwalker, aka the duo of Air’s Jean-Benoît Dunckel and Bang Gang’s Bardi Johannsson, return with a new space-pop gem called “Blue Hawaii”, “a song that mixes perfectly the two suns of Starwalker into one galaxy. You want to change the world, but the world will change you.”
Get ‘Blue Hawaii’ here. Video directed by Ragnar Bragason.
Video: Starwalker – Losers Can Win
Starwalker, the collaborative project between Frenchman Jean-Benoit Dunckel (of AIR) and Icelandic composer Bardi Johannsson (of Bang Gang), have dropped the official video for their new electropop song “Losers Can Win.” Directed by Saevar Gudmundsson. Pre-Order the ‘Losers Can Win’ EP on iTunes: http://bit.ly/1b5jlsu.
EXCLUSIVE: Interview With Starwalker
You may already be familiar with Starwalker, the electro-pop supergroup comprised of Frenchman Jean-Benoit Dunckel (of AIR) and Icelandic composer Bardi Johannsson (of Bang Gang). The duo has just released its debut single, Bad Weather. Reminiscent of both of their past projects, it is as immediate as anything AIR has put out since Talkie Walkie, with panoramic atmospherics courtesy of Johannsson. Its darkly evocative new video, directed by Saevar Gudmundsson and Jeaneen Lund was filmed in Iceland. It follows Dunckel and Johannsson walking through a majestic, deserted landscape, as mysterious hooded figures and black balloons come in and out of the frame, suggesting a kind of fragile, uncertain peace. By the end of the video, the black balloons fade into the ether, like the “Bad Weather” of the past has faded into the recesses of our mind.
We caught up with the pair to discuss about their debut, their musical influences, and their future plans. Read our mini-interview and make sure to get "Bad Weather" here, backed with an amazing remix by Bloodgroup.
Starwalker: We needed a good name for our project.
Zac: How did you guys meet and end up making music together?
Starwalker: We have a common friend that hooked us up, after we tried working on a track and then another and then another and then another and then another and then another and then another and then another and then another and now they are 8…
Zac: Can you tell us a few things about your debut single? What has influenced you the most?
Starwalker: Bad Weather was the first song we worked on together. It combines the universe of ours and is a good Icelandic / French mix. In the lyrics you can find the contrasts of our lives.
Zac: What sort of music were you listening to when you made the song?
Starwalker: We don’t listen to music together. We make it. This collaboration is a good field to try new things and look find a new common sound.
Zac: The "Bad Weather" video clip was screened 24 hours a day throughout the Berlin subway. Why did you choose Berlin? Which is your favorite destination?
Starwalker: Yes it’s cool to have given to Berliners a quick view of the north of Island. Why Berlin? Bbecause we think that this track could work over here. Because of the soundtracky melancholic aspect of the song. Favorite destination? Not berlin sorry. Even if we love it. The south of Europe or south America is very attracting.
Zac: If your first release was a movie which was would it be?
Starwalker: H2G2, hitchickers of the galaxies. I love the charactor who plays the architect of earth at the end of the movie.
Zac: Which is the ideal place to listen to your music?
Starwalker: Taking a bath with a glass of red wine and some girls making dinners in the living room.
Zac: What are you most excited about right now?
Starwalker: About the following. We made the next video and very exited to release it. Also we’ll do a show in Island in March and we’e gonna finish some funky tracks that we love.
Zac: What’s next for Starwalker? Should we expect a new single soon or more remixes?
Starwalker: EP in February with a video. And probably another video in June?
Zac: Music sales and media have changed so much since you first started. How it feels about selling music online and how it feels about illegal music downloads?
Starwalker: People have been trained to download illegaly music. Music became a new economy. Not vertical anymore. No more from up (the factory) to down (the consumers). But from the artist to directly the listeners who consume if they want to. An Horizontal new business. Power back to the people. But creativity rules as ever.
Thank you!
Starwalker’s debut EP is coming soon.
Video: Starwalker – Bad Weather
We’ve already posted “Bad Weather,” the first single from electro-pop supergroup Starwalker, comprised of Frenchman Jean-Benoit Dunckel (AIR) and Icelandic composer Bardi Johannsson (Bang Gang). Below, you can watch the official video, directed by Jeaneen Lund & Saevar Gudmundsson.
Starwalker – Bad Weather (Original + Bloodgroup Remix)
“Bad Weather” is the first single from electro-pop supergroup Starwalker, comprised of Frenchman Jean-Benoit Dunckel (AIR) and Icelandic composer Bardi Johannsson (Bang Gang).
Reminiscent of both of their past projects, it is as immediate as anything AIR has put out since Talkie Walkie, with panoramic atmospherics courtesy of Johannsson. Haunting and deliberately paced, it is a testament to the power of restraint. Unlike most of the electronic pop of the day, it sounds timeless.
Its darkly evocative new video, directed by Saevar Gudmundsson and Jeaneen Lund and filmed in Iceland, will be premiering exclusively on MTV IGGY this Thursday, October 3rd. The clip is going to be screened 24 hours a day throughout the Berlin subway from October 3rd to 7th. Watch a 20 second clip of the upcoming video below. Amidst ominous clouds, mist rising out of the red dust around them, Dunckel and Johannsson walk through a majestic, deserted landscape, as mysterious hooded figures and black balloons come in and out of the frame, suggesting a kind of fragile, uncertain peace. By the end of the video, the black balloons fade into the ether, like the “Bad Weather” of the past has faded into the recesses of our mind.
