this title is no longer available from Strange Fortune
Empty City is the latest album of Tor Lundvall and one of the most celebrated electronic music releases of 2006. File under: ghost ambient! First edition is limited to 955 numbered copies.
"Tor's musical invocations are so authentic and effective it is mesmerizing."
–Heathen Harvest
"I'm convinced that this man is exploring new fields, maybe this way creating new perspectives in ambient."
–Side-Line
"makes Goldfrapp, Scala and Portishead sound like ZZ Top. Trip hop minus the hop."
–Terrorizer
In 2005, New York based painter & musician Tor Lundvall (ex-World Serpent UK) unveiled Last Light, his latest album of curiously listenable, ghostly ambient music, and his first to feature proper "songs" with vocals. Last Light proved to be Tor's best seller, and has accumulated critical praise from e/i to Gothic Beauty to Terrorizer.
This month, Strange Fortune opens the gates to what we believe to be the first essential release of 2006, Tor Lundvall's Empty City.
Every Tor Lundvall release is distinct, and while Empty City may in some ways be considered a companion to Last Light, sharing its deep resonating sonic character, in other ways it's an opposite release. Where Last Light was about looking inward, Empty City ventures out to a fantastic, frightening new world, a decayed urban setting much different than anything Tor ever explored in the past. Where Last Light was centered around words, on Empty City the music takes over once again. There are vocals but used exclusively in an instrumental manner, no lyrics needed this time.
While countless electronic music makers regularly deliver new recordings to fit in the ambient music category, with Tor Lundvall what you get is a new category to discover. The subtle underlying melodic structure of this music means it may be the most listenable "ambient" music you've ever heard, while it's all drenched in a singularly moody, haunted atmosphere that is Tor's real trademark. We believe what Tor is doing is the best and most exciting thing happening in the ambient electronic music world. File under: "ghost ambient."
For maximum listener enjoyment, the music of Tor Lundvall is best taken together with Tor's phantasmagoric visuals (see the online gallery at torlundvall.com), for a total aesthetic experience so striking you'll never forget it.
Tor Lundvall's Empty City is promoted & distributed worldwide by Strange Fortune.
Strange Fortune listener reviews are a free space to share your impressions of the music.
sombunya says on 11 Apr 2006
Tor Lundvall’s latest release “Empty City” has clearly reached an even higher plane than his previous works. Just 45 seconds into this record and I knew it was special. The description “Ghost Ambient” is indeed appropriate. This is a remarkable composition that expands the boundaries of ambient music when it would seem that such limits have already been reached. Only a truly creative mind can accomplish such a feat.
“Empty City” is a perfect medium to relax and meditate to; a marvelous and engaging sound that firmly holds one’s interest. While it is most definitely ambient in nature, there’s a complex character throughout that is hard to describe. This disc can be played over and over while maintaining a secure embrace on the listeners senses. An undeniably exotic, superb listen.
The production is spectacular, flawless, professional. Tor Lundvall and Strange Fortune deserve high praise and congratulations on this incredible work.
mrmike says on 11 Apr 2006
Probably the best CD I've heard this year. Easily as good (maybe better) than "Last Light" (which I loved).
When listening, I feel like I'm somewhere in the future, in the universe of a Kubrick movie. Think of "2001- A Space Odyssey", "Solaris", "Alien"; track 10 is perfect for the soundtrack to "Blade Runner."
If you've never heard his work before, Aphex Twin's "Selected Ambient Works Vol-2" or Global Communication's "Pentamerous Metamorphosis" are pretty good ideas of what his work "feels" like.
Good stuff, I can't wait for his next CD.
Narsheptha says on 11 Apr 2006
Breathtaking!
Evocative, meditative and hypnotic, Tor Lundvall has an uncanny ability to tickle the very soul of a setting, whether it be urban ("Empty City") or natural ("Last Light"). Both visually and aurally, Tor has created a landscape that speaks to the listener on an intimate and unconscious level. For me, the most familiar and haunting track was "2:00 AM," aptly named and eloquently representative of a time of morning that I experience perhaps too often.
Everyone can recognize and relate to this music, no matter their cultural background or their individual musical tastes. I just wish we could convince them all to try it.
My only regret is that it isn't twice as long...
vespers75 says on 13 Apr 2006
I enjoyed "Empty City" much more than "Last Light".....the fact that it is an instrumental album is a definite plus for me. To be honest, I love Tor's musical explorations, but I'm not a huge fan of his vocals. I'm an old-school Tor fan who prefers his instrumental works, such as the excellent "Autumn Calls" album. Anyhow, regarding "Empty City".....this is probably my favorite release since his first album. Musically, this album seems to be very 'drone' influenced....not deep, dark drones, but steady foggy drones......which tends to make some of the tracks sound similar, and causes them to appear to bleed together. But though that would often mean "boring" for some ambient artists, in this case it actually helps promote the bleak urban atmosphere of this cd. If the the color grey had a sound, it would be Empty City. A highly recommended listening experience for lonely urban dwellers and late nights.
Adam Bomb says on 14 Apr 2006
Tor somehow manages to top his last disc which was beyond brilliant. This reminds me of my younger days spent working in the steel mills on the south side of Chicago. So much feeling in his music, I just don't understand how Tor is just head and shoulders above EVERYONE in the dark genre. Amazing and easily the best CD I've heard in a very long time. My only complaint is that this is not a triple disc !
crying303 says on 22 Apr 2006
The only thing I regret about this cd is its duration: 45 minutes only.
Since the songs are very sensitive and fragile, I need enough 'incubation' to get into the right (read: purest) atmosphere ... I was kinda shocked that - once I felt myself completely merged with the music - it suddenly ended abruptly and I got back into reality.
Nevertheless, Empty city is the best of Lundvall's (yet so impressing) recordings and most of all, it suits all.
Most certainly, thee release of 2006 sofar! Brilliant!
pif242 says on 4 May 2006
Modern musicians who happen to have critical success as this is the case for Tor Lundvall have 3 choices after they have released their masterpiece (which Last Lights was in this case). They can repeat themselves ad nauseam and sell in impressive numbers but lose the critics support, change styles drastically and lose a good portion of their fans or sticking to their style but adding something new and interesting with every release. Obviously Tor Lundvall has chosen the latter to our enjoyment... I think I will go against most comments posted here and say that I liked the vocal parts of Last Lights and Under The Shadows... a lot. But the music in Empty City is so well crafted and evocative that it truly speaks for itself. The atmosphere is maybe less dreamy and foggy but still soothing .All in all Tor Lundvall is getting better and better making us wonder if there is an end to his talent.
djproject says on 11 Oct 2007
(this was my first exposure to tor lundvall, so i have no idea about his back catalogue)
i agree with the album's self-descript that this is "ghost ambient." it's evocative of "dark ambient" in its infinite reverb, sparse instrumentation and hitting the right/wrong notes to create a foreboding feeling. but it doesn't reek of despair like other dark ambient releases (think nurse with wound's _homotopy to marie_ or _soliloquy for lilith_). the atmosphere is dark but it's the kind of dark of an cloudy autumn day or during the dusk/dawn points of the day. it's just low light and empty space. but life doesn't surrender ... it remains even when no one is wondering. to put it another way, these are the sounds a tree or a building makes when no one is around to hear it.
having been an on/off insomniac, i've been awake during the hours of 2 to 5 am. there is an errie silence that is there in the urban/suburban areas. even with the hum of fluorescent lights in shopping centres or 24-hr locales, the traffic lights and the occasional car driving by ... there is a stillness that's a bit scary but mostly inviting. it's similar to stepping into a cold pool: you are shocked by it but it doesn't take you long to warm to it ... and you never want to leave.
at any rate, this is a great release. and i want to hear from mr. tor lundvall ... hopefully for not too long =]
madamecurry says on 19 Dec 2008
What a tasty bit of sound-scaping this albumn is, and naturally I'm inclinded to listen to it more in the autumn and winter months. The slow churning beats laced with, dare I say, smooth ambient tones, at times graced with vocals that do not detract, but ad another layer of tones to the sinking, moist womb of sound. Many of the tracks are similar with minor variations, but all in all, it's a good listen, and the smart use of beats moves it all along nicely.
agree or disagree? post your own review or comment
dying to have it?
try searching for Tor Lundvall at gemm
