iTunes

Opening the iTunes Store.If iTunes doesn't open, click the iTunes application icon in your Dock or on your Windows desktop.
iTunes

iTunes is the world's easiest way to organize and add to your digital media collection.

We are unable to find iTunes on your computer. To preview and buy music from For 2 by Alva Noto, download iTunes now.

Already have iTunes? Click I Have iTunes to open it now.

I Have iTunes Free Download
iTunes for Mac + PC

For 2

Alva Noto

View More By This Artist

Open iTunes to preview, buy, and download music.

Customer Reviews

Better than its predecessor

I hate to write a review of something on the day it was purchased, but For 2 makes itself known quite quickly. I was expecting a harsh ambient affair like the original For, which for me sparkled only on Z1 and Transit. For 2's opener Garment is the best AN track in some time, coming like a mix-up of the first Xerrox and first Opto: shimmering but organic. AN then gives us two "harsh ambient" tracks before the lovely Venetian Snares-esque Argonaut. After two less-harsh ambient tracks there are Interim and T3, two perfect AN numbers, all warm and frigid/textured and glassy. Early Winter also shines, with its scraping clicks and optimistic intermittent piano pings setting the stage for Anthem Berlin and its noxious bunker feel. Finally, the most 12k track AN has made, Argonaut-Version, feels like a remix of Deupree's Northern. For 2 is a real and pure AN release. If you've been moved by any of his work you'll be moved by this.

Headphone Commute Review

Following a triumphant 2009 and two of the most notable releases of the year (Xerrox Vol. 2 and Utp_ with Ryuichi Sakamoto) Carsten Nicolai, aka Alva Noto, returns with a second installment of compositions devoted to creative personalities from a number of different fields. Coming four years after the first one, For 2 features compositions dating as far back as 2003, although most are from around 2007. For 2 confirms that Nicolai’s music has become more and more orchestral in recent years, for lack of a better word, and not as heavily anchored in the glitchy beats of Transform and the Transall series. Although the micro beats, squelches and static continue to be among the defining characters of Noto’s music, there’s more going on all around them than there used to be. Of course, Nicolai has been rubbing up against modern classical music in his collaborations with Ryuichi Sakamoto going back as far as 2002 so this is no sudden revelation. But it feels like there’s more weight to his recent solo output as well. His two Xerrox volumes are a case in point. So is opening track "Garment (for a garment)". The sonic identity is intimately familiar - sonar beeps, white noise and minimal glitch. But halfway through, the cellos enter, providing the emotional depth that has often been absent from Nicolai's sterile soundscapes. It's a terrific track and simply put, the blend of the electric and organic just sounds great. Understandably, since For 2 is a compilation of material composed for many different occasions, there's a lot of variety on offer. There's the field recording-based "Villa Aurora (for Marta Feuchtwanger)", with birdsong and airplanes flying overhead. The dark and oppressive "Stalker (for Andrei Tarkovsky)" features Russian dialogue, presumably from the film of the same name, and is reminiscent of Kreng's L’Autopsie Phénoménale De Dieu. On the other end of the spectum, there's the bright and luminescent "Sonolumi (for Camera Lucida)" and the rhythmic beeps of "T3 (for Dieter Rams)". But on the whole, the tone of For 2 is contemplative and atmospheric. This is a fascinating and rewarding collection and it makes you want to dive in and explore the connection with the people to whom the music is dedicated. I must admit that most of the names are unfamiliar to me, although I know Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky and have heard of Phil Niblock. But the others drew a blank. So I thought it would be worthwhile to flesh out the context a bit. As Carsten Nicolai said when I interviewed him last your for Headphone Commute (see Two and a Half Questions with Carsten Nicolai): "I think, personally, that it’s not really necessary for the listener to know the full background of the concept... The listener can just enjoy and listen without any preconception... If you want to know more, if you want to have a really detailed view, you can go deeper and you can explore several levels of the piece. It can be enjoyable to be able to see the background of the piece..." So while it's certainly not essential to know the stories to enjoy the music, it does add an extra dimension. And those familiar with Carsten Nicolai's music know that "concept" is virtually his middle name. I have therefore added some info on the devotees here below, which may be of interest to those wishing to "go deeper". It's well worth the journey.

Biography

Genre: Electronic

Years Active: '90s, '00s

Alva Noto is the pseudonym of German audio-visual artist Carsten Nicolai. Born in the east German city of Karl-Marx-Stadt in 1965, Nicolai first studied architecture and landscape design before pursuing an interest in the theoretical properties of sound and space. Resettling in Berlin in the early '90s, Nicolai founded the experimental music label Noton.Archiv Fuer Ton Und Nichtton as a platform for his conceptual and experimental musical concerns. Those concerns finally took shape as a 12-issue...
Full Bio

Top Albums and Songs By Alva Noto

Listeners Also Bought

For 2, Alva Noto
 View In iTunes

Customer Ratings

We have not received enough ratings to display an average for this album.

Contemporaries

Become a fan of the iTunes and App Store pages on Facebook for exclusive offers, the inside scoop on new apps and more.