Kaktus Einarsson - Remix The Ladder (2022)

Following his anticipated debut album ‘Kick The Ladder’ last year, Kaktus Einarsson announces his eclectic new remix album ‘Remix The Ladder’. It’s released by One Little Independent Records on April 1st and features the likes of JFDR, Bawrut, Theus Mago, Brandt Brauer Frick and many more.

"It’s so much fun to get all these different sounds and interpretations of the recorded material by artists I really admire” Einarsson tells us, “some of which take the songs and shape them into totally new compositions”.

From Irish DJ Phil Kieran’s epic synthwave do-over of ‘Daydream Echo’ to Icelandic singer, songwriter Jófríður Ákadóttir aka JFDR taking the reins on ‘45rpm’ to craft a stripped back, atmospheric gem, ‘Remix The Ladder’ is a collection brimming with original creativity from around the world.

As a musician who especially treasures collaboration (last year he released his live EP ‘In The Garden’, recorded with the likes of Thibault Gomez, Kurt Uenala, Helgi Svavar Helgason and Albert Finnbogason), Kaktus Einarsson used this opportunity to reach out to a plethora of his music idols as well as his close friends.

Kurt Uenala returns after co-producing ‘Kick The Ladder’ for his futurist Null+Void rework of ‘Chimes’. Einarsson says “to hear Kurt take the song into his big electronic world, yet still keeping the majority of the prepared piano blew me away”. Of Superpitcher (one half of dance duo Pachanga Boys), he says “he’s been one of my musical heroes for a long time, so when we ended up at a dinner party together I had to propose to him to do a remix, and he agreed”.

Elsewhere on the album Einarsson’s brand of soulful dream-pop is morphed into club-ready anthems. Mexican producer Theus Mago, Reykjavik/Berlin techno producer jadzia and indie-dance duo Human Woman all inject a unique energy into their versions that translate directly to the dancefloor. Likewise, German electronic music ensemble Brandt Brauer Frick take us even deeper into the night with their pulsating title-track variant. Kaktus even reveals that “Brandt Brauer Frick are a big reason why I began experimenting with extended playing technique on classical instruments within my music”.