Amethystium Remix Contest

Grand Prize Winner

 

Grand Prize

Merchandise from Neurodisc Records, Inc.
ACID Pro software
Sony Sound Series™ The Bill Laswell Collection loop bundle
Sony Sound Series Ultimate Electronica Pack: North America loop bundle
Sony Sound Series Ultimate Electronica Pack: Western Europe loop bundle
Sony MP3 Walkman

About the Contest

ACIDplanet™ continues to scour the globe for new and exciting music. We deliver yet again with Amethystium, Oystein Ramfjord's musical project. We're offering "Arcus" from his recently released Emblem (Selected Pieces) for remixing.

About the Artist

From time to time, an artist/project comes along that defies easy categorization, that pushes boundaries, that crosses lines and yet strangely remains focused and very lucid in terms of direction and feel. Norway’s Oystein Ramfjord has captured that certain magic and managed to - at a very young age - create a project that is as mystical as it is melodic.

The project, which turned into a three record trilogy, became Amethystium. Ramfjord’s vision was way beyond his years – as he created the entire first record during his teen years from age 16-19, and saw it released on a national scale by the time he was 20. The record immediately gathered a fanatical and, some would consider, a slightly left-of-center fan base. Images of fairies, dragonflies, and Tolkienesque themes were strewn throughout the arrangements and created a sort of "Lord of the Rings" like soundscape. The first three albums, Odonata, Aphelion, and, most recently Evermind, came to be known as the Dragonfly Trilogy, named after the recurring themes in the music and the images of a dragonfly’s journey and appearances on artwork.

Amethystium’s trilogy has accumulated many accolades from fans and peers alike. All three albums have charted within the Billboard New Age Top Ten. His individual albums have ranked amongst industries ‘yearly best of’ including Amazon.com’s Editor’s Pick (Aphelion), Echoes.org Listeners Top Picks (Aphelion) and New Age Reporter’s Airplay (Evermind). IMAX/Disney also licensed his song “Odyssey” from the Odonata album for their International film “Sacred Planet.”

Emblem (selected pieces) is a retrospective of, and, more importantly, a carefully chosen collection of Ramfjord’s most meaningful and inspired moments from each record. The songs are in no particular order in terms of time tables, or release dates, but rather, were put together to try and connect the three records and more or less create a beginning, middle and end of a musical story. Emblem (selected pieces) features personal liner notes from Oystein allowing a glimpse into his world of mystery. The album has been re-mastered for a fuller, more spacious sound - and also includes a re-recording and a previously unreleased song that is a good indication of where Amethystium is headed for a new album slated for 2007. Consider this as a changing of the guard – or passing of the torch musically.

Website
http://www.amethystium.com

Discography
Odonata - 2001*
Aphelion - 2003*
Evermind - 2004*
Emblem (Selected Pieces) - 2006