When I saw Sigur Rós at Airwaves this year, I was surprised by the dark imagery that came to mind. I always thought of Sigur Rós as very positive. They are named “Victory Rose” after the singer’s baby sister; even their creepiest-sounding album, Von, means “Hope;” the song “Starálfur” was the sound of wonder reborn in Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou; and when I first discovered the band, the lyrics were all in “Hopelandic.” But most of all there is the sound. How can music be dark when it sounds like sunlight shining through ice? Read More
ByGD
Discovering the Dark in Sigur Rós’ Valtari Videos
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Pollyblog: Iceland on My Mind
Pollyblog: 1. When you don’t want to say too much, but 140 characters just won’t cover it. 2. Good ideas that haven’t got their legs yet.
You know how when you buy a new car, you suddenly see that kind of car everywhere? Or you discover a new band, and suddenly it seems like everyone else is talking about them, too?
Lately, I’m having that experience with Iceland. Since coming home from Airwaves, I’ve written about my trip nonstop. When I finally wrapped up all my interviews, and “what I did in Iceland” blog posts, I thought I would be able to go back to my normal life. And in many ways I have. But it seems like Iceland is lurking around every corner.
I walk down the street, and the bus driving past me reminds me of Iceland.
I clean up the house, and stumble on unintentional souvenirs.
I pick up a new tube of mascara and only think to look at the ingredients after I get home.
Sometimes, when I’m convinced that I don’t have a thing to wear and need to buy clothes, I look up the day’s date on The Uniform Project. It’s a nice reminder that taking a new look at your clothes is cheaper than buying something new and just as effective. So last week when I did this, look what I found. (Note the collar.)
Day 238. Thu, December 24 2009
Santa’s little helper
Hand knitted icelandic collar made by Bebe. Thrifted blouse from Beacons Closet, vintage suede hat from a brooklyn antique warehouse, tights from Sockdreams and vintage boots from eBay.
I am trying desperately to find meaning in these coincidences. I think I need to watch I Heart Huckabees again to see what the coincidences with the African guy meant. I vaguely remember that they were just coincidences and meant nothing.
Now that I think about it, I Heart Huckabees stars Jason Schwartzman, whose brother Robert Schwartzman was in the movie I watched last night, The Princess Diaries (it was kids’ choice) with Anne Hathaway. She was also in Brokeback Mountain with Heath Ledger. He was in the Batman series. Batman Begins, the first in that series, was filmed in Iceland. So there’s that, too.
What, you think I’m stretching?
ByGD
Stalking Ásgeir Trausti
I saw Ásgeir Trausti four times at Airwaves this year. Add the Reykjavík Calling show in Seattle, and I’ve seen him play five times. With the possible exception of my boyfriend’s band in college, I think that’s the most times I’ve seen any musician. Obviously, I really liked Ásgeir Trausti’s debut album Dýrð Í Dauðaþögn (Glory in Dead Silence). But it’s not like I set out to see as many Ásgeir Trausti sets as possible. It’s not like I was stalking Ásgeir Trausti. Read More
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My Head in the Amazon Cloud
Our household has recently bought in to the Amazon cloud music library storage model. I’m not the primary account holder, and I don’t understand how it works very well, but it’s a nice way to get music that I actually own downloaded to my phone. We’ve begun the long, slow process of ripping our CD collection (somewhere around 500 CDs at last count, which was years ago) and uploading it to the cloud. Read More
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Got Itchy Feet? Put Iceland On Them
For those unfamiliar with the expression, itchy feet is a traveler’s disease. It is the unquenchable desire to escape everyday life to explore someplace new. Like other viruses, once contracted, it remains in the body forever, flaring up at the most inconvenient times. The only treatment is hair of the dog. You’ve got to get the hell out of Dodge to find any relief. For me, treatment is only effective when airplanes and passport stamps are involved – long weekends and camping trips rarely make a difference – and generally, the destination must be someplace new. Unless it’s Iceland. Read More