How many things that I love can you fit in one picture? A bookstore. Featuring diverse stories (which is another way of saying stories you haven’t heard a thousand times already). And Icelandic wisdom. Throw in a latte and you’ve got my perfect day.
ByGD
Music I Like – Icelandic Singles
I usually don’t like listening to singles. I prefer to put on an album and let it run. But mostly thanks to the Reykjavik Grapevine I’ve stumbled across a few emerging Icelandic artists who only seem to have a song or two posted online. And I’ve liked what I heard enough to make a note of it.
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ByGD
Music I Like – From Iceland
At times this blog has mostly been about Iceland, but external pressures and new obsessions have led my attention astray lately. I even missed the Reykjavik Calling concert this year when it landed on the same day as my opera tickets. While I blinked, my favorite frozen rock in the North Atlantic didn’t stop putting out great music. Here is some newer music I like from Iceland.
Sólveig Matthildur
I always felt a little guilty that I couldn’t get into Kælan Mikla. But when I heard Constantly in Love, the second solo album by Kælan Mikla keyboardist Sólveig Matthildur, I was instantly pulled in to the dark electronic atmosphere.
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Misþyrming
I’ve always been more of a death metal girl, and I cam to the black metal party very late, via Iceland. The first black metal bands I ever liked were Svartidaudi and the band that came to be known as Zhrine. Since then, Icelandic black metal has continued to be my favorite flavor. Misþyrming is one of the best of the bunch, in my opinion and I think in everyone else’s.
On first listen, Algleymi didn’t grab me by the throat the way earlier releases did. I was initially put off by the fuzzier production – more kvlt, but I like cleaner recordings, even when the music is distorted. Then the vocals on third track evoked old Ministry and I got over it. Then the guitars went all Ennio Morricone on track four, and after that resistance was futile.
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Kronos Quartet & múm
I’ve been into múm for a very long time, but I’ve never paid Kronos Quartet the attention they deserve, and I ignore splits as a general rule (it’s just one way I try to filter the flood of new music). That’s going to have to stop now that I’ve heard this split in which Kronos Quartet rework múm’s “Smell Memory” on one track and múm remaster the song on the other.
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Kælan Mikla
Okay, I lied. When I first heard Kælan Mikla at Eistnaflug in 2014, they weren’t really my jam. But after I heard Solveig’s solo stuff, I started thinking about what a new band they were then, and how long they’ve stuck around. I got curious about their new sound, and, um, I liked it. They have evolved a ton from the DIY-sounding punks I saw. Nótt eftir nótt is so sophisticated and lush, I wouldn’t have recognized the band at all. Kælan Mikla have really grown up.
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Marína Ósk
I’m breaking my “no singles” rule again here, but I don’t think Marína Ósk even has an album out. {Update: She does. It’s called Athvarf and it’s on Spotify.} Reykjavik Grapevine listed the lyric video for “Ég sit hér í grasinu” (which I’m guessing is a lengthy cognate, “I sit here in the grass”) as an asset for language students. They were mostly joking, of course, but this video reminded me how much I love the sound of Icelandic, and made we want to renew my attempts to learn more of it. And it brought back that old fernweh feeling.
ByGD
Bonus Poetry at Taste of Iceland
The Icelanders say everyone has a book in their belly, and they are better than the people of most nations at getting that book out. (Don’t think about the metaphor too much, though.) It makes sense that the annual Taste of Iceland would include a literary event. This year, author Andri Snær Magnason spoke at the Elliott Bay Book Company.
ByGD
Music I Liked – Reykjavik Calling
Taste of Iceland has become an annual tradition for me. I try to make it to as many events as I can each year: the tasting, the museum exhibits, laser shows, and literary events. But for me the biggest event is the Reykjavik Calling concert. In the past it was held at Neumos with some cool collaborations between local and Icelandic artists. Now it’s in KEXP’s Gathering Space with a simple lineup of two Iceland bands followed by a local band. It’s a simple setup, but it always lets me see Icelandic bands that rarely play Seattle, and I always discover local music I’ve previously overlooked. This year, I saw Gyda, Vök, and Navvi. I liked it.