fimmtudagur, júlí 31, 2008

Jack Live útihátíð @ Dillon Bar This Weekend

Jack Live útihátíð @ Rockbar Dillon @ Laugavegur 30 @ Verslunarmannahelgina (Icelandic Bank Holiday)
A long Icelandic Rock'n'Roll Weekend:
Friday 1. August
Jeff Who?
Atomstöðinn
Johnny & Rest
Dikta
Shadow parade
Múgsefjun
Saturday 2. August

Leynihljómsveit
Jan Mayen
Mammút
Shadow Parade
Tab 22
Sunday 3. August

Brain Police
Momentum
Severed Crotch
Boys in a band
Morðingjarnir
Hooker Swing
Ten steps away

Tommygun Preachers "Jawbreaker" Release Party @ Organ 31. July 2008

Tonight there's the Release Party @ Organ of Tommygun Preachers Debut Album "Jawbreaker".
Supporting act is DYS.
www.myspace.com/tommygunpreachers

All Spitalfields Festival 18-20 September 2008

Recently Mark Ollard started blogging, mostly about Icelandic music. Go to his blog Iceblah @
http://iceblah.typepad.com/mostly_music_lots_of_it_i/intro.
He wrote about a Music Festival in East London, Spitalfields 18-20. September 2008, featuring Icelandic artists GusGus, FM Belfast & Steed Lord. First called Spitalfields Airwaves, because of the link with the Iceland Airwaves Festival @ Reykjavik and similarity: 3 nights - 10 small stages.
So London gets a lot of Icelandic music, next to the Reykjavik Nights.
www.myspace.com/allspitalfields
Steed Lord @ Q Bar, Reykjavik, 19. July 2008 (which was the band's first concert after the car crash)
www.youtube.com/v/p_jMvt6e9DU&hl

Steed Lord Live @ LA, July 2008
www.youtube.com/v/EFW8tzt5CXM&hl

www.youtube.com/v/JWKY7iMDf1g&hl

"The Blizzard" by Vicky Pollard

Vicky Pollard put a new song on their MySpace profile today: "The Blizzard". More songs are following the forthcoming weeks.
Song was recorded @ Tankinum @ Flateyri & mixed @ London by Crispin & Jolyon.
First Album will be released in Iceland next month.
On stage 31. July:
19:00 @ 220 Tonleikar - Hafnarfjördur
22:00 @ Hafnfirskt rokk @ Hansen - Hafnarfjördur
www.myspace.com/vickypollardmusic

Singapore Sling & large Earthquake @ LA, California

The band Singapore Sling was in South California on Tuesday when an earthquake 5.4 on the Richter scale struck the Hollywood area.
Singapore Sling is playing 6 gigs on this USA Tour.
First gig @ New York together with The Brian Johnston Massacre.
The other 5 gigs are with The Meek.

"I wanna touch you" New Video by Merzedes Club

Merzedes Club didn't make it to represent Iceland on the European Song Contest this year.
Merzedes Club is the brainchild of Barði Jóhannsson. The group was formed to perform Barði's song "Ho, Ho, Ho, We say Hey, Hey, Hey", one of the 3 songs he wrote for the competition, at the national selection for Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008. They took the second place with this song that was written in 3 hours. The Song was a huge hit in Bulgaria.
Here's another song of the band, uncertain if it's a fake band (something like the singer/character Sylvia Night?).
"I wanna touch you" Animated Video
www.youtube.com/v/-fw7P93u2wg&hl

www.myspace.com/merzedesclub

miðvikudagur, júlí 30, 2008

Lifandi Miðbær: Music @ Hafnarfjörður 31. July

Lifandi Miðbær
On the Program:
Singer Dísa, the bands Vicky Pollard, Ten Steps away, We made god, Atómsstöðin, Hooker Swing, Út-Exit & Hraun.
Start: 18:00 @ Strandgötu á planinu við Súfistan

þriðjudagur, júlí 29, 2008

Documentary

Music by múm
www.youtube.com/v/qnPQMg3KDLs&hl

www.mum.is

Online Seatwave Interview with Biggi Veira of GusGus @ Backstage Pass Website

Online Interview with Biggi of GusGus
by Nora Manthey
21. July, 2008

Nora from www.seatwave.de talked to the Icelandic DJ duo (collective on stage) GusGus after Melt!Festival. Topics ranged from collectives, icons, techno from Iceland and Italy and Whatever Forever.
The interview with Biggi Veira was conducted online, because the guys were partying too hard to meet at the Festival - fair enough, but please, read for yourself.
Melt! Festival must almost have felt like a reunion with friends and family, Roisin Murphy, you´ve done some remixes for, Björk, you used to work with Sugarcubes in the very beginning. Have you met up, had a party together?
Not really, Björk was playing Sunday, and we left on Saturday afternoon. Mostly it was the reunion with Melt itself that did it for me. In 2005 we had just an excellent gig on the extrastage (Gemini I think you call it now) and stole all the crowd from the main stage when we played. Now in 2008 it was bit different. The main stage at 5 in the morning; It was just turning daylight and I was bit afraid that it would not be that many people still awake, but it was quite full when we played and everybody was dancing until the end at 6:10 in the morning.
Which acts have you seen at Melt? Would you consider yourself a fan?
I did not see many to tell the truth. I did not connect to the indie acts that were on the main stage the day we played. I mostly spend my time at the 24 hour party place. I think we left for the bus to sleep at 11 Saturday morning.
Biggi Veira, you worked with GusGus from the very beginning in the 90ies. What is the difference between working in a team rather than in a collective?
Less crap more focus.
Could you please shortly introduce all the people making music with you on stage at the Melt Gig?
Me of course manipulating the Mackie mixer and the Doepfer filter pannel, and President Bongo working the Akai-MPC2500 and the Doepfer synth. Then we had Daniel Agust vocalist who has been with us from the beginning in the 90ies doing some new tracks on the upcoming album (Add this song, Thin ice, Hatefull) and Moss from the album Forever. Then there is Love Breakfast (Asta) that used to do backing vocals for us on the Forever tour that is now doing the main vocals in the Hit Need in me from that album. Then there is the new backing vocal setup with Svana and Erla, two cheerlezders from Iceland.
Would you say the Icelandic music scene is easier to get in to than in bigger countries?
Probably, but you have to be good nevertheless, bad stuff is mostly avoided as wherever.
You seem to be family guys, or people that rely on close connections? Is that true?
Well I have a family, GusGus is based on friendship and love for music but not business. So I guess I’ll say yes, it is true.
Did you get support from the very beginning, i.e. of your parents? Have you ever considered a different career other than music? Have you learned anything else ;-)
I have a university degree in computer science and Bongo learned photography in Paris for many years. And we both have career as such, though the music has our hearts.
Your new Album is called Forever. What do you refer to- Forever GusGus? Forever Music? Forever Party?
Whatever forever basically. It just refers that the now is an ongoing thing that last forever.
What influences are the most important for that album?
The concept of degeneration was the one that triggered my aprocce. That is the degeneration as path towards new fresh start. As the western world is now in the degeneration phase makes it a bit political I guess.
In the press release and the outlook of Forever you are using religious vocabulary. Would you consider yourself spiritual or do you feel like a God yourself, performing in front of a huge crowd?
Everybody is spiritual or at least has all the ingreediens to be one. By iconicing ourselfs we were just indicating that everybody has that halo of a spiritual person. Everybody is on a spiritual jurney. But many are just hanging at the pit stopp drinking beer.
Why do you work with all these oldschool equipment? I read about discussions about the right bass machine, synthesizers and so on. I was especially fascinated by the super 8 videos… Is there a specific idea to it?
Not really, I just bought myself the Roland drummachines in the beginning of the 90s along with my most trusty synths the ARP 2500, SH-101 and Yamaha CS-30. Then the Juno-2 that does almost all cord stuff in GusGus (organ in Ladyshave, Synth in David, Need in me, Call of the wild, Piano in Moss, e.t.c.) was the first synth I bought in 1986. And I have just been using this stuff since. It sounds great and I don’t see any need in going softsynths, this is just our sound. The only thing I have added throughout the years is enormous collection of the German Doepfer modular synths that I use for various things, percussive, synth and effect oriented.
Techno without compromises, you call your music. What do you mean by it?
I don’t recall calling it that; But then again I am not a big fan of compromises. But I can say that we are heading for deeper techno waters on the forthcoming album so be prepared.
You said once, that you love Germany best? Why is that? Is it because we are not puking on the dancefloor only?
Hehe, well the Brits and the Icelandic are not always puking. I just connect more to the German dance scene than any else. I like it deep and Germany has the best deep techno scene. There are some really interesting techno pouring of Italy at the moment so you have to stay on your toes if you don´t want to lose you leed.
What was the live act that impressed you most or deepest? Was there an initial gig, that made you decide: I want to do the same/different/better?
It was definitely the 808 State concert in Iceland in the year 1990. It was just so cool. Soon after that I was doing live performance with T World in basically the same fashion as I am doing today.
What was the craziest story or the hardest effort you´ve ever made to get into a club or concert or maybe stadium?
I can’t remember honestly. I don’t linger to the past much, so it basically fades away rather quickly.
Thank you very much - your performance was fascinating!
So you were one of those that was still awake? Glad you enjoyed it. We definitely did.
www.myspace.com/gusgus
Source:
http://backstagepass.seatwaveblogs.com/2008/07/interview_gusgus.php

Úlpa Video

Úlpa Video by Dögg Mósesdóttir
"No More X"
www.youtube.com/v/2fAoZw47pFU&hl

Vicky Pollard & Hellvar @ Chinese Midi Festival (May 2008)

The Debut Album of Vicky Pollard will be released soon. Mastering @ London @ the moment. Soon some songs on their MySpace profile to be expected.
Recently the band went to play @ Midi Festival, along with the band Hellvar.
Enjoy a Video shot of the China gigs & fun @ hotels & restaurants of the bunch of band members of both bands.

www.myspace.com/vickypollardmusic
www.myspace.com/hellvarmusic

New old song by Maus: "Cover My Eyes"


Maus, although inactive as a band today, has put an old song on their MySpace profile. "Cover My Eyes" was recorded in September 2004.
Listen to the song @ www.myspace.com/mausiceland
Buy the song @ http://maus.grapewire.net

Sigur Rós "Gobbledigook" @ Latitude Festival

Sigur Rós Live @ Latitude 2008
"Gobbledigook"
www.youtube.com/v/bBnHxscYmLk&hl

www.sigurros.com

Strange Video featuring "Delicious Demon" by The Sugarcubes

Australian girl made a strange Video while doing a Björk karaoke on The Sugarcubes song "Delicious Demon" of 'Cubes Debut "Life's too good" (One Little Indian, 1988)
I was a foetus once
www.youtube.com/v/WXLNrHjtey0&hl

The Lyrics
Björk
Heeeeeeee how!
He how!
He how!

Einar
One person calls someone
To pour the water,
Because it takes two to pour the water,

Björk
To plough takes two as well,
But only one to hold up the sky.

Einar
To plough takes two as well,
But only one to hold up the sky.

Einar
One plays the harp, beats a rock with a stick,

Björk
One plays the harp, beats a rock with a stick,
Becomes a priest at least, a delicious demon.
Hee how!, hee how!, hee how!

Einar
Least, a delicious demon.

Björk
Delicious demon, delicious demon,
Delicious demon, delicious demon

Björk
Two men need one money
But one money needs no man,
One is on ones knees, loses ones head,
Except maybe a delicious demon, hee how!

Einar
Two men need one money
But one money needs no man,

Einar
Two men need no money
But one money needs no man
One is on ones knees
Looses one head
Except maybe a
Delicious demon

Björk
Then one is no longer
Then one is no longer
Then one is no longer
No longer!

Björk & Einar
Delicious demon
Delicious demon
Delicious, oh here he comes again waouh!
Delicious demon
Delicious demon!
So Delicious!

Tonik "A random mouse book" Video

Tonik
"A random mouse book"
www.youtube.com/v/BZnVshi1iII&hl

www.myspace.com/tonikmusic

Uncensored Interview with Mugison

Mugison Interview
About Dolly Parton
www.youtube.com/v/UFYrFdZO6hM&hl

About Monkeys & Chickens
www.youtube.com/v/SHfBDphugdU&hl

American Politics

Orgasm with the crowd

Electronica vs. Blues

All power to the Powerbook

Mugison "Cobain"

Mugie goes Lenny Kravitz

Downloading all kinds of music

Thx "Mama" Björk

Indie

Online Entrepreeneur

On/Offline

Stay cool

Pétur Ben in/out the band

It takes a village

http://www.uncensoredinterview.com/

mánudagur, júlí 28, 2008

Eliza in Skandinavia - A Get Ready To Rock/Rising Stars Interview

Today I got the Single "Never too late" by Skandinavia, that I won on Ebay, in my mailbox. This Single was released in 2004 on the Global Warming Label (Chelmsford, Essex) & contains 2 songs: 1. Never too late - 2. Storm (Live @ MHMC). Frontlady of Bellatrix fame Elíza Newman (Geirsdóttir) formed the band Skandinavia together with Martin Maddaford (bass), Dave Collinder on drums and Claire Wakeman on guitar.
On the back there's a text from Drowned in Sound Magazine:
Iceland has provided us with some damn fine bands in the past decade such as Björk, GusGus, Sigur Rós, Tenderfoot, and Bellatrix. Skandinavia could be set to add to that list to help put Iceland on the musical map.

Interview with Eliza of Skandinavia, a new band whose debut album mixes modern rock with violins and strings - a hard rock ELO?
1. What are you currently up to? (e.g. touring/studio,etc.)
I'm working on some new songs at the moment and we are also rehearsing for our first UK tour that kicks of this autumn.
2. Brief history of the band and the style of music you play.
The band was formed in spring 2003 around my ideas and songs. Released our debut single "Dark Days" in December 2003 to critical acclaim and we've got a new single "Never Too Late" coming out 23 August and album "Skandinavia" coming out 20 September 2004 . the music could be described as epic neo-classical rock !
3. Who was/is are the biggest influences on your career?
I love Led Zeppelin they are the ultimate rock and roll band . I also like artists like Kate Bush cause she's totally original and System of the down, Abba, Neil Young, Puccini, all kinds of stuff I try to have an open mind to everything!
4. What has been the highlight(s) and lowpoint(s) of your career to date?
The highlight was being offered a deal with Global Warming after our second gig and I dont think there have been any low points so far ?!
5. How did you get Dan Hawkins of the Darkness onto one of the band's earlier demos?
This is before he became a mega superstar. I had been working with the same producer as The Darkness and in the same studio so we kind off hooked up through that, he came and played on a few tracks and it was great, he is such a talented guitarist! Unfortunately he was all ready taken in The Darkness so I couldn't nick him!
6. What would Skandinavia like to achieve ideally by the end of 2004?
World domination would be a good start followed by our music being beamed into space for the rest of the universe to enjoy!
7. Any plans for dates in Europe/Far East at all? Which bands would you like to tour with?
We are in the process of licensing the album around the world so hopefully we'll be playing gigs in Europe and the far east soon. At the moment we are planning a UK tour and some dates in Iceland. I would love to play with AC/DC, Foo Fighters, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, System of the Down, Muse, I could go on...
8. Do you see the interest in rock & metal music growing in Europe at the moment?
Definitely I think there's a real longing for some proper rock , something that isn't manufactured by the music industry . There is so much MOR music out there now that there is bound to be a big explosion of metal and rock to wipe it all out soon!
9. What's the most rock 'n' roll moment the band has had so far?
Being banned from venues, getting in to fights with other bands, puking in between songs on stage and we're just getting started, I think we have a bright future ahead of us in the rock and roll moments department !
10. What CD's do you currently have available and where can they be purchased from?
We have two singles out called "Dark Days" and "Never Too Late" our album "Skandinavia" will be released on the 20.september on Global warming records.

11. Message to your fans?
Keep on rocking in the free world.
Source:
www.getreadytorock.com/rising_stars/skandinavia.htm

Today Elíza is a solo artist, ans last year she released her Debut Album "Empire Fall" on her own Lavaland Records Label.
Elíza @ www.myspace.com/elizanewman
"Empire Fall" @ NASA @ Iceland Airwaves 2007

Today I was listening to the streaming of the radioshow Poppland of 23. July, which has a music competition this summer with Dr. Gunni as the Quizmaster, called Popplandmeistarinn í Poppunkti 2008 aka Plípp.
On Wednesdays @ 10:10 on Radiostation Rás 2 of RUV www.ruv.is
Two of my favorite Icelandic singers were in one team "Kef-lingar", because both are from Iceland's Rocktown Keflavik: Heiða í Unun and now í Hellvar and Elíza Newman. The musical battle was won against the duo Ingó of the band Bahama & Bjössi of Múgsefjun: the final score was 17-14.

Alternative Björk Video "Army of me"

Unofficial Björk Video
"Army of me"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDs4zckWfvo&hl

71. Song of the Week "This ain't the Dakota" by Gavin Portland

The Song of the Week is a song of the Debut Album " View of distant towns" (12 Tonar Label) by Gavin Portland: "This ain't the Dakota".
www.myspace.com/gavinportland
http://www.12tonar.is/

sunnudagur, júlí 27, 2008

Official Trabant Video "Maria"

The official Trabant (RIP) video for the song "Maria" is now on YouTube:
www.youtube.com/v/B4t2U3LEMCU&hl

Hjaltalín New Video for acoustic "Traffic music"

Just back home from Scotland.
I found there apart from the kilts, castles, Nessie, lochs, some 2nd hand Icelandic music @ shops in Sterling & Edinburgh: Bellatrix 7" "Sweet Surrender" on Fierce Panda Label (2000), 7" Jakobinarina "His Lyrics are disastrous" (Rough Trade, 2006), debut CD single "Breathe" of the band Leaves (7176 Records, 2001), Leaves Promo Single "Good Enough" (Island Records, 2005), a Free Compact Disc of The Guardian featuring Björk's "Army of me" (ABA All-Stars Mix by Björk Gudmundsdöttir (sic) / Massey) and 12" "Birthday" by The Sugarcubes.
No more bagpipe music from now on, here's the new Hjaltalín's video for the song "Traffic music" .
www.youtube.com/v/DvrT4UwJiWY&hl

www.myspace.com/hjaltalinband

föstudagur, júlí 18, 2008

70. Song of the Week by Úlpa - Holidays in Europe


I'm a bit early with the next Song of the Week. Enjoy for a long week an old song by Úlpa: "Dinzl" .
Úlpa @ www.ulpa.is & www.myspace.com/ulpa
It's because I am going on a Holiday to Scotland & the Scottish Highlands for 8 days.
Back with more posts 28. July.
Take care.

Disa on Tour around the Island Iceland

Dísa is doing like the tourists: á ferð um landið - Circle around Iceland
Tonight she's playing @ Iðnó.
Bryndís Jakobsdóttir released her Debut Album "Dísa" this year. The songs "Anniversary" & "Temptation" got much attention of the radiostations and were often played. In September she will be on Tour in Denmark.
Program of the Tour 2008:
18. July Iðnó @ Reykjavik 20:00 - together with Mosez High Tower
19. July LungA Festival @ Seyðisfjörður - together with Mosez HighTower
24. July Græni hatturinn @ Akureyri
25. July Gamli Bærinn @ Mývatnssveit
26. July Bræðslan @ Borgarfirði Eystra
1. August Innipúkinn Festival @ NASA, Reykjavík - together with Mosez High Tower
Photograph Monitor Magazine.
www.myspace.com/disamusic

More & More Mugison

For Leo:
On the road with Mugison
www.youtube.com/v/0fXEEuISAck&hl

Mugimentary Part 1 - The Making of the Album "Lonely Mountain"
www.youtube.com/v/XTW9Be35jNE&hl

Part 2
www.youtube.com/v/zhQeZPD4K7U&hl

Part 3
www.youtube.com/v/Y4XcvTWY7os&hl

More Mugison on ITN

Mugison talks about his new single "Jesus is a good name to moan"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HbSxhrpioo&hl

Full Video @ www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlHE9T1MXEw
Mugison's Website: www.mugison.com

Monitor Magazine # 10 (July 2008) is out

Issue Number 10 of Monitor Magazine is out.
Steed Lord on the cover, interview with Krummi of Minus and more.
Both are performing Song of the Week.
Get your copy @ www.monitor.is

fimmtudagur, júlí 17, 2008

GusGus "Believe" Live

GusGus sometime ago
"Believe" with lead singer Daníel Ágúst Haraldsson, and a dancing ponytailed Hafdis Huld
Daníel Ágúst (Haraldsson) is now solo, but also with Krummi (singer of Minus) he is the band Esja. And he's back performing with GusGus now and then.
Hafdis Huld went solo too.
www.youtube.com/v/17F-1IdmGj8&hl

Toggi goes commercial: "Wonderful" VW

Today I was listening to the Icelandic radio and heard the beautiful new song "Wonderful" by Toggi. Toggi is born in 1979. He's working on his second album with help of band members Bjarki, Don Pedro, Helgi, Grímur and Gurrý. His Debut Album "Puppy" was released 25. September 2006.
Listen to the song @ http://medialux.com/artistnews/36-artist-news/106-wonderful
It's also used in a Hekla Ad for the new VW Golf.

www.medialux.com/brag/110?task=view
Toggi @ www.myspace.com/toggipop and www.toggimusic.com

The Sugarcubes Interview in The Catalogue (1989)


A while ago, I won The Catalogue magazine for the Independent Music Trade with The Sugarcubes on the cover on Ebay, and it came with a black flexi. I selected the most interesting parts of the Interview.

The Sugarcubes – In New York with Martin Aston
The Catalogue Magazine September 1989 - Number 74 with free One Little Indian Flexi
Flexi contained songs "Voulez-Vous" (Abba cover) by HAM & "Cindy" by The Sugarcubes
Also a song by other OLI artists The Shamen, Sleeping Dogs Wake and Kitchens of Distinction.

They were on the New Order/PiL/The Sugarcubes Tour aka "The Monsters Of Alternative Rock Tour "
They organized a special night in New York with HAM, Reptile & Bless + poetry readings.

Einar:
“When we started Bad Taste, we just wanted to challenge what good taste was because we ourselves didn’t know. You’re on an awful slippery intellectual slope saying that. I’m not qualified to define it, because if I do, we will soon turn into good taste. And we aren’t that. And we’ve never behaved like an alternative band. For us, it’s simple. In Iceland, we are only playing to 240,000 people, not even that. Birthday only sold 300 copies. That didn’t deter us from putting out records in the UK and changing music, to show we should sound. We just carry on with what we’re doing. An alternative band is always content with ... letters that we have, that we’ve betrayed our punk roots, our link with Crass, but Crass had to stop. They were an alternative band who ended up preaching to the converted. So they had to stop.”

About the Second Album titleHere Today, Tomorrow Next Week”:
Bragi: Because we found it amusing in Russia. That’s were it was conceived.
Siggi: When you go to the Soviet Union, one of the things you do most is wait. And then you wait a little more, and then you’re asket to wait. It’s one of the places that you wish for things to happen quickly and efficiently. So “Here Today, Tomorrow Next Week”, is like, let’s get it on, things are happening fast.
Björk: I think it’s about worshipping the next minute, what’s about to come.
Siggi: As I said, the obsession with ‘future’.
Einar: But at the same time, it’s a quote from Wind In The Willows, from around 1930s, when Ratty gets a car and says, “here today ... tomorrow next week!” and flies off! And for us, or at least for me, people have said, “The Sugarcubes are one-hit wonders, here today, gone tomorrow”, but we’re not. We are, and we’re going to be.

Einar: We are taling a hell of a risk with this album. We spent a lot of money, the most expensive pop record ever made in Iceland.

Who is "Regina"?
Bragi
: She’s a housewife who contributies to an evening paper in Iceland.
Björk: She’s a local journalist for a national daily evening paper. She writes littel bits, small articles that are very local.
Siggi: Like what her friend next door is doing, or some great relative of her friend next door did something special.
In Regina you mention ‘lobsters’ and ‘chastity belts’.
Einar
: Lobsters and fame.
Björk: It’s actuele quite difficult because usually Einar and I write our own stuff, but “Regina” was written by our guitarist Thor, who’s not here.
Einar: He actuele took ‘lobsters and fame’ from an Icelandic translation of an Abba book. In one chapter, they say “we’re only in it for the caviar and fame”. It’s a really bizarre sentence. We really don’t understand the meaning of it.
Björk: It’s pascal about us worshipping a laday that comes form the East of Iceland that has to crash down in the south. Like the sun. So we compare this lady Regina to the sun. She’s just as brilliant as the sun. That’s all you need. A worshipping lyric.

Is “Bee” a worshipping lyric too?
Björk
: The lyric was originally supposed to be a party game. One persoon was ‘it’, and than that persoon would get wings and than a sting, and a costume, and try and sting somebody, and than he or she should become the bee. But I guess it turned into something else when it was written down but it’s still about that.

Why is Iceland more appealing to live in than elsewhere?
Einar
: Because we’re from there. I think we’ve seen enough– I’ve already lived four years abroad, Siggi lived three years abroad. It’s our natural habitat.
Björk: London is a brilliant city but it’s not a city to live in, just to visit, like New York. Iceland is the bast place, not just because it’s our home, but you can’t understand the sort of luxury it is, just to be able to go to other places and just visit.
Einar: If we become filthy stinking rich, we might be forced to move out. I am prepared to accept to move out.
Bragi: It’s just the fact that we were born there.

It's strange to know that Björk late, when she went solo, lived in London and New York. So people change.

Photograph published in Morgunbladid Newspaper of the Sugarcubes @ Reykjavik (Reunion anno 2006)

Sigur Rós on MTV - Náttúra

Sigur Rós Interview & features of the Náttúra - Nature Awareness Concert 28. June 2008 @
http://newsroom.mtv.com/2008/07/15/frolicking-in-iceland-earning-the-respect-of-sigur-ros-all-in-a-days-work

miðvikudagur, júlí 16, 2008

Amiina Interviewed by Irish One More Tune

One More Tune (www.onemoretune.ie) Interview with Amiina
www.youtube.com/v/3Q67tVl5cj4&hl

www.amiina.com

Hjaltalín "Þú komst við hjartað í mér" New Single Live @ Rafskinna # 2 Launch Party @ Sirkus

Hjaltalín covered Páll Óskar (aka Paul Oscar)'s 2007 hit "Þú komst við hjartað í mér" @ the Rafskinna # 2 Launch Party @ Sirkus.
This new Hjaltalín single is a song of Páll Óskar's album "Allt fyrir ástina" (POP, 2007).
This Video is recorded and edited by Stuart Rogers (Iceairpodcast). Thx Stuart!
www.youtube.com/v/VqrnG25bsXU&hl

17. July @ Iðnó, a venue next to Tjörnin pond downtown Reykjavik on stage
Hjaltalín - Seabear - Parachutes
www.myspace.com/hjaltalinband
Seabear is going to perform 4 new songs.
www.myspace.com/seabear
DVD Magazine Rafskinna @ www.rafskinna.com

FM Belfast released a 12": "Killing in the name of (Lotus)"

FM Belfast
A band formed late 2005 by singer Lóa Hlín Hjálmtýsdóttir & Árni Rúnar Hlöðversson (of Plúseinn, Hairdoctor & also Motion Boys fame). Soon this duo got assistance of Árni Vilhjálmsson (of Motherfuckers in the House fame) & Örvar Þóreyjarson Smárason (of múm fame but also playing with Borko & Skakkamanage).
Now the band ranges from 3 to 8 members: Sveinbjorn Hermann Pálsson (of Terrordisco), Björn Kristjánsson (of múm, Borko and Skakkamanage), Birgitta Birgisdóttir & Eiríkur Orri (of múm, Kira Kira, Benni Hemm Hemm fame), often as guest cowbell percussionists.
They put new life in classics of Rage Against The Machine "Killing in the Name" and Belgian Technotronic "Pump up the Jam".
On 7. July FM Belfast released a 12" on the Thugfucker Label. This is their first release ever: "Killing In The Name Of (Lotus)"
Side 1
1. "Killing In The Name Of (Lotus)" (original mix)
2. "Killing In The Name Of (Lotus)" (Antipop & Gaea Lotus Killing mix)
Side 2
1. "Killing In The Name Of (Lotus)" (Kasper Bjørke remix)
2. "Killing In The Name Of (Lotus)" (Kasper Bjørke instrumental)
Available on Juno @ http://juno.co.uk/ppps/products/319557-01.htm
Great live band. Last time I saw them, January 2008, even Björk G. was watching their gig from nearby @ Organ.
"Back & Spine" Live @ Icelandair Opening Party é Kjarval Museum @ the Iceland Airwaves Festival 2007

Stay tuned @ http://www.fmbelfast.com/ & www.myspace.com/fmbelfast

Herbert Guðmundsson Compilation of Videos @ Icelandic TV

Herbert Guðmundsson watching a compilation of his own videos on Icelandic TV. His most famous song is "Can't walk away", often featured on compilation albums of the 80s.
Part 1
www.youtube.com/v/U2K0ff-RfZM&hl

Part 2
www.youtube.com/v/oTuK8mN40IE&hl

Dreadlocks in Reykjavik: Hjálmar Live @ Reykjavík

Hjálmar on stage in Reykjavík
"Geislinn í vatninu"
www.youtube.com/v/BlTh_nAVKFY&hl

More Icelandic reggae @ www.myspace.com/hjalmarmusic

þriðjudagur, júlí 15, 2008

Gavin Portland is working on new Album

Gavin Portland is a Post-Hardcore band formed in 2005.
Band members
Singer - Kolli
Bass - Addi
Guitar/Singer - Þórir Georg Jónsson
Drums - Sindri
First release was the EP "I: The End of Every Minute" (2006, own label)
Their Second EP was "II: …tell us how it ended, tell us how we died" (2006, own label)
Debut Album "III: Views of Distant Towns" (2006, 12 Tonar label -http://www.12tonar.is/)
Þórir Georg Jónsson is also in the band My Summer As A Salvation Soldier.
Kerrang! Magazine compared the band with Shellac, Quicksand & Fireside. Visions compares with Fugazi &The Jesus Lizard.
www.myspace.com/gavinportland
Photograph by Nadine Ballantyne - More @ Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/nadineballantyne/665350634

Iceland Airwaves Festival Trailer

Iceland Airwaves 2008 - Only 3 months to go!
15-19. October 2008
www.icelandairwaves.com
Program of the 10th Edition :
International acts confirmed are:
CSS (Brazil), Those New Puritans (UK), Final Fantasy (Canada), Stars Like Fleas (USA), Dirty Projectors (USA), Planningtorock (Denmark), Therese Aune (Norway), Familjen (Sweden), Fear not, White Lies (UK) might well be the next Interpol. The Miracle Fortress (Canada), The Handsome Furs (Canada); The Young Knives (UK), Junior Boys (Canada), Simian Mobile Disco, Pnau (Australia), Crystal Castles (Canada), Robots In Disguise (UK), Jerry Bouthier (UK)
Icelandic bands & artists that already have been confirmed are: GusGus, Skakkamanage, Seabear, Retro Stefson, Dikta, Hjaltalín, Reykjavik!, FM Belfast, Sprengjuhöllin, Dr. Spock, Dýrðin, Borko, Steed Lord, Gluteus Maximus (duo formed by President Bongo of GusGus and Jack Schidt) and Ghostigital.
Listen to a remix of Sigur Ros' "Gobbledigook" by Gluteus Maximus/Jack Schidt @ his MySpace: www.myspace.com/jackschidt

Mugison admires Björk & Sigur Rós

Mugison Interviewed on ITN Music - he talks about Björk & Sigur Rós
Mugi(s)onTV
www.youtube.com/v/muFCjbZ6VaQ&hl

www.mugison.com

Prince of Persia Trailer featuring Sigur Rós

Sigur Rós song "Saeglópur" used in Gameplay Trailer for Prince of Persia
www.youtube.com/v/ttoZT2P_q-U&hl

www.sigur-ros.co.uk
www.sigurros.com

mánudagur, júlí 14, 2008

Interview with Ólafur Arnalds

Ólafur Arnalds interviewed by Sidetrackedproductions.com in Maryland on his North American Tour.
www.youtube.com/v/dUvkyBghSHw&hl

www.myspace.com/olafurarnalds

RASS goes commercial: "Skítt með kerfið!"

Óttarr Proppé is a busy man: as a member of RASS, in the band Dr. Spock wearing the yellow glove, and sometimes as singer of legendary HAM.
Official Video "Skítt með kerfið!"
www.youtube.com/v/NZ6o-2yuxDw&hl

Vodafone Ad
www.youtube.com/v/tqDjUavVqEo&hl

Behind the scenes
www.youtube.com/v/O4zM-VmEhHw&hl

69. Song of the Week: Steed Lord's "Bucket of Blood"

The Song of the Week is by Steed Lord: "Bucket of Blood". This songs features Krummi (of Minus and Esja fame) the brother of singer Svala, on vocals - children of famous singer Bó Halldórsson.
Steed Lord will be back on stage 19. July @ Q-Bar, after a
Serious Traffic Accident on Highway to Keflavík Airport:
Six were injured, three seriously, in a traffic accident on Reykjanesbraut, the road from Reykjavík to Keflavík International Airport, yesterday. Two cars collided where the road is narrow because of construction. Conditions were slippery.
One of the cars, with five passengers, including the band members of
Steed Lord, drove into the side of another car which had suddenly turned. Sudurnes police believe the driver, who was alone in the car, lost control of his vehicle because of the icy conditions, Fréttabladid reports.
Svala Björgvinsdóttir and Einar Egilsson of Steed Lord and the driver of the other car were all taken to the intensive care unit. Björgvinsdóttir has a bruised liver and cracked ribs. Egilsson suffered internal bleeding.

“They are being cared for by great professionals,” said singer Björgvin Halldórsson, Björgvinsdóttir’s father. He told DV, that the entire band is recovering.
Steed Lord had been on their way to Keflavík Airport to perform in concerts abroad.
Halldórsson criticizes the Public Roads Administration and the Ministry of Transport harshly for not having found someone to improve the road conditions on Reykjanesbraut since the contractor in charge of it went bankrupt in December. Fifteen people have been injured there in four months.
“It went better this time than we dared hope at first, but the men who are responsible will not get away with this,” Halldórsson told
Fréttabladid. “The situation has been like this the entire winter […] and one accident has followed the other.”
“I don’t know what has to be done but it has to happen quickly. I have often driven on this road myself and sometimes I don’t know if I’m driving in the lava fields or on the actual road,” Halldórsson concluded.
After yesterday’s accident the Public Roads Administration announced that it would increase signs and separate lanes going in different directions.

Source: Iceland Review www.icelandreview.com Photographs of their MySpace page www.myspace.com/steedlord
They even made a Hospital Mix of the Song "Peep This".
Feel The Heat USA Tour of Steed Lord in July & August

sunnudagur, júlí 13, 2008

HAM @ Eistnaflug Festival 2008

HAM gave a rather exclusive gig @ Eistnaflug Festival this year. This video is not of the highest quality but the sound is OK and there's not so much on YouTube of HAM. One of the favorite bands of Björk, and also of Heida Eiriks of Hellvar.
www.youtube.com/v/0ntVx-wLklY&hl

Björk in duet with Ham years ago
www.youtube.com/v/6FtaFS7bvVo&hl

Hellvar "Kjaftaedi" Live @ Gaukurinn @ Iceland Airwaves 2006

A video I shot of Hellvar @ Gaukurinn venue @ Airwaves Festival 2006
"Kjaftaedi", the only song in Icelandic that was put on their debut album "Bat out of Hellvar", released on Kimi Records Label last year.
In 2006 Hellvar was a trio, Heida & Elvar, with the help of Flosi Þorgeirsson (of HAM fame) on guitar
www.youtube.com/v/Ltojb6XegzQ&hl

www.myspace.com/hellvarmusic
http://www.kimirecords.net/

The Sugarcubes in Details

Details Magazine April 1992
by Jim Shelley
Sugar High
The Sugarcubes have been Iceland's one and only supergroup for five years. It's lonely at the top. And weird.

The Sugarcubes are sweet with hard edges. Irresistable, immediate pop torn up with eccentric chaos, a noisy passionate madness. Highly praised, but stubbornly principled. All the right contridictions. There is no group on earth like them. Sometimes, however, all this seems to get the five-year-old Icelandic sextet (singers Björk and Einar, drummer Siggi, keyboardist Magga, guitarist Thor, and bassist Bragi) is a reputation as freaks.
The Sugarcubes have always been different. Surreal and sexual, as erratic and exotic as every band should be, they are what you might get if Siouxie, Blondie, the B-52s, and the Slits formed a jazz-punk, pop-rap combo. Music baptized in a beatnik stream of consciousness, pop as performance art. The Sugarcubes are best seen as a unique pocket opera focusing on Björk, whose voice is as bewitching as the Cocteau Twins' Liz Fraser, and Einar, a madman who "raps" in a rather deadpan fashion.
Their debut LP, 1988's Life's Too Good, was a healthy mess, bursting with harsh, jangling guitars, Nordic lyrical whimsy, and a contest of strangeness between Björk's childlike wonder and Einar's absurd anarchic sensibility. Together they sounded like a psychotic Sonny & Cher. The next LP, Here Today, Tomorrow, Next Week, sounded like space pop heavily influenced by Abba. It was either too far ahead of, or behind, the times, and the backlash lashed hard.
After a two-year hiatus spent raising families in Reykjavik and recording in L.A., their third LP, Stick Around For Joy (named after a slogan on a Japanese soda machine), shows that the Sugarcubes may have changed, but the songs remain as strange. Guitars chime and scratch around off-kilter rhythms while Björk's voice flies through the scales, tripping up the beat (and the sense) of the group's pop songs with her jazzy phrasing. The New Wave clatter of "Gold" (sort of Madness meets James Bond theme) and the slyly funky "Hit" make the manic "Vitamin" and the freaky "Chihuahua" sound almost normal.
"We're not normal," Björk explains. "But people have started to see us more the way we see ourselves, which makes life a whole lot easier. I wouldn't say that our music is different because we're from Iceland. People think we're odd, even in Iceland."
But then everything is odd in Iceland: the geography, the hours of daylight, the economy, the price of a beer in a pub (nine dollars), the amount of alcoholism, the weather ("It can rain, snow, sleet, and sunshine in one day"). Iceland's president is often seen around Reykjavik. "You just wave and say 'hi' to her" ,Björk says. Björk enthuses about the "raw countryside. Deep valleys, high mountains, very little trees and flowers." She tells jokes about it. "What do you do if you get lost in a forest in Iceland? Stand up." Quite.
The Sugarcubes officially began at 2:50 p.m., the eighth of June, 1986. The date coincides with the birth of Björk's baby. (In a twist worthy of a Russian novel, the baby's father, Björk's ex-husband Thor, the guitarist, is also father to Magga the keyboardist's baby girl.)
Now try this concept: the Sugarcubes are Iceland's first and only supergroup. In the early '80s Iceland was a rather unstimulating place to be. Bands like Wire, Siouxie and the Banshees, and the Slits hit a nerve, and visits by the likes of Psychic TV, Echo & The Bunnymen, and Killing Joke inspired arty Icelanders to form their own groups. Björk, Einar, and Siggi formed Kukl (Icelandic for sorcerer). Einar, a poet who has published a volume called Shitheap, and fellow poet Bragi had also been in Purrkur Pillnikk, who toured with the Fall. Thor was also a poet, author of such tomes as Drink Some Petrol Darling, and performed with a group called Fan Houtens Koko. Magga was a member of Risaedlan (in English: Reptile).
The "six maniacs" had "nothing in common, except nothing was happening in Iceland." As Iceland's only indie label had just gone bankrupt, they fromed Bad Taste Ltd. (taken from Picasso's maxim, "Good taste is the killer of all creativity"). Their goal: to publish poetry, release records, and one day open a cafe, gallery, bookshop (Icelanders buy the most books per capita in the world), and radio station. "Building and empire," as Einar put it, with typical modesty.
The Sugarcubes' first single, "Birthday",was funded by the profits of a Bad Taste postcard commemorating the Reagan-Gorbachev 1986 Reykjavik summit. The record was worshipped by the British music press, and particular attention was paid to Björk. As with Blondie, the singer was the star, attracting so much attention that major record labels tried to lure Björk away, flying to Reykjavik with six-figure checks, only towitness showcase gigs sung entirely in Icelandic.
The Sugarcubes have flown over from Iceland to perform "Hit", their new single, on an English TV show. We meet in the bar of their expensive London hotel. As she speaks, Björk hides her arms inside her T-shirt (a Sugarcubes T-shirt with a squirmy sperm on it) and wriggles playfully. Next, her head goes in too, and all that's left is a talking T-shirt with a tuft of hair at the top. She tells me her mountaineering socks are called "Hoppy" and "Hobnob". She wears a pendant: a fine silver sperm. She tells me that an orgasm is "the only minute you're part of the rest of the universe, and you feel ecstatic about it."
With her cubist face, all punched in like a Klee painting, Björk looks like a warrior doll, tough and vulnerable at the same time, and as captivating and disconcerting as she sounds when she sings. Out of the blue, she will stop talking and try to pick up her glass with her teeth. When she says her favorite music at the moment is Maria Callas and Sororicide, an Icelandic death-metal group of thirteen-year-olds, she can't help but perform: "They say [squeaking], 'This one's called "Kill Your Mother". Woaraghghhh.' It's keeky," she giggles. "Really keeky." It's her favorite word.
Björk goes Metal: Sororicide @ www.myspace.com/sororicideice

Einar is pretty "keeky." His reputation for chaos is so bad that journalists labeled him "a mad, bad bastard" who was "vandalizing" the band's sweetest songs. In the early days, record companies offered the band deals...if he left. "We cannot function without Einar," laughs Björk. "We've become addicted. He just makes things dangerous. He could tear in here now and you would end up hitting him several times."
Later Einar does appear, soft and energetic, as sweet as pie, in a purple ruffled shirt and velvet jacket. "I always dress like my hotel," he proclaims. "I'm not young and crazy. I'm senile."
"Einar's become more... human," smiles Björk. "Kinder. He doesn't work as hard at trying to be a bad boy."
Einar and the others have spent part of their time away reviving their company, Bad Taste. Björk recorded a solo jazz LP with "the jazz legends of Iceland", purely to refinance the business. In turn, the other members will probably contribute to her solo LP, Bjork's Affairs, which will include collaborations with 808 State (for whom Björk sang "Ooops" and "Q-mart" on their album Ex:el), the World Saxophone Quartet's Oliver Lake, and a fifty-year-old musician who, Bjork says, "plays hardcore harp."
Björk & 808 State: "Ooops"

Siggi joins us in the bar for a hot chocolate. This comes as a suprise, I say, since the group are almost always portrayed as alcoholic lunatics. "It's a drinking culture," concedes Björk, who favors cognac, Pernod, Drambuie, and absinthe. "It has a lot to do with the Icelandic mentality--slightly eccentric. We drink a lot, I guess. We get hysterically drunk. But then 'either do it or skip it' is a very Icelandic viewpoint as well. Either drink two bottles of vodka or skip it."
Siggi has an air of great wisdom to him, like a gentle grandfather. He tells me that the group has grown weary of the media's preoccupation with their "strangeness" and how the constant references to igloos, puffins, and glaciers amounted to a kind of cultural racism. "They painted us as exotic and weird," shrugs Siggi. "Playing the role of the idiot can be fun, but it got to a stage where we'd had it."
The problem was, the Sugarcubes couldn't help themselves. They still can't. Einar appeared in New York at the New Music Seminar muttering, "Don't drink and drive... if you haven't got a car." Björk described the universe through the eyes of a child: "If the sun had loads of hairs and you could hug it, it would be really nice."
Even Siggi tells me that he is a "multiphrenic," composed of six characters including "Helga the German lady, a Japanese Businessman, Sharkfin the drifter, and an American drag queen." "That's the real Mrs. Balthazar," he says to Björk, who seems to understand him perfectly. "Hehas to get them all into bed at the same time," she explains to me, sympathetically. "It's really very difficult for him."
Siggi leans forward as if to confide a great secret. "We're a little eccentric, of course. But basically," he chuckles, "we're normal to the point of being boring."
Photographs found @ http://thewareaglereader.wordpress.com/2007/10/25/bjork-damn-eagle