In The Spotlight
October 31, 2011 at 8:55am
Composer and Bang Gang mastermind Barði Jóhannsson has been creating fascinating and dreamy musical landscapes with the singer Keren Ann as Lady and Bird since 2003. The pair's latest creative adventure is a magical 'gothic fairytale' - an opera entitled 'Red Waters' - which premieres in France on November 4th. The opera's synopsis was developed with the Icelandic writer and sometime Björk collaborator Sjón, and we have to say we are very excited about it. Barði and Keren, it's time to take the IMX spotlight...
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October 18, 2011 at 9:12am
The mighty Mugison has been rather busy to say the least; promoting his brand new all-Icelandic album ‘Haglél’, appearing at Iceland Airwaves and the You Are In Control creative industries conference in Reykjavík, honing his famous Mirstrument and touring the country. We caught up with him whilst he paused for breath in Akureyri to talk ‘Haglél’, the ‘hidden diamond’ that is Aldrei and discuss why wild dancing is a rare sight in Iceland.
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October 03, 2011 at 3:37pm
Ólöf Arnalds’ idiosyncratic creative approach has been enchanting and intriguing fans for years – an ethereal voice earthed by quirky humour and a confident live presence, she has an unpindownable quality described by Ólöf’s sometime collaborator Björk as being “somewhere between a child and an old woman”. Icelandmusic.is talks to Ólöf on the cusp of the release of her hotly anticipated mini-album: Ólöf Sings!
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September 20, 2011 at 9:30am
Iceland's irreverent rock polymaths Reykjavik! have been terrorising audiences (in a good way) since 2004, and are currently preparing their blistering new album ‘Into The Night’ for full-scale assault on ears everywhere. With a reputation for working as hard as they party, it is, as guitarist Haukur S Magnusson's Grapevine cohort Birkir Fjalar Viðarsson put it, 'baffling they haven't self-imploded yet.' Icelandmusic.is manages to meet them before they do...
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September 05, 2011 at 9:27am
Claimed by Björk at one time as being her "favourite band", HAM were predominantly active between 1988 to 1994. Their first album, Hold, was a controversial record which received no radio airtime, but the band's attempt to get into the big league began when they warmed up for The Sugarcubes (five concerts) in 1988. Now they appear to be back properly with a brand new album called "Svik, harmur og dauði", which explores typically light-hearted themes such as betrayal, tragedy and death. Icelandmusic.is find out more...
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August 17, 2011 at 9:00am
Sóley is a passionate piano player and singer whom you ma knowy best as a member of indie-collective Seabear. But she has recently been emerging as a solo artist in her own write. In 2010 she released her solo-debut "Theater Island" - a pop record that sounded like a dream: sweet and weird all at the same time. Now she is about to release her full length album, We Sink.
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August 08, 2011 at 10:37am
PROJEKTA is a new music management and export consultancy based in London, Reykjavik and Brussels. It was formed by three individuals: John Rogers, the face of UK indie label Brainlove Records and an experienced music industry multi-tasker & publicist; Vasilis Panagiotopoulos, a manager and publicist working with clients such as SPOT Festival, Popkomm, Kimi Records and Icelandic quintet Rökkurró; and Hildur Maral, an active player in the Icelandic industry and a member of the Iceland Airwaves advisory board, having worked in various capacities with the Bedroom Community label, Reykjavik Film Festival, her own Jonsvaka festival.
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July 12, 2011 at 1:23pm
Jóhann Jóhannsson was born in Iceland but currently resides in Copenhagen, Denmark. His work frequently combines electronics with classical orchestrations. His work bears the influence of minimalism, drone music, baroque music and electro-acoustic music and Jóhann’s background in Iceland’s flourishing independent music scene also informs his work.
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June 28, 2011 at 2:20pm
Sólstafir were formed by three friends, Aðalbjörn Tryggvason, Halldór Einarsson and Guðmundur Óli Pálmason in January 1995. In 1999 Sólstafir entered the studio to record it’s debut full length album. By that time Halldór had left the band and in 1997 and 1998 Sólstafir had released two promos as a two-piece.
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June 14, 2011 at 10:03am
On April 8th Daníel Ágúst released his second solo album. Daníel is one of the instigators and band leaders of GusGus, Nýdönsk and Esja and is an active songwriter in all of them as well as tending to his own solo career. The Drift is his second solo album. It's quite different from "Swallowed A Star"where he portrayed his romantic side with blissful mini symphonies.
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