In The Spotlight

Bow To The Prins - Prinspóló In The Spotlight

February 14, 2012 at 8:35am

Behold! We have real Icelandic royalty stepping graciously into the Spotlight in the shape of Prinspóló - the alter-ego of Svavar Pétur Eysteinsson - with whom we were granted an audience just prior to his appearance at By:Larm (February 17th and 18th). After the release of the album 'Jukk' and a successful string of European tourdates, he tells us, quite understandably, that he 'feels rather good about these past months.' Read on, loyal subjects, read on...

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Sigurður Flosason: 'Eyjafjallajökull was an inspiration'

January 31, 2012 at 10:32am

It's high time a jazzer took the Spotlight, and who better than the fine saxophonist Sigurður Flosason, one of the most prominent jazz talents in Iceland? His excellent album 'Land And Sky' with Cathrine Legardh was nominated for a Danish Music Award last year and was hailed as one of the best jazz releases of 2011 on the respected Jazznyt blog.

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Anna Thorvaldsdottir on Dark Music Days

January 16, 2012 at 2:26pm

The Dark Music Days Festival of Contemporary Music cometh, and, for the first time, the festival will grace the glittering halls of the new Harpa concert venue. Taking place between January 26th and 29th, Dark Music Days promises four intensive days of music comprising of 21 different concerts and events, with a bill packed with typically thrilling musical fare. Top Icelandic composer Anna Thorvaldsdottir, whose work will be featured this year, gives us her take on the musical event that lights up some of the darkest days of the Icelandic calendar...

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Lockerbie - Happy New Spotlight!

January 02, 2012 at 1:24pm

Say hello and happy new year to our first Spotlight interview of 2012 - and it's with the mighty fine Lockerbie! This independent band of post-rockers have been going from strength to strength since they formed in 2008, from performing with For a Minor Reflection and Soundspell to winning the Studio Sýrland/Rás 2 summer competition. And now they have bagged themselves a deal with German label Kapitan Platte after releasing their fine debut album Ólgusjór! We caught up with the band and demanded an explanation.

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Kjarr: 'The sweet is never as sweet without the bitter'

December 08, 2011 at 2:15pm

Kjarr - the very kúl and rather psychedelic new project by Kjartan F. Ólafsson (Ampop & Leaves) - is currently blowing our tiny minds here at IMX, and not just ours: Kjarr's eponymous debut album (downloadable here) has also been voted Album Of The Week on RUV's Poppland show, and rightly so, say we. We got in touch and asked him all about it. Take it away, Kjartan!

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Hjálmar: 'Órar is supposed to be a bit hard to digest..,'

November 29, 2011 at 12:01pm

Hjálmar, the Icelandic reggae band that everyone is talking about, recently released Órar, their fifth studio album. The band, which features the skills of well known Icelandic musicians including trombone maestro Samúel Jón Samúelsson, formed in 2004 and are now reaching new heights with their one-off blend of Nordic sensibilities and skanking Jamaican heat. They're a darn busy enterprise these days but, just for you, we pinned them down, shone a light in their eyes and interrogated them in our own unique IMX way.

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Beauty And Release, Pressure And Tension - Helgi Hrafn Jónsson

November 15, 2011 at 9:18am

Helgi Hrafn Jónsson, Bedroom Community collaborator and all round excellent person, has released Big Spring, a solo album bursting with an intriguing and eclectic mix of moods and sounds. After returning home from a successful tour promoting the album, he found the time to have a chat with IMX, and we're jolly glad he did.

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Lady And Bird Reveal Their Opera 'Red Waters'

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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Mugison: Hailstorms, Gadgets… And Grandmas With Accordions

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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Ólöf Sings! And Talks Covers, Originals… And Airwaves

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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