Ásgeir - Leyndarmál

Hi, it has been a while... I want to introduce you to Ásgeir Trausti, before it is too late. The fact that I went to his concert the 3rd December in Belgium, explains his success. Suddenly, one of his songs was used in a Flemish television programme. Then I got a little concerned that he would find himself in a "Of Monsters And Men"-stage, luckily that has not happened - yet. I like people to discover Icelandic music, obviously, otherwise I would not have this blog and share music with you. But I hate it when music gets annoying only by the fact that it is played too much on the radio, you 'rape' the song.

Útidúr - Fisherman’s Friend

I am so proud to introduce Útidúr to you guys. Their music gives you an instant smile. Útidúr is an euphoric folk band, existing out of 10 members and they use 6 different instruments. Útidúr labels their music as "acoustic chamber pop". The album "This Mess We’ve Made" (2010) is recorded with 20 musicians! I think they have a great chance to make a big international career. I had the same feeling when I heard Little Talks of Of Monsters and Men for the first time. If I can describe them in three words it would be:The Icelandic Beirut, and sometimes it is a little too obvious, but I don't care. What sets them apart is the unique voice of the girl singer. If you listen to Fisherman's Friend you will notice this gives an extra touch.

Lára Rúnars - In Between

You can compare the talent of Lára (say it as Laura) Rúnars to artists like Björk and Emilíana Torrini, if you ask me. She is making music since 2003. Her father was a member of "Grafík", a rock band of the eighties and through him she got into music. She got introduced to artists like Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits and Nick Cave. In 2004 she made a song together with the Irish Damien Rice (click). The albums of Lára are inspired by The Cardigans and Stina Nordenstam. Her new and fourth album "Moment" appears to be more mysterious and dark with PJ Harvey as a great influence. Lára got into some personal struggles, she even questioned her music career... But then she came to senses and rediscovered herself. The album reflects those feelings, that is why Moment is the most personal album she has made so far. In Between is a little older (2009), but a very nice song.

Hafdís Huld - Tomoko

Hafdís Huld has a super cute voice and is mostly accompanied with an ukulele. In 2006 she brought out her first album "Dirty Paper Cup", she won a national price for the best pop album. On this album there is also a cover of the Velvet Underground (Who Loves the Sun). Hafdis got known in Europe. Also Paolo Nutini discovered her (the guy who sings "Hey, I put some new shoes on and suddenly everything feels right...") and he took her with him on a tour in the United Kingdom. Also Mika got to know the Icelandic Hafdis Huld. Her second album from 2009 was a huge success. When you see her in an interview she is so adorable: very funny and enthusiastic, just like her appearance. I chose the song Tomoko. It is just a funny song about 'the other girl' who is always prettier, skinnier etc... Enjoy this cutie pie.

Hjálmar - Borgin

Icelandic reggae! This combination is just ‘skrítið’ (weird). If you say reggae, you think about an afro dude, smoking pot and chilling all day long. And then... Iceland... What a contrast, the total opposite! But the band Hjálmar breaks the silence. In my year in Iceland I went to a gig of them, and they were mindblowing. The atmosphere was incredible, everybody forgot the freezing temperatures outside and kept on the non-stop-dancing-mood. But they do have their own sound. They are known as THE (first) reggae band of Iceland and all the vikings absolutely love them. In 2004 they produced their first album and everybody had a crush on Hjálmar. 35 weeks they had been on the list of the best selling album. They got prices, nominations and in the meanwhile they produced 6 albums. They even went to Jamaice for their fourth album. The lyrics are always in Icelandic, that is one of the reasons they are so unique. It was difficult to chose one of their songs. But I chose Borgin. This song gives you an impression how lovely their music is and after hearing their music you can almost say the inhabitants use it as a sort of 'medication' to stand out the long dark Icelandic winter days. Borgin means 'the city' and they praise this city "nobody has seen something prettier" or "the city makes every heart bleed". Enjoy!

Tilbury - Tenderloin

It all began with a solo project of Þormóður Dagsson in 2010 and it resulted in the birth of Tilbury. This is a new band, but the members aren't. They are a mishmash of different famous music groups of Iceland (Valdimar, Amiina, Sin Fang, Hjaltalín &...). So you can quite say that Tilbury represents the Icelandic music in a good way! Þormóður himself was the drummer of Jeff Who? but changed his drumsticks for the microphone. Tilbury is actually an old movie of 1987 made by Vidar Vikingsson (check out a little piece here). The musiclip of Tenderloin contains fascinating fragments of this movie, about an Icelandic citizen gathering in the time the American culture reached Iceland, which was very primitive back then. Enjoy!

Valdimar - Yfirgefinn

An absolute must is posting a song of Valdimar! Valdmiar is the first name of the singer. I know Valdimar personally because he is the cousin of two friends of mine (Pálmi and Smári). They, but just their whole family, are all SO nice people and have a heart of gold. Anyway, I got a CD of their first album Undraland ("Wonderland") and ofcourse I listened to it non-stop. Valdimar Guðmundsson started together with Ásgeir Aðalsteinsson, both from Keflavík. Later, four other members joined and now they are a 6-member band. When they perform live they sometimes add members of the horn section. Their music is just so sweet and very innovatory because you can't really compare it to other bands. Valdimar himself plays trombone which gives the music an extra touch. All songs are written in Icelandic, some are really calm and others are more energetic, like Yfirgefinn. Valdimar is famous in the whole country and nobody gets enough of their music. Yfirgefinn means "neglected" so it actually is a quite sad song. It is about memories of someone, feeling totally lost and elements of nature (so Icelandic) are used; like "the earth swallowing him up" or "stars in the sky remembers me of you". But the song slowly reaches a climax and then the sentence “Ég heyri læti” which means "I hear panic/commotion" is repeated. It is weird because just suddenly it becomes a happy song, but it's not. But he sings “ég heyri læti lalalalala læti, það eru læti lalalalalæti” (3:26) and I remember on a party where we were dancing on this song and everyone putted their hands on their ears to illustrate that there was "laeti". But ofcourse the fact that I didn't understand everything in Icelandic in the beginning, probably made me think that too. Anyway guys, just start loving Valdimar... They are awesome and the person behind it is lovely too :). (A more slowly song is Brotlentur )

1860 - Snæfellsnes

A second song that I must share with you is Snæfellsnes of 1860. Snæfellsnes is one of the prettiest areas in winter time, if you ask me. Because when it is covered up with snow it looks like a paradise. Snæfellsnes is a peninsula in the west of Iceland. 1860 is an upcoming band which started in 2010. That's the year I was in Iceland and they even played at my high school during lunch break. They call them the Fleet Foxes of Iceland, but ofcourse they have their own unique style. They sing both in English and in Icelandic. This song Snæfellsnes is written in Icelandic, so most of you won't understand it. But they are basically singing about a long awaited vacation to this area. "Við hoppum upp í bíl" means "we jump into our car" and they are just full of excitement. The prettiest sentence I think is “Ég vona bara að fönnin mér fleyti heim” which means something like "I hope the snow will 'float' me home", and this just describes the beauty of their music and the Icelandic scenery. And don't forget to listen to their other music, they are getting better everyday! And if you are planning on going to Icelandic Airwaves, ofcourse they will play there too ;)