Sigur Rós concert in Hraundrangar

Sigur Rós concert in Hraundrangar

sigurros

This has to be the most memorable concert I’ve been to.. ever! It was a Sigur Rós concert in July 2006, they were filming ‘Heima’ a documentary about their music and arranged gigs in various places mostly out in nature. This place, beneath the recognizable landmark ‘Hraundrangar’ mountains, is close to my parents house, only about 40 min drive. We heard about the gig the day before, we were actually spending some time at my parents house because we had sold our apartment in Reykjavik at the time, had shipped *all* our stuff to Denmark where we would be spending the next 2 years. So in a way this was an emotional moment of enjoying the Icelandic nature and saying goodbye for now.

The concert started at about 20:00 and ended a little over 22:00. The admission was free and there was no service available. Nobody expected it either. I remember one police car observing the roads, that’s the only security I saw apart from a couple of yellow vested boys showing us where to park. And the parking lot was the nearby grass field. We brought blankets to sit on and stay warm with temperature around 10-15°c but clear sky and hardly any wind and then just enjoying the music and the sound echoing in the mountains and watching the sun hardly going down.

(pic at the top is from here)

Halo

Halo

This is one of my favourite songs from this summer. Simple version of Beyonce’s Halo by icelandic band Hjaltalín. I think i’m responsible for at least half of the hits of this song on YouTube.

Another brilliant performance from Hjaltalín is from their live cd/dvd Alpanon, recorded with The Iceland Symphony Orchestra in Háskólabíó, June 2010. “Suitcase Man” is a capturing mysterious song, I love it!

“Music is what feelings sound like”

“Music is what feelings sound like”

On my 35th birthday last april my hubby gave me the Ólafur Arnalds cd which I had been longing for and listening to on youtube for a couple of weeks. Ólafur Arnalds is a great composer and storyteller through music, mixing piano and strings with beats so you don’t really know whether you’re listening to pop music or classical music. I love that mix.

He’s from Iceland but I’ve never seen him live and he’s been touring the world apparently, but he’ll be playing in Harpa, our new concert hall, in october at the Iceland Airwaves music festival. I might have to get me a ticket.



That last one is called “Lag fyrir ömmu” or “song for grandma” and you need to listen to it all the way through! It brought me to tears..

“Home again”

“Home again”

Elton John’s new song “Home again” is so beautiful, loaded with longings, full of emotions. The video is very beautiful, the landscape here in Iceland plays a big part in the story as it evolves, somehow primitive like the little boys emotions, the memories. Love it.
Elton John has been one of my favorite musicians since I started listening to music, a very sincere artist whos passion for music really shines through.

Iceland’s current #1

Iceland’s current #1

This is the #1 song this summer. It’s actually a makeover from this song, from 1966.
The name “Vor í Vaglaskógi” means “Spring in Vaglaskogur forrest”. Vaglaskogur is fairly close to Akureyri on the north side of the country, where we go camping atleast once each summer. The song is a romantic song, saying the dreams of those who stay in Vaglaskógur will come true. Well, mine have atleast.
Here is a live version of the song. Beautiful.