Edward Hancox's Blog, page 19

Unchained Iceland Full Report

Remember Geoff Harper, the chap cycling from Höfn to Reykjavík via beaches alone? He has done it, and there is a full report here.

Well done Geoff!

And thank you for taking wonderful photos of Iceland, Defrosted en-route.

My original article with Geoff:

I admit it; most of my travels around Iceland haven’t been that strenuous. I’ve seen quite a bit of the country, but quite a bit of that was through the bottom of a bottle or with a knife and fork in hand.

I’m not ashamed of it, but I was intrigued to hear about Geoff Harper, another Brit (although he now lives in the States) who has an obsession with Iceland, albeit from a more active perspective. Geoff has come up with ‘Unchained Iceland.’ I wanted to find out more.

What is ‘Unchained Iceland’?

Unchained Iceland is a five hundred mile traverse of Iceland’s southern beaches from Höfn to Reykjavík on my Fatbike. Whilst many riders have circumnavigated Iceland via the Ring Road this trip is, as far as I know, unique. I will be camping along the route and stopping only in towns to buy food and supplies.

Can you cycle all the way from Höfn to Reykjavík on the beach, or are there areas where this won’t be possible?

Yes and no! The beaches are in a constant state of flux, ocean inlets vary with tides, glacial runoffs vary with ambient temperatures, and also rain and high winds will all affect my ability to ride the beaches at any given moment. Detailed topographical maps of Iceland are hard to find, with seven people per square mile demand is low. The maps I have all show differing characteristics of the coast so not much help there! I have contacted a search and rescue organization to see which maps they use and have also spoken with cyclists who have ridden the road by the southern beaches all of whom have suggested that it is doable, albeit ambitious.

Simply put, I will ride what is ride-able and the rest I will portage around, accordingly I expect to make up the large majority of the route on the fly.

What on earth is a ‘Fatbike’?

Fatbikes originate in Alaska where more than a decade ago they were improvised from mountain bikes for the purpose of winter racing on snow.

In recent years fatbikes have evolved, often replacing traditional mountain bikes where die hard riders use them year round to access backcountry terrain. These bikes are effectively the monster trucks of the bicycling world with 4inch-width tires supporting a relatively light bike frame, they cruise over sand and snow that would stop regular bikes in their tracks. The fatbike I am using for my adventure is designed specifically for beach riding, instead of a conventional chain it has a belt-drive made by Gates Carbon Drive which is impervious to salt, sand and rust.

Tell us a bit about yourself, and your relationship to Iceland.

Originally born in Surrey, England, I moved to the U.S. in 1999 living mostly on the West Coast. I currently live in Denver, Colorado which is where I discovered fatbiking. Colorado is hands-down my favorite state, I get outside and enjoy the natural beauty of the Rocky Mountains as part of my routine.

Regarding Iceland, since the age of 13 I have been hearing stories about the northern lights, glaciers, dark winters and light summers mostly because one of my best friends is actually an Icelander from Reykjavík. I have a passion for Icelandic music both Sigur Rós and Múm have been favorites of mine for over ten years and also the Icelandic Sagas are very interesting to me, it’s powerful stuff!

What if it all goes wrong? What are your worst fears?

My worst fears pertain to mechanical failure of the bike and mechanical failure of myself, i.e. injury. I am preparing for both of these by planning and training, though in reality there will be moments along the trip where I am more vulnerable than others, these moments tend to define my adventures so I try to embrace them as such.

Where can we follow your adventures?

Gates carbon drive will be featuring me on their blog/Facebook/twitter. I will be blogging and posting photos on my own site also.

***

I’ll catch up with Geoff again after his challenge. As tempting as a fatbike sounds, I’ll still be taking thing easy. I wish Geoff the best of luck though.

Grundarfjörður

It’s pretty miserable here. It’s grey, cold and damp. I really want to be back here. It’s Grundarfjörður. I was there this summer for a Pascal Pinon concert. It was one of the best nights I’ve had in a good long while.

Post from July 2013:

It seemed that Grundarfjörður was near to nowhere. I had made the mistake of trying to travel to this town/village on the northern edge of Snæfellnes from Reykjavík in an afternoon.

Somehow, I still can’t quite get my head around distances in Iceland. Places that seem relatively near on the map taking forever to get to. Maybe it’s the winding roads, or that vortex that occurs to us Brits when converting kilometres to miles.

Grundarfjörður, home to just under a thousand souls, is the home tonight to Pascal Pinon. Pascal Pinon are an Icelandic band centered around twin sisters, Ásthildur and Jófríður, and little to do with the twentieth century Tex-Mex freakshow act.

They make sublime, exquisite music—the sisters, not the two headed fella—that is both sweet and engaging at the same time. I was in Iceland, they were in Grundarfjörður; there was nothing to consider. I’d be at the concert.

Grundarfjörður sits prettily on a bay, beneath mountains still flecked with the last of winter snow. The sea is relatively calm, with no hint of the herring tragedy that happened here only a few months ago. The arresting sight though is the hulking Kirkjufell (‘Church Mountain’), towering above the towns pretty and colorful houses. It’s 463m tall, and might just be Iceland’s prettiest mountain. It has deep horizontal striations, and the summer has flecked it with shots of green.

Pascal Pinon are performing at Grundarfjarðarkirkja, a delightful church perched on a small knoll above the town. It’s a really lovely building, with white walls, red roof and a spire pointing up to the aqua blue sky. I am starting to feel that the journey was well worth it. I was right.

Pascal Pinon are not alone on this jaunt of Iceland, which has already taken in other beautiful churches around the country. Tonight, they are accompanied by Blásaratríó, a woodwind trio of girls that apparently attended the same music school as Pascal Pinon.

Blásaratríó are first on stage, in front of the audience of all of thirty people. I was a little concerned, to be honest, that their music may be classically perfect, but completely inaccessible. This was particularly the case during the first piece, which included the church organ. I found myself checking my watch. I needn’t have worried, the trio went on to combine bassoon, clarinet and flute to produce beautiful music totally attuned to the surroundings of the church. Furthermore, they don’t outstay their welcome.

Pascal Pinon are soon on stage, and appear relaxed, clearly benefiting from their recent Europe wide tour with Sin Fang. They start off with gentle, melancholic tunes that remind me of Mazzy Star, although the exception to this would be the album opener ‘Ekki Vanmeta,’ which benefits from a fuzzy backing loop that makes it stand out as one of their best songs.

The woodwind trio join them back on stage, and add depth and warmth to the sisters songs, making them ring out into the early evening. In between songs, children can be heard playing outside, and gulls cawing as they wheel around the church. Highlights for me included the sublime ‘One Thing’, ‘I wrote a Song,’ and ‘Babies’ and the songs that were written for—somewhat bizarrely —Fernando Torres, and even stranger, Kanye West.

Jófríður’s voice is extraordinary; sweet, soft and yet full of character. I feel myself falling in love with Pascal Pinon’s music with every song they play.

The evening sun is shining through the stained glass windows, and ricocheting from the brass candles in the church. By the time they are singing the delicious ‘Bloom’, now replete with flute solo and that lovely ‘oh,oh,oh’ refrain from Jófríður, my heart has melted.

On the way back to Reykjavík, I wonder briefly if Kanye has ever heard of Grundarfjörður.

Probably not.

Heaven In A Wildflower – new Úlfur video

This is the new video from Úlfur, from his White Mountain LP. I like it!

In case you missed it, here is my interview with Úlfur from a couple of months back;

Úlfur is one of the first Icelandic words that I learnt. My tutor, an eight-year-old Icelandic girl, drew a picture of a wolf and pointed at it. It’s also the name of a really good Icelandic beer, and the first name of Úlfur Hansson.

Úlfur is probably best known for his work on Sigur Rós front man Jónsi’s solo ‘Go’ project and tour, but has been part of the Icelandic music scene long before this association. He was a member of ‘Swords of Chaos’ and has recently been associated with the extraordinary ‘Vessel Orchestra’—composing pieces of music with Lilja Birgisdóttir to be played by the shipping fleet in Reykjavik’s harbor.

Earlier this year, Úlfur released his first album, White Mountain. It was a quiet release on Western Vinyl, but features fellow Icelandic musicians Sigrún Jónsdóttir (Björk collaborator), legendary bassist Skúli Sverrisson, and Mountain Man’s Alexandra Sauser-Monnig. It’s a gentle, haunting album, full of soundscapes, electronic trickery and yearning acoustics. It’s less of a party album, more of a Sunday morning ease-yourself-back-to-life album. Oh, and it has Ewoks.

The first track on the album is called ‘Evoke Ewok.’ Are you a big Star Wars fan, or just ewoks?

I used to have this book as a kid, it was called  The Ewoks join the fight. My fondness for Ewoks evolved into a lifelong love of anything star wars—especially the comics.

How would you describe your music?

That’s a tough one! I don’t know… intuitive music, I guess. Sometimes when I listen to it afterwards it sounds like I had nothing to do with it in the first place. It kind of emerges in the spur of the moment and after its been realized it has a life of its own.

How did White Mountain come about?

I’m constantly collecting sounds and ideas, with an album in mind. The White Mountain release was the last generation of a collection of tracks that kept evolving over four years, and when its finished you kind of just know.

Does ‘white mountain’ refer to an actual place? Snaefellsjökull comes to mind.

It’s a reference to Jodorowsky’s Holy Mountain and René Daumal’s Mount Analogue.

René Daumal’s Mount Analogue was mentioned a bit in Jodorowsky’s Psychomagic. He talked about the book being his main inspiration for Holy Mountain, so I immediately sought it out at the local bookstore.

There was one idea in particular that intrigued me while reading the book—the idea of the peradam—a rare perfectly round crystal, it’s spherical crystallization made possible due to the warped space surrounding Mount Analogue. The fact that it’s perfectly round makes the peradam near invisible to the naked eye—so for those who seek it, it is extremely difficult to find.

However, every now and then someone’s gaze will drift mindlessly, and at just the right angle catch a glimpse of the brilliant refractions of sunlight emitting from the peradam. This would only be possible when you are not looking.

That to me is analogous to the way creativity works. Art surfaces when you aren’t trying too hard.

You are part of Jonsi’s touring band. Did you enjoy the experience? Would you do it again?



Absolutely—music is my life. I hope I will be fortunate enough to be able to continue travelling and playing music for the rest of my life.

How much of your music is created in Iceland? I think your music sounds ‘Icelandic’ and couldn’t have been made anywhere else. Would you agree?

The better half of White Mountain was written on tour buses and hotel rooms all around the world. I have mentioned elsewhere that it serves as a kind of collage of memories for my—field recordings from different parts of the world, spliced together—creating abstract scenarios that are hyper-real, and extra-personal.

Despite the fact that Úlfur clearly doesn’t agree that his music sounds ‘Icelandic,’ I think it does. I agree though that it is hyper-real and extra-personal. If you get chance, give White Mountaina try. For nothing else, it has Ewoks on it.

Postcards From Rachel

Rachel, a travel blogger, has featured me (I know!) on her blog today, along with two other bloggers.

Here is the short interview;

-Favorite travel destination and why?

Ha! This is an easy question. Iceland. I’ve written a book about my obsession with the people, places and music of Iceland. ‘Iceland, Defrosted’ is less about wars over cod, flight-halting volcanoes and globe-shattering financiers, and more about relaxing in natural hot pots, sharing barbeques in howling winter storms and eating waffles and rhubarb jam while watching playful Arctic foxes.

Oh, and desperately, desperately searching for the elusive Northern Lights (which might not exist anyway). It is a story that’s almost a love letter, born from a constant yearning for this special place and fuelled by a growing understanding and a desire to uncover the real Iceland.

-Most important lesson you’ve learned from travel?

Read the local papers. You are bound to find out exactly what is going on, where to go and what to see. Travel guides are fine, but a local paper can reveal so much more. I travelled to Alaska a couple of years ago to see the Iditarod, but via a local paper I found myself not just watching, but having a go on a dog-sled. I then followed this up by eating the best King Crab, and supping Alaskan ale in a little known pub. I wouldn’t have known about any of this without reading the local paper.

-How has travel changed you?

I’ve learnt that over time, travel becomes less about the places and more about the people you meet. I know people that have traveled for travels’ sake, grabbing a RTW ticket, packing a rucksack and rushing from place to place, making sure it’s all tagged on Facebook. I’ve learnt that the people you meet and spend time with can change you forever. I have a friend in Iceland who has become a friend for life. You can’t buy that from a travel agent.

You can read ‘postcards from Rachel’ here.

Review – Snorri Helgason : Autumn Skies

Snorri Helgason is a strange beast. At once a Reykjavík hipster, and at the same time making music that could be seen as deeply unfashionable, he insists on making Americana tinged folk/country that sounds sublime, and belies his young age.

It’s a slow start for an album, but the opening track sounds like its fresh out of Nashville, complete with pedal steel and harmonica, ‘Berlin’ is equally lovely, whilst ‘Summer is Almost Gone’ sounds like Jack Johnson before he sold his soul to the corporate devil.

The secret of this album is Sigurlaug Gísladóttir, aka Mr. Silla and of the collective Múm, Snorri’s usual partner in crime and a crucial element of his touring band. She adds her soft vocals to almost every song here and is solo on the wistful ‘Poor Mum’ and the surprising ‘It’s Over’. She is hugely talented—surely it’s time for her own solo effort? Anyway, in harmony with Snorri here, she is a force to be reckoned with, especially on the standout ‘The Morning is the Loving Hour.’

Snorri has matured since the days of Sprengjuhöllin; mostly this is a good thing. It means that Autumn Skies rings true with the experience of a man who knows exactly what works and what is needed to make this album an international success. Occasionally though, I wish he’d just go for it and break into something like ‘99 songs’.

Overall, Autumn Skies is a melancholic, gentle affair, that sometimes lacks the immediacy of its predecessor, Winter Sun. It’s a delight though, and is suitably titled—it does have the feeling of summer bleeding away into autumn. I think it’s probably best consumed with a hot chocolate whilst watching the leaves turn from green to red.

Website: Snorri Helgason

Review originally published on Iceland Review online.

Muted in Egilsstaðir

Muted is an alias of Bjarni Rafn Kjartansson. He first came to my notice via a collaboration with Samaris and has recently released a limited edition vinyl called Lizard On Ice. He ended up cutting out the label for each record sleeve himself, something that is indicative of the Icelandic music scene. He spends time watching stars and waiting for the northern lights to show up and yet he seems to be the maestro of the East Fjords. I wanted to know more. What on earth is an Icelander doing producing music as diverse as this from the edge of nowhere?

How would you describe your music?



I make all kinds of stuff, I started out doing drum’n'bass, then I went to dubstep, I’ve also done trip-hop, hip-hop, jazz, theatrical work and a lot of other different stuff. The thing that I keep in almost all of my works, my “signature” thing, are the recorded sounds I’ve recorded in various places in Iceland with my Zoom H4N recording device. I usually have some odd sounds for snares or percussion and use some cool ambience recordings for effects in the background.

I also love using samples, recycling old records, sample movies, tv, cassettes or just whatever really, and last but not least, I’m heavily into analog synthesisers. I’ve never studied any instrument so I’m basically just experimenting with sounds.

Why are you called ‘muted’?



I think it took me like 10 mins to pick that name, no real thought to it really, just really fitting for me. I started out making this deep, kind of minimal drum’n'bass which suits the name “Muted” quite well, it also fits my character pretty well as I’m in general a really shy person, I was also the only one in my hometown who even knew what drum’n'bass was at the time so I was kind ‘the odd one out’ so the name was quite easy.

Where in Iceland are you from? Where do you live at the moment?



I’m from Egilsstaðir, in the east part of Iceland. I’m currently living there but I lived in Reykjavík for a year and Akureyri for a year in 2011 where I made my debut album (which is still to be released!).

What’s it like there?

Over the summer it’s wicked, everyone is home for their summer job and the town is blooming. In late august and until christmas it’s pretty hard, everyone leaves for university and at the moment I am the last man standing.

But music-wise it’s wicked all year around. I live in Fellabær which is a 300 people town 2 km outside of Egilsstaðir (on the banks of the famous Lagarfljót). I’m lucky enough to be renting an apartment in an industrial area so I’m the only inhabitant on my street so I can make music anytime I want without disturbing anyone.

There is also a small forest in 3 minute walking distance from my apartment and there I spend a lot of time watching stars, northern lights, recording sounds, thinking or just chilling.

Isn’t it really hard producing music from such a remote part of the country?



It’s actually a lot easier for me than when I was living in Reykjavík. I think that what matters most for me is how close I am to the nature in Egilsstaðir. Everywhere I go there are forests, rivers, huge rocks, mountains, just everything a nature lover wants. The thing I disliked the most about living in Reykjavík was that everything was so hectic over there, traffic, people in a hurry, just uncomfortable. I mean compared to big cities like New York and London I can understand that Reykjavík is just a chilled tiny city for most tourists but for someone who’s used to living in a town of 2500 people it’s a pretty different story.

Since I’m all alone over the winter months I use almost all of my spare time for music, either working on new tunes, playing my synths, sampling or recording sounds.

Tell me about ‘Lizard on Ice’ – why is it on vinyl, and limited to only 100?



Lizard on Ice was a project that went too far, but I’m glad it did. I’ve always been heavily into hip-hop but I had never tried to make my own. In the winter of 2012 I decided to try and make a beat every week until I had a hip-hop ‘beat-tape’. I started out doing a beat a week for the first 2 weeks or so but then I just wanted to do more and more and in the end I had made like 40 beats. I then cut them down to 17 and just when I was finishing the album I received an e-mail from Kraumur music fund encouraging me to apply for a funding.

I eventually did not get funded since it’s really hard to get funded for something in Iceland unless your name is Retro Stefson or something.

But yeah, to make a long story short I gave the go ahead as soon as I received the answer to my application and my first release on my own label was in motion.

There were some bumps in the road though, I mis-ordered the covers so I didn’t receive those I was expecting and my best friend who was drawing the artwork had to re-think the whole idea in 2 days. I also had problems getting someone to print the covers so I turned to my uncle who gave me a huge sticker roll, which did not fit in his printer so I had to spend an hour sawing a part of the roll off. I then printed the covers at his house in Eskifjörður and then my mum helped me put the stickers on the covers. I used a surgeon-knife to cut out for the circle and hand stamped every copy from 001-100.

To top it all off I just arrived back home from Reykjavík where I delivered almost every copy personally to the people who ordered them.

I’m almost sold out already so it turned out really nice.

The reason I wanted to do a vinyl is mostly because I really don’t like this whole mp3-evolution we got going on, when I do some tracks I want to hold them in my hand and have as part of some collection I will own for the rest of my life instead of some mp3 files that are part of some collection of thousands of other mp3 files who I might or might not have in the future.

I also buy and listen to a lot of vinyl so it was the best thing to do for me.

How did the collaboration with Jófríður Ákadóttir from Pascal Pinon/Samaris come about?

I started working with Samaris in 2011, soon after they won the battle of the bands. I was with my best friend at Subway the night Samaris won and I heard the winning performance on the radio and heard a lot of potential.

I really wanted to collaborate with them or do a remix or something because I feel they’re music is really special. Doddi from Samaris contacted me about a remix in may 2011 and I picked the track ‘Hljóma þú’ to remix.

This was at the same time I was working on my debut album I named earlier and I decided to check with Jófríður if she could sing for me. Iceland is really small so it was as simple as that. The only challenge I was left to face was to write lyrics for the track she were to sing. I chose one of my favourite places in the world as an inspiration and wrote some verses that she sung and Doddi recorded and then he sent me to Akureyri and I finished the track over there.

I’ve also been working on music with them, collaborating on the track ‘Haf’ which will appear on they’re next album on One Little Indian, remixing more tracks by them and probably some more good stuff in the future.

What’s next for Muted?



I spent 3 months this summer working with a small theatre group in my hometown, putting up a show called ‘Næturlíf’ (Nightlife) which received nationwide attention and since then I finished a concept album I started last winter called ‘Planets’, a track for every planet.

Now I’m working on a jazz album with my friend playing the drums, doing another vinyl release scheduled for early 2014, a hip-hop album with Icelandic rappers I want to work with.

But other than that I’m just doing the usual, working on more music, looking for gigs abroad, trying to find a decent label to release my stuff and just trying to enjoy life.

Original article on Iceland Review online.

For more info on Muted.

Photographs courtesy of Muted.

50 Crazy Facts About Icelandic Sheep

So a while ago, I compiled a list of facts about Puffins. They weren’t necessarily true or accurate, but they were frequently amusing.

The list of 100 Crazy Puffin Facts has become one of the most visited pages on this blog (even Rough Guides tweeted about them today), and I still get the odd fact sent to me.

So, because I have a bit of time on my hands, I thought we could do it again. Twitter friends suggested the Icelandic sheep was fair game. Here is what we have so far. Please let me know if you have any lesser known facts about the Icelandic sheep.

Thanks to everyone that contributed.

Photo courtesy of Pete Chipman.

#1. Sheep have a lot of very important business in the middle of roads. You will often see them having meetings. @CatTheobald

#2. Icelandic sheep have radars in their horns so they know exactly when to run in front of your car. @IheartReykjavik

#3. Icelandic Sheep wear a peysa under their normal wool to keep warm.

#4. Icelandic sheep are highly intelligent, and often spend the winter playing Scrabble.

#5. Sheep are directly in charge of the Icelandic weather. They make it rain a lot so as to keep their coat frizzy. @CatTheobald

#6. Icelandic sheep come in black, brown, white and the lesser seen mauve. The fleece of the mauve sheep is highly sought after.

#7. Icelandic sheep are often mistaken for clouds, especially the rare lenticular sheep and noctilucent sheep. @nickminers

#8. Icelandic sheep are often mistaken for pillows. You can usually see people asleep next to a sheep in Iceland. @BnGddrd

#9. Icelandic sheep are like electrons – if you remove them from a field, eventually the field collapses. @nickminers

#10. Never wear a lopapeysa when in the company of Icelandic sheep. It’s considered rude. It might be one of their relatives or friends.” Wes Jay

#11. The Blue Lagoon was originally a place where the Icelandic sheep would go to in particularly extreme weather conditions. @BnGddrd

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#12. The ‘sand’ on Vik beach is actually centuries old Icelandic sheep dung. It has been proven to have medicinal properties. @BnGddrd

#13. At Iceland Airwaves Kraftwerk will be joined by the Icelandic sheep choir. Their last performance was in 1978 for the album Autobaaaaaaahn @BnGddrd

#14. Icelandic Sheep favour Twitter over Facebook, due to the confusion around facial recognition.

#15. Icelandic sheep have lead sheep called forystufe, who can operate GPS, and know the farmers phone number by heart.

#16. Icelandic sheep make a great cup of coffee. @thorarinnh

#17. Last winter, Icelandic sheep were found alive after being buried in snow for 45 days. For this reason, they always carry a book with them.

#18. Icelandic Sheep in North Iceland take it in turns to get mistaken for visiting Polar bears.

#19. Regular sheep can’t get up if rolled onto their backs. #icelandicsheep can’t get up after a night on the Brennivín.

#20. Icelandic sheep are usually placid, but will attack humans at the merest mention of Svið.

#21. Icelandic Sheep are deeply jealous of the glamorous, exciting lifestyles that they firmly believe puffins lead.

#22. Icelandic sheep have slightly longer left limbs to allow them to balance on steep hillsides. Getting this wrong can be fatal.

#23. Icelandic sheep have very good memories. They can remember at least 50 individual sheep, in addition to the entire Björk back catalogue.

#24. Icelandic sheep are known to fly when they think no one is looking. @Alliceland

Photo courtesy of All Iceland.

#25. Icelandic sheep don’t believe ANY of the puffin ‘facts’ on your website and have lodged an official complaint. Nick Miners.

#26. Icelandic sheep are said to be able to forecast weather changes, especially those who have old high school football injuries. @guywriter

#27. Icelandic sheep are said to be able to forecast weather changes, especially those who have old high school football injuries. @guywriter

#28. Icelandic sheep are very fond of the tea cake bara brith which their Aunts in Wales post over for them once a month, via @CatTheobald

#29. Icelandic sheep are paid the same rate as human extras in Game of Thrones. @BnGddrd

#30. Icelandic sheep protested against Tom Cruise filming Oblivion in Iceland. The matter was settled only when Tom paid up 1 million ISK.

#31. Sheep display emotions, some of which can be observed the position of their ears. Icelandic sheep often get confused due to the harsh winds.

#32. Icelandic sheep change colour with every shift of the northern lights, but nobody ever notices, they’re too busy looking upwards. Via @ChloFun.

#33. Icelandic sheep are gentle creatures, and are often employed by Apple to put the plastic film on new Apple products.

#34. Icelandic sheep even the more mature ones, are excellent at playing GTA V. They are much better than Arctic Foxes.

#35. Suzy Sheep, in the popular Peppa Pig cartoon, is actually an Icelandic sheep. If you listen carefully, you’ll hear the accent.

#36. Björk’s infamous orange wig is actually… an Icelandic sheep. @ChloFun

#37. An Icelandic word for ‘sheep’ (fé) also means ‘currency’. This is why the sheep have an overinflated sense of their own worth. @NickMiners

#38. Icelandic sheep float and are often used as ballast. In fact early Icelandic ships would have 1 sheep per person incase boats sank. @BnGddrd

#39. You can buy mini lopapeysur from @IheartReykjavik – these are knitted from the fleece of the rare pygmy Icelandic sheep. @NickMiners

#40. The Of Monsters & Men song Little Talks was originally about Icelandic sheep: “Though the truth may vary this sheep will carry our bodies safe to shore” @CreagDr

#41. It is said that every part of the Icelandic sheep can be eaten.

#42. Mila Kunis owns several Icelandic sheep and uses their soft under-wool for making undergarments.

#43. Icelandic sheep can see behind themselves without turning their heads. Useful for detecting hungry Icelanders.

#44. The luggage conveyor belts at Keflavik airport are operated by specially trained Icelandic sheep.

#45. The historic Reykjavik summit in 1986 was attended by Reagan, Gorbachev and a leading Icelandic sheep.

#46. When transported out of Iceland, Icelandic sheep retain their accents.

#47. Icelandic sheep actually protested against the cloning of sheep in the 1990′s. They were unsuccessful.

#48. Not sure how to pronounce ‘Ð’? Ask an Icelandic sheep!

#49. All Icelandic sheep are trained in avalanche survival techniques. A certificate is required before being allowed on to mountains.

#50. A number of Icelandic sheep play in the English Premier League.

Warm-hearted Focus

Iceland, Defrosted is featured in this months National Geographic Traveller. It’s a short, but sweet entry in the ‘New Books’ section.

Warm-hearted focus. I wish I’d thought of that!

Review – Múm: Smilewound

I have no idea what a Smilewound actually is. Or a ‘Toothwheel’ for that matter. Apart from being the latest album and single from Icelandic collective Múm, that is. It’s also their first proper album for four years, and the first one with founding member Gyða for 11 years.

Their previous releases have been quirky to say the least, and despite garnering an enthusiastic fan base they have often been accused of being too quirky for their own good. That is not the case here, with Smilewound being unmistakably accessible to all. It’s even been released on cassette to mark the first ever cassette store day.

Opener ‘Toothwheel’ (nope, still no idea) is a perfect example of this premise; its restraint leads to delicious vocals being balanced of luscious strings.

The album really starts though with the unrepentant ‘When Girls Collide,’ which despite initially sounding like someone sat on a child’s toy turns into the most enjoyable slice of electronic music I’ve heard for a long time.

The fun continues with the busy, burbling ‘Candlestick’ complete with sections seemingly composed on a Sega Megadrive, and the drum and bass centric ‘The Colourful Stabwound.’ ‘Time to Scream & Shout’ is nothing like it suggests—its more of a gentle ode.

The final track features Kylie Minogue, singing the most obtuse lyrics. It’s unnecessary—Gyða and Kristín have it all tied up, constantly delivering beguiling, beautifully soft vocals. I would suggest that the link up with Kylie might have been more for her credibility than anything else.

Smilewound is a delight, and stands up well to repeated plays; the electronic beeps and squeaks seems to reveal more with each listen. I hate to say it, but it sounds infinitely Icelandic. I can imagine it being played by coffee shops all over Reykjavík, on repeat.

Original review written for Iceland Review online.

More Crazy Icelandic Sheep Facts

#18. Icelandic Sheep in North Iceland take it in turns to get mistaken for visiting Polar bears.

#19. Regular sheep can’t get up if rolled onto their backs. Icelandic sheep can’t get up after a night on the Brennivín.

#20. Icelandic sheep are usually placid, but will attack humans at the merest mention of Svið.

#21. Icelandic Sheep are deeply jealous of the glamorous, exciting livestyles that they firmly believe puffins lead.

#22. Icelandic sheep have slightly longer left limbs to allow them to balance on steep hillsides. Getting this wrong can be fatal.

#23. Icelandic sheep have very good memories. They can remember at least 50 individual sheep, in addition to the entire Björk back catalogue.

#24. Icelandic sheep are known to fly when they think no one is looking http://t.co/KB8UJ0C92N. @Alliceland

#25. Icelandic sheep don’t believe ANY of the puffin ‘facts’ on your website and have lodged an official complaint. Nick Miners.

#26. Icelandic sheep are said to be able to forecast weather changes, especially those who have old high school football injuries. @guywriter

#27. Icelandic sheep are said to be able to forecast weather changes, especially those who have old high school football injuries. @guywriter

#28. Icelandic sheep are very fond of the tea cake bara brith which their Aunts in Wales post over for them once a month, via @CatTheobald

#29. Icelandic sheep are paid the same rate as human extras in Game of Thrones. @BnGddrd

#30. Icelandic sheep protested against Tom Cruise filming Oblivion in Iceland. The matter was settled only when Tom paid up 1 million ISK.

#31. Sheep display emotions, some of which can be observed the position of their ears. Icelandic sheep often get confused due to the harsh winds.

#32. Icelandic sheep change colour with every shift of the northern lights, but nobody ever notices, they’re too busy looking upwards. Via @ChloFun.

#33. Icelandic sheep are gentle creatures, and are often employed by Apple to put the plastic film on new Apple products.

#34. Icelandic sheep even the more mature ones, are excellent at playing GTA V. They are much better than Arctic Foxes.