Edward Hancox's Blog, page 4
May 19, 2015
May 15, 2015
Review: Sóley – Ask The Deep
It’s been a while since we heard from Sóley Stefánsdóttir. We Sink was two years ago, and it’s probably safe to say that Seabear are now sadly defunct. There was an obscure instrumental EP released last year, but nothing of substance. As fans of Sóley know; her music, and especially that voice, are unique. You can’t get your hit of Sóley anywhere else.
Ask the Deep has been some time in getting here. The majority of its songs were premiered at last year’s Iceland Airwaves festival. The one thing you don’t get from the album compared to the live show is the little snippets of stories and genuinely funny anecdotes that punctuate any Sóley show.
We start with ‘Devil,’ which is dark and foreboding, but full of energy. Speaking of dark, ‘I Will Never’ has the most sinister church organ introduction never used in a horror movie. It will make you sit up and pay attention, probably before checking behind the sofa.
Even the album artwork is darker than anything she has done before. Sóley’s face appears to have been melted off and sucked upwards into an apocalyptic sky. There is certainly a dark undercurrent with this whole piece of work. The titles of the songs reflect this (‘Lost Ship,’ ‘Halloween’ and ‘Devil’) as does the majority of the music itself. It’s when Sóley uses her beguiling voice to cut through this that we really see the true beauty of it.
‘Ævintýr’ talks of fairy tales, but its lyrics are the stuff of nightmares, before breaking into an uplifting respite. ‘One Eyed Lady’ is Sóley at her kooky best, storytelling and enchanting.
‘Follow Me Down’ is full-on Sóley, and a standout track on the album. It starts off gently enough, but develops into something quite lovely, with Sóley pleading with the listener. It’s also a marker of the new: something so strong would have been out-of-place on the fragile We Sink. There also appears to be less reliance on sampling too, and a more organic sound has been achieved. This is best seen on ‘Dreamers,’ with its delicious, twinkling piano.
The closing piece is the utterly haunting ‘Lost Ship’ which starts with something akin to a siren’s call through thick sea fog, before Sóley sings softly in such a way that makes you feel quite uneasy.
Sóley has crafted something truly unique here. Ask The Deep is a thing of dark beauty.
5/5
Originally published on Iceland Review online.
April 2, 2015
Hop & Stamp
Hi, so sorry I haven’t blogged in a while. I’m a bad blogger, a naughty blogger.
Anyway, my fellow SilverWood authors are having an Easter Blog hop, so it seemed only fair that I get involved too, and throw my hat into the ring.
I’ll add a list of my fellow authors to the end of this blog, and you can peruse them – or not – as the case maybe. Iceland, Defrosted is also part of the SilverWood selection box; a free ebook which contains snippets of work from SilverWood authors.
There’s a couple of things to update you on too. I’m doing this giveaway thing on Goodreads, where you can win a copy of Iceland, Defrosted (be quick though, it ends on 4th April). Oh, and I’m hard at work on book 2. Promise.
Anyway, I came across these Icelandic stamps that are super cute. There are four of them and they were originally issued in 2013. They were designed by graphic designer Örn Smári Gíslason, and contain images of a colourful Icelandic Puffin, a sofa (?!), the ubiquitous Icelandic horse, and my favourite – the pylsur. The pylsur stamp even shows how to make one, but you know it will never be as good as the real thing after a night on the beer in Reykjavik, right?!
Gleðilega páska!
A selection of SilverWood authors:
Adrian Churchward
Alison Morton
Anna Belfrage
Harvey Black
Lucienne Boyce
Michael Brown
Helen Hollick
David Ebsworth
March 16, 2015
Skyr is here!
Skyr now available in the UK. Probably a bit over excited about this news!
March 3, 2015
Music Review: Vio – Dive In
Vio are somewhat of a surprise. Despite their name sounding like they should produce death metal and dodgy album covers, they are a fresh, new semi-acoustic band of from Mosfellsbær near Reykjavík.
Vio won the 2014 Músíktilraunir—an Icelandic battle-of-the-bands type contest—with singer Magnús Thorlacius also receiving a solo award for his vocal performance. Previous winners have included a little band called Of Monsters and Men. All in all, Vio didn’t do so badly bad for a band formed only three weeks before the contest.
Their style is a back-to-basics affair of guitar, keyboard and drums, which they use to produce alternative rock, presumably whilst at the same time fighting the urge not to become middle of the road. There is also more than a hint of the 90s Manchester indie scene here, even a smudge of shoe gazing is to be found if you listen hard enough. More Manchester than Mosfellsbær, if you will.
There is also a reminder of now defunct UK band Razorlight, before they lost the plot entirely.
This is especially the case on jangly ‘Wherever You May Be,’ with its Johnny Borrel-like vocal delivery and background harmonies, and the cheeky ‘Perfect Boys.’
A dash of sex is added to ‘Think of Me’—essentially the tale of a date, and subsequent fornication. A sentiment that is never far from the members of the bands’ mind, surely. “You feel me over, your nails brush my chest, I bite your neck,” go the lyrics, bringing to mind a bad teenage vampire movie. Seriously though, the lyrics—all in English, save for one track—are sensitive and thoughtful throughout, often tied to love and love lost.
This is a debut the boys should be proud of. It’s a solid foundation on which to build. A few more years, a few more broken relationships and their next album should be something to behold.
Originally published on Iceland Review online.
February 4, 2015
Rökkurró Live Review
Coventry, UK – 3rd February 2015
In possibly one of the worst venues I’ve ever been too—a dingy recess into industrial brick, with sticky floors, a dirty, tiny stage and a grimy feel to every surface—I find Rökkurró. This is a far cry from their usual environs of bright, twinkling lights of the ultra modern Harpa, or the class of Iðnó. I don’t ever recall wrinkling my nose at the smell of stale urine in Harpa, come to think of it.
Rökkurró are coming to the end of a mammoth three-week European tour, which has been very well received. Occasionally meeting up with Low Roar, and playing to huge audiences in France, it must be difficult to arrive at this place with the same sense of enthusiasm. I bump into Helga before they go on stage “it’s ups and downs, you know,” she says, “It’s been a great tour; no one’s killed anyone yet.”
First on is a twenty-something male wearing a butterfly face mask who struggles with his own loops whilst awkwardly clutching a guitar. It’s an odd sight at best. Rökkurró eventually take the stage at 10 pm. The audience are dotted around, still somewhat perplexed by what they have just seen. The band arrive without fanfare, squeeze all six of themselves onto the cramped stage (the drummer is virtually in another room), have a few minor technical difficulties, and then start playing. It’s worth the wait.
Rökkurró transport us somewhere else. They fill the damp space with warmth and wonder. Starting with ‘Weightless,’ Hildur uses her falsetto vocals to full effect, grabbing attention and cutting through everything going on around her. Helga harmonizes with her throughout the set, no where better than on ‘Sólin mun Skína.’ In fact, I’d forgotten what a great album Í Annan Heim was, in all the energy and synths of Innra.
Innra songs dominate the set though. We are treated to ‘The Backbone,’ ‘Killing Time’ and ‘Blue Skies,’ but oddly the striking ‘Hunger’ is missing. They close with a beautiful, opulent version of ‘Svanur.’ It’s a delicate and pretty affair, with an emotive piano piece that sounds like it has been cut from a film soundtrack. Some might say this is a strange song to close a set; I think it was just perfect.
I keep an eye on the audience. Once aloof, cold and nonplussed, Rökkurró have worked their magic. They are physically drawn closer to the stage, wanting to be part of the intimate, warm world that the band have created, rather than their dark, dank surroundings.
Originally published on Iceland Review online.
Jón Jónsson : Heim Music Review
Jón Jónsson has been performing since an early age. One of those annoyingly talented childhood prodigies that every school has, he continued his education in his home town of Hafnarfjörður before gaining a soccer scholarship with Boston University. Told you so.
On returning home, he decided a career in music was for him, and quickly spawned a series of singles that were well received in Iceland. His debut album was released in 2009.
It wasn’t until 2012 that Jón was ‘discovered’ during a visit to New York. He was signed up to Epic Records (a division of Sony Music), with whom he has released two albums, the second being Heim in 2014.
Despite looking like an escaped member of One Direction, Jón treads the same ground as Jack Johnson or Newton Faulkner, and occasionally Jamie Cullum (see ‘Heltekur minn hug’).
Accompanied by laid-back guitar, piano, and the occasional Hammond organ, Jón’s vocals are a gentle, unassuming affair. He doesn’t seem to have any of the character of the aforementioned musicians either, like Jack Johnson without the surf connotations, or Jamie without the jazz.
‘Engin eftirsjá’ chugs along quite nicely, making for a welcome change in pace. ‘Feel for you,’ however, is especially mawkish with its ‘this party is for everybody / but it’s especially made for you’ central lyric. ‘All, You, I’ smacks of a producer aping Ed Sheeran.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s all pleasant enough, save for the awkward forced singalong on ‘Dag eftir dag.’ Heim is the sort of album that can’t possibly offend anyone, but by the same token, doesn’t engage or certainly challenge anyone either.
Originally published on Iceland Review online.
January 29, 2015
January 28, 2015
Special Place: Muted
Remember Muted? Well, he has released his debut music video, ahead of his debut ‘proper’ album. The video accompanies his track Special Place, on which Jófríður of Samaris sings.
Along with beautiful nature of that ‘Special Place’ it also contains footage from a rare chance to go and film the currently active Holuhraun volcano.
If you don’t remember Muted, I’ve attached my interview with Bjarni from last year below.
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.
Photographs courtesy of Muted.
January 2, 2015
Top 3 Icelandic Albums of 2014
2014 has been a year of live music in Iceland, with Summer Solstice, ATP Iceland and the evergreen Iceland Airwaves showcasing the very best of international and Icelandic artists. Icelanders have also stolen a march on the global music scene too; Samaris played seemingly every country, Ásgeir continued the success of his ‘in the silence’ album & Ólafur Arnalds grabbed a BAFTA for his Broadchurch soundtrack.
With Icelandic heavyweights Sigur Rós, Björk and Of Monsters & Men having a fallow year, the stage was wide open for some great new Icelandic music. We weren’t disappointed either.
Rökkurró – Innra
It had been four whole years since Rökkurró’s last album, Í annan heim, which found the band a wider audience for their melodic semi-acoustic loveliness. Rökkurró eventually returned with Innra after nearly a year of much teasing; including releasing singles such as the sublime ‘Killing Time,’ limited edition releases and numerous photos of the band eating ice cream. It was worth waiting for though; Innra has a more electronic sound than previous incarnations, and the band’s sound is much bigger generally, but Hildur’s sweet-yet-powerful-voice soars above the extra synths. A clear highlight is ‘White Mountain,’ a song about inspired by television series Game of Thrones.
Kiasmos – Kiasmos
Despite being labeled “only a project,” Kiasmos have produced one of the best albums of the year. A partnership of BAFTA award-winning composer workaholic Ólafur Arnalds and Faroese electronic musician and sometime member of Bloodgroup, Janus Rasmussen, Kiasmos produce experimental, intelligent dance music with Ólafur’s neoclassical trademarks never too far away. ‘Thrown’ is a slow-building piece, whilst the ambient piano start of ‘Looped’ breaks out into something much more urgent. This is thrilling stuff, probably aided by the freedom of being ‘only a project’ and away from the heavy weight of expectation.
Óbó – Innhverfi
Innhverfi is apparently a play on the Icelandic words for ‘introvert’ and ‘suburbs,’ and you can immediately see why. Óbó, actually Ólafur Björn Ólafsson, is very much an introvert: there’s nothing showy about this album. This is a quiet, often dark affair that has been released without fanfare. It’s a shame, as Óbó has put together a collection of seven intriguing, off-kilter vignettes. Some are murky, intimidating slow burners, such as opener ‘Úthverfi,’ and others are wonderful instrumentals such as ‘Stilla.’ But the best feature is Óbó himself, with his gruff baritone—especially on the Sparklehorse-esque ‘Rétt eða rangt’ and the violin-accompanied last track, ‘Gullregn.’ Óbó has worked with Sigur Rós, Jónsi, Emilíana Torrini, slowblow, Benni Hemm Hemm, múm, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Úlfur Hansson and Valgeir Sigurðsson. Innhverfi is all his own.
Originally published by Iceland Review.
