Mugison Explains Friendships With Bjork & Sigur Ros

Hear what the Icelandic musician had to say about both acts in the clip below.


MP3: Mugison - To The Bone (Acoustic)

Bjork Chats With Icelandic Magazine

The article is titled 'The Machine Is Deaf'.

Read snippets from it here.

Visit Bjork at her official site.

She recently collaborated with Sigur Ros in Reykjavik.

MP3: Bjork - Hope

Bjork Duets With Sigur Ros At Icelandic Benefit Gig

Enjoy a snippet from last night's tremendous performance of 'Gobbledigook' below.


MP3: Sigur Ros - Untitled 8

Bjork & Sigur Ros Team Up For Massive Iceland Gig

The socially conscious show will take place in Reykjavík on June 28th. Bjork shares the following statement with Morgunbladid newspaper: *“Sigur Ros & I are neither environmental experts nor politicians, but we travel around the world a lot and we have seen how far behind Iceland is in conserving our environment. For example, I was in South America for two months and you could see all these impoverished people recycling. We can’t be 30 years behind but we need to be in the forefront.”* Bjork MP3 at bottom of post.

For further info, head here.

MP3: Bjork - Earth Intruders

Sigur Ros Debuts New Song At Intimate Iceland Gig

A few weeks back, we told you about the closing of Sirkus. Here's SR's contribution:


MP3: Sigur Ros - Von

Icelandic Music Awards 2008: The Winners

Here's who won in the major categories...

Performer Of The Year: Bjork
Female Singer: Bjork
Male Singer: Pall Oskar Hjalmtysson
Brightest Hope: Hjaltalin

View each & every victor at The Grapewire.

MP3: Bjork - Pagan Poetry (Live)

Legendary Icelandic Venue To Go Out In Style

This sounds absolutely amazing. Here's the official statement: *It's finally the last weekend of Sirkus - such a sad moment for us here in Reykjavík - but we're making sure the building goes out with the most memorable weekend in history! Sirkus will be filled with performances all day and night this weekend until the doors are closed forever. Among the performers this weekend are: 1985!, Amiina, Ampop, Benni Hemm Hemm, Ghostigital, Music Zoo, múm, Reykjavík!, Seabear, Singapore Sling, Sigur Rós, Skátar, Skakkamanage, Slowblow, Æla, & Ölvis.*

Read my review of Screaming Masterpiece (an informative & exciting documentary showcasing Icelandic music) here.

MP3: Benni Hemm Hemm - Monako [alt link]

Mum Discusses Icelandic Experimentalism With BBC

Enjoy the full piece in the clip below. Learn more about Mum here at the band's MySpace page. In related Icelandic music news, follow this link to watch Sigur Ros at last month's BBC Electric Proms, performing a stunning version of 'Agaetis Byrjun'. Mum MP3 at bottom.

MP3: Mum - Now There's That Fear Again

Yoko Ono Unveils Imagine Peace Tower In Reykjavik

Learn all about the project here at ImaginePeace.com. Yoko's explanation, in addition to a bevy of breathtaking images, can be viewed in the YouTube clip below. MP3 at bottom.

MP3: John Lennon - Imagine (via Titclan)

Sigur Ros @ The New Yorker Festival: Ethereal Sounds

Saturday night marked the US premiere of Sigur Ros's forthcoming tour documentary, Heima. To celebrate the evening, the Icelandic post-rockers performed two separate and intimate acoustic sets (prior to the film) at 7:30 and midnight, respectively, in Florence Guild Hall. With scant on-stage banter, the band selected a glorious trio of tunes in the form of 'Agaetis Byrjun', 'Heima', and 'Untitled #4 (Njosnavelin)'. In spite of the all-too-short set, the 15-minute pre-show was simply amazing. Enjoy a handful of pictures from the event plus a brief review of the film, below.

Heima (which directly translates into 'at home') showcases Sigur Ros during the summer of 2006, when the band decided to perform two weeks worth of impromptu concerts at picturesque farms, villages and major cities throughout Iceland. Accompanied by Amiina, the bands share their personal day-to-day experiences, favorite tour memories and scattered humorous tales over the course of the documentary's 100 minutes. The film also features a multitude of live performances from the majority of the aforementioned gigs. A roaring and electrifying version of 'Untitled #8 (Pop Song)', from Reykjavik, closes Heima. The magnificent and engaging flick gets its worldwide release next month. Learn more about the film here. Enjoy an MP3 of 'Untitled #4' at bottom.

For full details on Sigur Ros's Hvarf/Heim double EP, follow this link.









MP3: Sigur Ros - Untitled #4 (Njosnavelin)

Who The Hell Is Benni Hemm Hemm?

The latest Icelandic import, Benni Hemm Hemm, is an orchestral pop outfit that The Music Slut has slowly but surely fallen in love with over the course of the last few weeks.

Equal parts Sufjan Stevens, Sigur Ros and Beirut, Benni Hemm Hemm's sound is undeniably rich, epic, and beautiful. Take a listen to a BHH track below and dare to tell us you disagree!

The band will embark on their first ever US tour this coming July. All dates here on their MySpace page. We can't wait!

MP3: Benni Hemm Hemm - Snjorjljossnjor

New Mum Album Due This September

Via Fat Cat: *It's been over 3 years since the release of múm's last album Summer make good, and a lot of water has passed under the bridge. And now finally, a string of dates over the Summer, heralding a long-awaited new album, strangely titled go go smear the poison ivy, due out 24th September 2007. A colourful, twitching, playful work of art, full of life affirming energy, the album will be preceded by the single they made frogs smoke 'til they exploded on 27th August. A chirpy song about animal cruelty, it’s backed with 'the amateur show', described by the band as a wonky insect-circus instrumental.

With the departure of Kristín Vlatýsdóttir at the beginning of the creative process, the core of múm is again down to the original duo of founding members Gunnar and Örvar, but the band itself is now larger than ever, counting in all seven people. The album was recorded at a variety of locations, including the music school in the small fishingtown of Ísafjörður in the west fjords of iceland, where the band made use of the schools various instruments. The songs on this multifarious album were conceived over a long period in many a different fashion, with one song even dating back to the period of 'Yesterday was dramatic, today is OK.'.*

Read our review of Screaming Masterpiece, a DVD documentary about the Icelandic music scene, here.

MP3: Mum - Now There's That Fear Again (via Squeaky Fingers)

DVD Review: Screaming Masterpiece

Regular readers of this site already realize that I have a strange fascination with all music stemming from Iceland. I've been a fan of Amiina, Sigur Ros, Bjork and Mum for as long as I can remember and have everything they've ever put to record displayed flamboyantly all over my iTunes library. When Screaming Masterpiece, a DVD highlighting the current state of the Icelandic music scene, arrived in my mailbox earlier this week, I was elated.

After watching the documentary, it became impossibly clear to me that one of the strongholds of the Icelandic music scene, that sets it apart from all others, is its strong sense of camaraderie. Whether it's the country's burgeoning punk, hip-hop or electronic circles, all bands love, respect and admire each other's work. As mutliple artists explain throughout the film, they are truly out to create music that they enjoy playing, because they don't anticipate a major record deal or mainstream radio attention. With a total population just over 300,000, it's rather mindblowing to think that so much powerful, unique and heartfelt music is coming out of such a (relatively) small country.

While the DVD does a fine job circumnavigating the entire scene, there is undoubtedly a focus on Iceland's most successful musician to date. Of course, I'm referring to Bjork. In addition to an in-depth interview with the star, there are two live videos from her visit to Brooklyn's Keyspan Park in 2003 highlighted on Screaming Masterpiece. 'Pluto' and 'All Is Full Of Love' are included in their full glory on the documentary, as is a stellar performance of 'Untitled #8' from Sigur Ros, dating back to that same glorious evening (I was there and can vouch that there was magic in that air that night).

In summary, the film is a must-have for both the musicologists and curious music aficionados amongst you. Even as someone, like myself, who dares to claim that he or she has a vast knowledge of Icelandic music, will honestly learn a great deal more about the scene after watching Screaming Masterpiece. Further details on the film, alongside purchase info, can be found HERE!

The full list of artists featured on Screaming Masterpiece is as follows: Múm, Slowblow, Apparat Organ Quartet, Eivör Pálsdóttir, Björk, Mugison, Odin's Raven Magic, The Sugarcubes, Ghostigital, Quarashi, Amiina, Sigur Rós, Singapore Sling, Vinyl, Mínus & Nilfisk.

Would you like to attend Iceland Airwaves 2007, all expenses paid? Of course you do! Enter the contest to win a pair of tickets plus hotel stay and airfare via this link as arranged by Milan Records. Good luck!

MP3s: Bjork - Pneumonia + Sigur Ros - Untitled #8 + Amiina - Blafelder + Reykjavik! - All Those Beautiful Boys + Mugison - 2 Birds