$15.99, 12 tracks, 50m 34s), includes a spoken word performance by Lee Hazlewood—his last re- cording. The follow-up, PUZZLE (2011, Sound of a Handshake, $16.99, 8 tracks, 40m 46s), saw the band add two members and increase its explora- tion of electronics. THE LIGHTHOUSE PROJECT (2013; amiina 06, $18.99, 6 tracks, 21m 57s) is a live EP of lovely, subdued music composed for “small spaces.”
From self-described “computer troubadour” Mugison (Örn Elías Gudmundsson) to the EDM collective Gus Gus to the Viking metal of Skálmöld, even the island’s veteran musicians push the boundaries of genre—and evolve. Con- sider Bloodgroup, formed in a town of 1,600 people by the Jónsson siblings and Faro Island electronica guru Janus Rasmussen. After the
youthful hip hop indiscretions of STICKY SITUA- TION (2007, Sild SILD01, €13.80, 11 tracks, 43m 45s), the band escaped to DRY LAND (2009, Record Records RECD05, €13.80, 11 tracks, 50m 16s), abandoning most off-shore influences in favor of insular synthscapes, strings, and erratic beats. With TRACING ECHOES (2013, Kölski KOLSKI011, €13.80, 10 tracks, 46m 15s)—re- corded with a new vocalist, Sunna Dórisdóttir— the quartet stepped further from the dance floor and into volcanic clouds, brewing somber, intelli- gent, and intricate synth-and-vocal washes that suggest a North Atlantic coupling of Cocteau Twins and Depeche Mode.
And then there’s Valgeir Sigurdsson. Tapped by Björk as engineer/ programmer on her score for Lars Von Trier’s DANCER IN THE DARK (2000), he became her studio collaborator, formed a prominent recording facility and label, and stepped out on his own with EKVÍLIBRÍUM, parlaying elec- tronics, orchestra, prepared piano, and musical toys into inventive sonic landscapes (2007; Bed- room Community HVALUR3CD, €14.99, 10 tracks, 49m 9s). A potion of fractured folk and
orchestral shadows powers his score for DRAUMALANDID (2010; US: DREAMLAND; Bed- room Community HVALUR8CD, €14.99, 12 tracks, 39m 12s), and the meditative gloom of his music for the ballet ARCHITECTURE OF LOSS is compelling (2012; Bedroom Community HVALUR13CD, €14.99, 10 tracks, 38m 1s). Cellist Hildur Gudnadóttir bridges the ambi- ent and the classical in unexpected ways. I favor
the grey melancholy of her second album, WITH- OUT SINKING (Touch TO:70, £10.00, 10 tracks, 47m 57s), and her latest, SAMEN, which melds Gudnadóttir’s cello and voice in near liturgical set- pieces (Touch TO:96, £10.00, 12 tracks, 39m 6s).
Yet she was also a member of neo-psychedelic folk ensemble Stórsveit Nix Noltes, toured with Animal Collective, produced choral arrangements for Throbbing Gristle, and scored the Danish pre- cursor of CAPTAIN PHILLIPS, KAPRINGEN (2012; US: A HIJACKING). Even classical prodigy Anna Thorvaldsdottir, although signed by classical stal- wart Deutsche Grammophon, defies a category. Her signature piece “Hrim” and other expansive elements of RHÍZÕMA (2009; innova, $14.99, 8 tracks, 59m 13s), performed by the Iceland Sym- phony Orchestra, evoke glacial expanses yet find earthy counterpoint in “Hidden,” five introspec- tive pieces for prepared piano. With AERIAL (2011; Deutsche Grammophon B0022217-02, $14.99, 6 tracks, 61m 41s), Thorvaldsdottir cemented her reputation as a fearless composer whose experi- ments in ambience, dissonance, and even noise have drawn comparisons with the likes of Merzbow.
Listening at 12 Tónar rekindled my belief in music as something to be listened to, rather than simply played. Among the discs I discovered are two now-constant companions: the music of Low Roar, a Reykjavík-based folk/electronic duo (US- born Ryan Karazija and Andrew Scheps) whose intricate acoustic guitar passages, subdued vo- cals, and loops descend through electronic washes into an enticing darkness, perhaps best expressed in “Tonight, Tonight, Tonight,” with its opening lyric “Tonight... we’re washing out the blood.” The band’s eponymous debut (2011, Tonequake TQ1102, $11.99, 12 tracks, 53m 54s) and its second album 0 (2014, 12 Tónar 12T066, $11.99, 13 tracks, 78m 3) employ harmonium, pump or- gan, cello, theremin, and modular synthesize, as well as the best European analog synth, Doepfer. After hearing only a single track, I was hooked.
Next Issue: From sagas to the silver screen.
For an Audio Watchdog tribute to the music of Iceland, visit
douglasewinter.com. For additional information about 12 Tónar, the composers, perform- ers, and the discs, visit
12tonar.is,
bjork.com, sigur-
ros.co.uk,
amiina.com,
is-is.facebook.com/ bloodgroupmusic,
bedroomcommunity.net,
valgeir.net,
hildurness.com,
annathorvalds.com,
tonequake.com, and
lowroarmusic.com.
You can contact the Audio Watchdog on- line at
OnEyeDog@aol.com or by visiting
douglasewinter.com. Review materials should be sent c/o Vale House, 2495 Oakton Hills Drive, Oakton VA 22124.
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