Various Artists – Made In Iceland
Iceland has been a country that has provided us with some of the world’s finest and most beautiful piece of music of the last decade. All that is just from a few acts such as Sigur Ros and Mum. But, Iceland also has a very intriguing scene developing over there. This compilation showcase that the country is a hot bed of some of the music creative and innovative artists out there.
The first band that will immediately get your attention are FM Belfast. The duo of Árni R Hlöðversson and Lóa H. Hjalmtysdottir provide the track “Lotus.” The track is this mix of European techno with a slight hip/hop vibe during the track. The track catches you off guard because the larger acts of Iceland are just the antithesis of this. This can be said for Steed Lord and their track “Who U Wit?” The track is a synth heavy pop tune and then all of a sudden that monster like vocal effort ala The Knife comes in. When hearing it with this soulful and upbeat young female vocal is so strange. Things start to slow down a bit with Olof Arnalds track “Klara.” The track is a simply gorgeous acoustic track. Olof was actually an active member of Mum as a violin and viola player. Her voice is something that will take you away. It is unlike any other folk singer out there it sounds very classical yet sounds so fresh and invigorating. Next up, we have Borko and the track “Shoo Ba Ba.” The instrumental track is a fuzzy and expansive four minutes. The track starts off in this hazy with a chant of shoo ba ba in the background but slowly it breaks out of this and develops into a powerful piece of music. Another stand-out on this compilation is Benny Crespo’s Gang and the track “12223.” Benny Crespo’s Gang manages to make post-hardcore sound fun and accessible.
For, the last few days I have been obsessing over their compilation CD. It has been a wonderful way to get to know a great new group of artists as well as a scene that does not get enough attention from us.
By John Siwicki
