|
An illustrated regular |
|
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Happy Easter!
OK I know it's been two days since Easter, but obviously I haven't blogged for ages, so I'm telling you now. Happy Easter!
I just got back from Ísafjörður today, where my dad and his family live. I was there for one week, and it was really good. Great to see the family, though a couple of days were really boring... But I expected that anyway. There was this music festival on Friday and Saturday nights, called Aldrei fór ég suður - "I never went south", i.e. never moved to Reykjavík. It's become a huge event that attracts hundreds of tourists each year; this was the 5th time the festival was held. I saw 17 bands in only 2 nights! And most of them were really good. Me likey live music :D
I also went to a dance on Easter Sunday (!!!); there was an old (relatively) band called SSSól (used to be Síðan skein sól=then the sun shone), and there were people of all ages. Well, I was probably among the youngest, but I think there were people up to 60 years old. My dad and his wife went, as well as my aunt and her husband. It was kinda cool going to the same place as my parents' generation and have just as much fun as they.
The CD arrived today! And it's awesome. I can't wait for the opportunity to lie down on my carpeted floor and listen to Ólafur Arnalds with the volume turned up to the max. Well, almost. Even though it's beautiful music, I don't think my housemates would appreciate it... :P |
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Goosebumps!
It doesn't happen very often that I write about music. Actually, I don't think I ever have. Mostly it's because I simply haven't felt the need to put down in words the why's and why not's of the music I do or do not like.
But, you know, the times, they are a-changin'. So tonight I'm gonna write a bit about music.
These last couple of months I've been going to a lot of concerts and gigs, seeing Icelandic bands I have heard of (or not!) but whose music I've never actually heard. Basically, what I've done is look up what's on this week or that, listened to a song or two on the bands' myspaces, and then simply gone to the gigs. And I have not regretted it even once. I just love that feeling you get when you discover new music you absolutely love and don't understand why you hadn't realised its greatness before.
Last Sunday I went to a concert at Nasa - it was a goodbye-concert for this band called For a Minor Reflection, who are going on tour of North America, and they had three bands supporting them. Actually, I mainly went for those three; Hraun, Shadow Parade, and Ólafur Arnalds (with his string quartet). The first two I'd already seen once before and absolutely loved (I even bought Shadow Parade's album, already looking forward to the one they're in the process of recording right now), but I'd only heard Ólafur Arnalds' music on his myspace, found it brilliant and really wanted to see him in concert. For merely 1000isk, this was a golden opportunity for a new gig-goer like myself!
For a Minor Reflection were pretty good; loud indie rock - there were no vocals, only two guitars, one bass and two drummers (!). I actually don't remember if there was a keyboard player - that's how memorable they were! I wish them all the best of luck in the US. I can imagine their music being used in a movie, during a scene of two people passionately cheating on their partners. Seriously, as I listened to them playing, I involuntarily visualised a fast edited montage of forbidden love-making. I could even imagine the technical details like the colour scheme (dark blue-and-greenish, to emphasize how this is wrong...).
Hraun were, in one word, fun. And funny (especially when one of the band members excused his mishap when playing the flute in a couple of songs by explaining how it's not a good idea to drink beer and then play the flute - the buttons (?) can get sticky and stuck). I've no more to say about that.
Shadow Parade were gloomy and good; they did three songs from their album and a few new ones as well, which made me even more excited for the next album.
But the highlight of the evening really was Ólafur Arnalds and his string quartet. This guy is really young - only a year or two older than me I think - but he's got incredible talent. He plays keyboard as well as controls the "other" sounds and stuff on his computer. And he does it brilliantly. I was in awe that he actually composed it himself! Imagine classical music with a comtemporary touch, and a little bit of electronica. Strange mixture of genres, but it really works (just listen to the songs on his myspace!). It's really slow and relaxing, too - I was really impressed especially with how well they played pianissimo. I can appreciate how hard that is. Anyone can play (or sing) forté, but it's an art form in itself, making music "quiet". They did it perfectly.
Before they started playing, Ólafur asked the audience to come sit on the floor in front of the stage; most people were standing against the walls or sitting by tables on each side of the stage, so it looked, as Ólafur put it, like there were only 6 people there. I went and sat on the floor, because I realised it would be a part of the whole experience of this music.
And I was right. The music was so good and relaxing that what I really wanted to do was close my eyes and actually lie flat on the floor. (You know that kind of music, right?) But it was hard, wooden floor, and I'd have looked weird.
So I just enjoyed the music sitting on the floor (and it wasn't sticky or wet at all, as you'd expect in a place like that!) with around 30 other people, every now and then feeling my heart jump into my throat (you know what I mean) when they played an exceptionally exquisite bit. At one point I even caught myself with my mouth gaping.
They seriously managed to steal the scene from all the other three bands that played at Nasa that night.
On my way home, I just couldn't listen to my iPod - I wanted Ólafur and his string quartet to stay in my head, not get something else stuck in there. I didn't turn on the radio when I got home (which is usually the first thing I do when I've taken off my shoes), either, for the same reason.
Immediately after the concert - actually, it was during the concert that I made up my mind - I decided that I was going to buy his CD, so I could listen to it at home while lying on my own (carpeted) floor, with my eyes closed. On Monday I went to Skífan, but they didn't have the CD, and the guy working there said they hadn't had it for a while. Today I went to 12 Tónar, who specialize in Icelandic music, so I figured that if there was any shop in Iceland that had it, it'd be them. However, it was out of stock. Dammit. I contemplated for a while how the hell I could get my hands on that CD; I even left offline messages for Alina, asking her if she could look for it the next time she goes to a record store in Hamburg, because the label is German and I figured they might actually have it in Germany.
Then I was struck by a brilliant idea. Why not try Amazon.co.uk. What are the odds they have an album by a relatively little known Icelandic artist? Well, doesn't hurt to try. And whaddya know, 5 copies in stock! So I ordered it right away, and with the shipping costs it amounted to only 12.08 pounds - probably less than the CD would cost here. I expect it to arrive maybe next week, or the week after that. You never know with Amazon; at least it's not a 3rd party seller - it's the actual Amazon shop, so it's probably gonna be faster than the book I ordered for my English Composition II course, and waited for for more than a month.
In this case, I can stand to wait. Only barely, though!
I think I've probably used this quote before, but it's too fitting here not to use it.
QotD: Penny Lane: "I always tell the girls, never take it seriously, if ya never take it seriosuly, ya never get hurt, ya never get hurt, ya always have fun, and if you ever get lonely, just go to the record store and visit your friends." - Almost Famous |
Thursday, March 06, 2008
Halfway through my essay...
... so naturally I'm procrastinating. I don't have anything in particular to blog about... just wanted to tell you I'm halfway through my essay ;) |
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Sunshine
|
