lifeiscarbon®

Sigur Rós: Home Across The World

You’ve probably already heard about it but given our remit to cover Scandinavian Aesthetics and the fact that they’re our favorite band of all time, it would be remiss of us not to mention that tomorrow is Sigur Rós Day on YouTube. A little bit of history will be made this Friday (Mar 7) with the band taking over the entire front page of YouTube around the world for a whole day, becoming the first group to ever have a feature-length music DVD streamed on the channel, with their acclaimed Heima (At Home) documentary shown in its complete 97-minute glory.

All 12 available slots on YouTube’s home page will be devoted to the Icelandic band for a full 24-hours, putting them before a global audience of hundreds of millions. The link-up follows the success of Minn Heima (My Home), a competition hosted by YouTube for fans of the band to create their own little version of Heima, using audio and video clips posted online. The 10 best entries, as judged by the band, will be featured on the home page, alongside the film itself, as well as a special message from the band, taking time off from recording their new album in Reykjavik.

Simultaneous with the YouTube promotion, the band will relaunch www.sigurros.com, giving away a free audio-visual download clip of the song Ny Batteri filmed live in Reykjavik in the summer of 2006 as part of the Heima tour. Ny Batteri is just one of a dozen additional songs not featured in the film that the band are intending to make available via the site in the near future. Take a look below to read about the making of Heima in the band's own words:

New Single From Lorraine

One of our favourite Norwegian musical exports, Lorraine return on December 10th with a brand new single entitled Saved. Bucking the trend in this digital day and age, the single will be released on 7” vinyl and will be strictly limited to 1000 copies, with each being individually customised. The single, which also features the brand new track The Mess That We Are, will be available via www.lorrainemusic.com with delivery to any address in the world.

The digital release of the single will also include remixes of Saved by Dave Armstrong & Redroche, who have recently enjoyed success on Ministry Of Sound’s Data label, and award-winning electro producers MHC. Take a listen below to the new single version of Saved, mixed by Dave Bascombe who is also known for his work with Depeche Mode, Placebo, a-ha, Springsteen and KoRn.

The Bergen trio, Ole Gundersen (vocals), Anders Winsents (guitar) and Paal Myran-Haaland (keyboards, programming), have spent the year writing new material and putting the final touches to their debut album, which is set for release in Spring 2008. Lorraine will also be playing a special one-off London show at The Water Rats Theatre on 27th November 2007.

Sigur Rós Film & New Album

Last summer, at the end of an extensive world tour, Sigur Rós finally returned to their homeland and played a series of free concerts around Iceland. The concerts took place in a variety of unusual venues that ranged from an abandoned fish factory, to a protest camp at the site of a controversial dam, to a small community hall in a remote village.

The entire visit was filmed and the result is Heima, a rare cinematic treat. Sigur Rós' haunting wall of sound set against superbly shot landscapes together with intimate interviews, offers a captivating insight into the band’s music, their inspiration and the place they call home.

Heima is out on DVD on 5 November 2007 and as if that wasn’t enough to look forward to, Hvarf/Heim, a new double album (one half electric, one half acoustic) will also be released on the same day. Turn the volume up, take a look at the trailer below and when that music begins we defy you not to be moved:

Icelandic Experimental Rock

It's been over 3 years since múm released their last album, Summer Make Good, but luckily there’s only one more week to wait before the launch of their new album Go Go Smear the Poison Ivy. The much anticipated album has been preceded by the recent release of the single They Made Frogs Smoke 'Til They Exploded, a chirpy song about animal cruelty, and a free mp3 download of Dancing Behind My Eyelids which was made available to fans that had subscribed to the band’s mailing list. Take a listen below:

For those of you who don’t know them, múm is an experimental Icelandic band. Don't let the word 'experimental' put you off. Their music, which we happen to love but find difficult to describe, is characterized by soft vocals, electronic beats/effects and a wide variety of traditional and unconventional instruments.

When the band was first formed in 1997, its original members were Gunnar Örn Tynes, Örvar Þóreyjarson Smárason, and twin sisters Gyða and Kristín Anna Valtýsdóttir. Sadly, with the departure of Gyða (in 2002) and Kristín (in 2006), the core of múm was down to the duo of Gunnar and Örvar at the start of the creative process for their latest album but happily by the end the band was larger than ever with a total of seven people.

Teitur The Happy

The word teitur means the happy one in Old Norse. You probably don’t need to know that but you should certainly know about Teitur, the singer-songwriter from the Faroe Islands. Teitur (born Teitur Lassen 1977 in Hoyvík) started out as lead singer in the Faroese band Mark No Limits but after having quickly gained a reputation at home, left the Faroe Islands for Copenhagen at the age of 17 to pursue a solo career.

Three albums later, with appearances on MTV and with his music featuring in TV and movie soundtracks, Teitur is rather unfairly still not receiving the attention his music deserves. Thanks to his unceasing touring, a loyal fan base, the popularity of his videos on YouTube and a whole host of supportive bloggers, it looks like he might eventually gain the reputation he rightfully deserves. Continue reading to see a brief profile of Teitur and to hear one of his tracks that we love:

New Scandinavian Sounds

Given the musical influences they cite, it’s no surprise that Danish indiepop/electronica band GimmiJapan are favorites of ours. That the band draws inspiration from amongst others the Cocteau Twins, My Bloody Valentine, Yo La Tengo, Elbow and Björk is clear from their unique sound – a distinctive mix of ambient melodies, rhythmic (sometimes noisy) samples topped by beautiful and naïve lead vocals. Try to imagine Björk backed by the Cocteau Twins (no disrespect to the wonderful Elizabeth Frazer intended) and you'll begin to get the idea. Take a listen to a track from GimmiJapan below and you'll hopefully understand what we mean.

Sadly their original lead singer Theresa left the band earlier this year but the remaining members, Ruben Ben-Yedidia, Casper Bach Hegstrup & Morten Sandvall Svendsen have managed to enlist the help of the equally talented Tilde.

Seemingly not happy simply to create seductive melodies for GimmiJapan, the band are also involved in a number of other musical projects. Casper has an equally interesting band called Good Luck Casper (in which Ruben and Morten also play), Tilde is a credible solo artist in her own right and Ruben somehow still manages to find time to play bass and sings backing vocal for the Danish band Into Rust.

Coolest Rulers From Scandinavia

Here at lifeiscarbon® we owe a debt of thanks to our friend Geir Windsvoll for making us listen to a couple of tracks by The Low Frequency in Stereo on his iPod during lunch the other day. We were immediately hooked and haven’t been able to stop listening to the so called ‘psych-garage dronemeisters’ ever since.

Comprising of Per Steinar Lie (Bass, Vocals), Ørjan Haaland (Drums, Vocals), Hanne Andersen (Guitar, Organ, Vocals) and Njål Clemetsen (Guitar), The Low Frequency in Stereo are a post-rock group that hail from Haugesund in Norway. Whilst not the originators of the post-rock sound, their music is widely regarded as one of the best examples of the genre.

The band have already enjoyed great success in Norway and their reputation is growing fast internationally, having played renowned festivals like Quart, Dour and South By Southwest. David Fricke of Rolling Stone described their music as ”a mixture of the long solo elements of the Doors set to the riptide of Joy Division's Transmission with the surf guitar twang of Dick Dale. They are the Coolest Rulers from Scandinavia!" Confused? Take a listen to a track below and work out what he means:

Dark Songs Of Hurt

"A voice that cuts like a knife singing about those feelings that hurt… so beautiful it makes you want to cry". So wrote Karoline Eriksson of Svenska Dagbladet (one of the largest newspapers in Sweden) about the singer-songwriter Anna Ternheim. We haven’t been reduced to tears yet but we couldn’t agree more. Anna Ternheim´s music has a dark touch that’s been compared to that of artists such as Nick Cave, PJ Harvey and Leonard Cohen. Take a listen to a track below and judge for yourself.

Anna Ternheim began playing the guitar, writing songs and performing when she was only ten years old. During a year abroad in Atlanta, Georgia, Anna put together her first band Sova and played at smaller festivals and local clubs. After a brief stint back in Stockholm she continued writing songs and playing gigs in Lausanne, Switzerland where she was studying French. After almost two years abroad Anna returned to Sweden, formed a new band and produced her debut album Somebody Outside together with Andreas Dahlbäck and Linus Larsson.

Super Crunk With A Gansta Twist

Equal parts gangsta, rave and glam, the Icelandic band Steed Lord are a true dance party act. Often described as looking like Vanilla Ice’s back up dancers, Steed Lord's unique sound, which hints at early 90’s house, only helps reinforce the comparison.

Founded in September 2005 by Kali, M.E.G.A. and Demo, and later joined by A.C.Bananas, Steed Lord has a raw edge that’s often missing in music today. Their distinctive sound speaks for itself but has been described as ‘super crunk dance music with a dope gangsta twist’. Take a listen to Dirty Mutha (below) and judge for yourself.

In the past, the band have stated their mission as being ‘to unite their powers and make a lot of noise in the music world’ - so far they seem to be doing rather well in terms of achieving their ambition.

Swedish Emo Pop

For over a decade the Swedish singer-songwriter Karl Larsson has been creating everything from frustrated emotional hardcore ballads to well-produced pop songs, without ever being distracted by current trends or passing fads. His band, the Last Days of April has been a reliable rock in the stormy waters of pop culture, and the solid fan base around the world is testament to the band’s musical commitment.

Their latest album, Might As Well Live (released in February 2007) fuses Larsson’s long-evolved melodic craftsmanship and emotionally charged lyrics with thick rock guitars. Recorded at the Gröndahl studio in November 2006 with help from the Grammy Award winning producer Pelle Gunnerfeldt (whose previous work includes The Hives and Sahara Hotnights), the album has the word airplay written all over it. Continue reading, take a listen and judge for yourself.