May 16: Popplagið in Reykjavik

A cross posting from my Fieldnotes from Iceland blog.

For the Heima concert film, Sigur Rós came home and performed in a park close to the city centre - the first time a concert had been held there of that kind.

A performance from that concert of the song Popplagið which builds to an epic crescendo...

"Klambratún looks very impressive. A large, sloping, grassy site, a few hundred metres away from the centre of town, it has never staged a large-scale music event before and the hope is Sigur Rós could set some sort of precedent. Finni, our film producer from the immaculate True North production company, tells me he has managed to blag a helicopter to take some aerial shots of the event. Also in the air is the PA, which is hanging from two enormous cranes on either side of a stage specially imported from the Roskilde Festival in Denmark. Jónsi turns up on his shopper bike from his apartment downtown, while Georg parks his caravan round the back of the art museum that will today serve as our dressing room and place where we will later shake hands with the great and the good of Reykjavík who have contributed funding to make this unique event financially feasible. I meet the folks from Reykjavík city council who put their money where their mouths were, while Craig, the Word journalist, tells me he’s been introduced to no fewer than half the current cabinet. Later, the President himself will turn up, but, despite urging from the band, his First Lady will refuse to parade across the stage with the brass band at the climax of ‘Se Lest’." - John Best

May 12: Eurovision Preview

Eurovision is an annual gathering of countries from across Europe... and Australia for a song contest.

This year's competition is hosted by Austria and will take place in Vienna on the 16th of May, with earlier semi finals taking place to slim down the entries. The first of those is tonight.

It has previously led to quite a bit of political controversy over who is invited or not, and who boycotts the event.

The main website offers a chance to scroll back through Eurovision history, and download the apps ready for voting, as well as stock up on merchandise (although the P&P cost will make that unlikely).

Over the years of watching Eurovision, there are a few recent songs which stand out for me.

Margaret Berger's Norwegian electropop entry from 2013 came fourth.

And here's Iceland's Daði Freyr: Think about Things....

Daði Freyr (Daði & Gagnamagnið) were in the COVID-hit competition.

Years ago, the creative geographer Tony Cassidy produced an annual resource on the politics of Eurovision to show how many countries just voted for each other.

UCL did an analysis of voting in 2014.

It is years since the UK had any chance of winning, although Sam Ryder did particularly well.

Steve Brace shared some ideas on TES more recently which is now behind a paywall.

This interesting article from Ellie Chalkley suggests that everything she knows about geography she learned from the Eurovision Song Contest.

Hopefully she didn't see this map:

A StoryMap by David Morgan from 2024 exploring the idea of Europe.

There is also the controversy over the inclusion of Israel which has led to boycotts from several countries.

May 6: Kaleo in Þingvellir

A cross-posting from my Fieldnotes from Iceland blog.

KALEO is playing at Þingvellir National Park, in the Bergmál festival in Iceland on the 20th of June 2026.

On the summer solstice, the midnight sun will become part of the experience: an endless golden hour against one of Iceland’s most iconic landscapes.

Bergmál (Echo) draws from the natural acoustics of Þingvellir, where voices once carried across the rift valley during Alþingi gatherings. 

Known for their powerful, emotionally-charged live shows, KALEO is one of Iceland's most internationally recognized music acts, with roots that trace back to the country's vibrant music scene.

IcelandAir are offering a package which includes return flights, a festival pass and shuttle bus transfers between Reykjavík and the Bergmál festival at Þingvellir National Park.

Located between the drifting tectonic plates of North America and Eurasia, Þingvellir is not only a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but also the historic heart of Iceland, where the nation’s parliament was founded over a thousand years ago.

KALEO will headline BERGMÁL at Þingvellir, joined by a handpicked group of artists. The lineup features some of Iceland’s most celebrated musicians, including Emilíana Torrini, Mugison, Stuðmenn, Helgi Björnsson, Hjálmar, GDRN, Júníus Meyvant, KK, and Árný Margrét – with more special guests to be announced.

I have to say I'm tempted, but we haven't quite finished for the summer by then....

 

The venue is significant as it is a World Heritage Site and has special cultural and historic significance to the people of Iceland as well as its stunning landscape: it's one of my favourite places on the island. 

I wonder whether there were some people who weren't impressed with the location for this particular concert and the environmental impact of it.

Here's a spot of KALEO for you:

Apr 23: Iceland

Another post where I explore some of the musicians from a particular country.

Today it's a place which actually has another of my blogs devoted to it: Iceland.

There are quite a few Icelandic bands I could mention in this post.

I've heard some of them playing live, and others have been regular fixtures in my listening for some years.

Sigur Rós should come first - it goes without saying.

Other bands I like listening to:

Arstiðir

The first album is perhaps the favourite.

Kaleo is another Icelandic musician who is known internationally.

Here's a RUV story about a planned concert that will take place at Thingvellir.

They are playing Þingvellir later this year if permission can be granted.

Here's one of Kaleo's most streamed songs on Spotify...

I've already blogged about Björk's connection with Rosalia at the Brits this year.

What are your favourite Icelandic bands?

Apr 2: Global music #1 - some suggestions of countries to explore

Is there a country whose musical influence you should dig into a little more, or one that's your favourite and you think more people should know about?

I asked people on my Google Form at the start of the blog.

It's not too late to make your own contribution to the project.

Carl Lee's guest blog posts have ranged over many countries and continents so far, with many more to come as I have another five ready to post and some more in the pipeline...

Here are a few suggestions:

Samantha: Iceland - this will get a lot of attention on the blog, particularly on those days when I find myself in the country...

Angus: I saw Ravi Shankar at the Royal Albert Hall (with Yehudi Menuhin) and the Carnegie Hall ( Ali Akbar Khan).

Matt: Portuguese Fado music - something that Carl Lee blogged about previously with the work of Rosalia.

Sandra P: Sonita, an Afghan rap artist. I learnt about her last year when I attended a concert on the Peace Line. She then visited my school and I read her book. She is an inspiration to everyone; once a child bride, must helped her move to America and study, now she is an advocate. She won an MTV award

Jade: Afrobeat is a great genre to go out dancing to, look up artists from Nigeria to get you started such as Davido, Wizkid and Burna Boy. Good fun and gets you moving!

I remember seeing Abdullah Ibrahim / Dollar Brand and his trio (from memory) playing live at a small venue in Sheffield many years ago. 

He is a South African pianist and composer who is in his 90s...

Here's a Tiny Desk Concert from four years ago.

Mar 8: Heima

One of the finest concert films ever made was created by Sigur Rós in 2006 and released in 2007.

Heima means "at home". 

And home for the band, is Iceland.

This was a homecoming tour after a lengthy world tour.

The music was stripped back, and there were acoustic performances in a number of unusual venues.

The band undertook a series of free, unannounced concerts in iceland. they hauled 40-plus people round 15 locations to the furthest flung corners of their homeland for their debut venture into live film, to create something inspirational.

On their way they went to ghost towns, outsider art shrines, national parks, small community halls and the absolute middle-of-nowhere-ness of the highland wilderness, as well as playing the largest gig of their career (and in icelandic history) at their homecoming Reykjavik show.

‘Heima’ (icelandic for “at home” or “homeland”), truly, shows Sigur Rós as never before. whereas seeing the group live is normally a large-scale and sometimes overwhelming experience, making full use of lights and mesmeric visuals, ‘Heima’ was always intended to reveal more of what was actually going on on stage. it does this via long-held close-ups and a rare intimate proximity, without ever once breaking the spell.

Loosely based on a documentary format – and including personal reflections from the band – ‘Heima’ also serves as an alternative primer for Iceland the country, which is revealed as less stag destination-du-jour and more desolate, magical place where human beings have little right to trespass.

'Heima’ was directed by Dean Deblois, a long-time fan of the band and director of the Oscar-nominated animated feature ‘Lilo & Stitch’, using an Icelandic crew.

Watch a version of it here:

Where was the film made? 

This website lists where they say the filmed performances took place.

• MIKLATUN, REYKJAVIK: The largest of the concerts in question took place in this small park in Reykjavik city. Miklatun is better known locally as Klambratun and is also location of Kjarvalsstadir Art Museum. 
• ASBYRGI, HUSAVIK: A fantastic arena for a concert and everything else for that matter. Asbyrgi sits in a very peculiar depression in the landscape and offer excellent shelter from winds from particular directions. Surrounded by a half-moon shaped cliffs up to hundred meters in height this is one of the absolute must-stops in the country. 
• DJUPAVIK, HOLMAVIK: This was perhaps the most intimate of the concerts in question. Population of Djupavik is zilch, nill and not much there but an abandoned fish factory which has been partly turned into a summer hotel. This is very much off the beaten track of most travelers but that might appeal to many too.
• OLAFSVIK, OLAFSVIK: The tiny village of Olafsvik may not look or offer much but this was the location of one of Sigur Rósar concerts. The routes into town are very scenic and the magnificent, if disappearing, Snaefellsjokull glacier towers above.
• ISAFJORDUR, ISAFJORDUR: Isafjordur town is the largest place found in the Westfjords of Iceland and as such pretty lively. Straight across from the bay is the nature preserve Hornstrandir which is one of the very finest places in the country.
• SEYDISFJORDUR, SEYDISFJORDUR: A tiny village in the East of Iceland with majestic mountains formed all around it. This is the current summer stop of the only passenger ferry sailing regularly to Iceland.
• KARAHNJUKAR, EGILSSTADIR: This is way up in the highland close to where the huge Karahnjukar dam stands. Protesting the dam was one reason why they played here and funnily enough, next to a dam, totally without electricity.
• OXNADALUR, AKUREYRI: Oxnadalur valley is a spectacular valley you drive through on your way to or from Akureyri in the North of Iceland. Some of Iceland´s most jagged peaks join any traveler here for and below a river runs through it. This is also the birthplace of one of Iceland´s most famous poets.

Feb 20: S is for Sigur Rós

An alphabet of bands and artists as a series for the next 26 days. These were selected by the Spotify algorithm.

Sigur Rós are one of my favourite bands, and I have seen them play live as often as I can, even before 2012 when they first became particularly prominent by composing music used in a David Attenborough series - even if you don't think you know it, you will have heard it. I went to see them play last year and the person next to me said "I only know one song" - and I knew which one they meant.

Here's the song that introduced them to many:

The most recent concert was with an orchestra down at the Royal Albert Hall.

Here's one of my favourite tracks, as recorded at Abbey Road Studios: Ára Bátur 

The track hadn't been played live before.

And then in October - they played it...

There are plenty of videos recorded by those who were present at the concert - see if you can find your favourite.

Vonlenska (Hopelandic) is the non-literal language that forms the unintelligible lyrics sung by the band on some songs, in particular by Jónsi. It is also commonly known by the English translation of its name, Hopelandic.
It takes its name from "Von", a song on Sigur Rós's debut album Von where it was first used. However, not all Sigur Rós songs are in Hopelandic; many are sung in Icelandic.

Vonlenska has no fixed syntax and differs from constructed languages that can be used for communication. It focuses entirely on the sounds of language; it lacks grammar, meaning, and even distinct words. Instead, it consists of emotive non-lexical vocables and phonemes; in effect,
Vonlenska uses the melodic and rhythmic elements of singing without the conceptual content of language. In this way, it is similar to the use of scat singing in vocal jazz.

The band's website describes it as "a form of gibberish vocals that fits to the music" it is similar in concept to the 'nonsense' language often used by Cocteau Twins singer Elizabeth Fraser in the 1980s and 1990s or by Icelandic singer Björk.

It is worth exploring all their discography.

In October 2025, I saw them performing with the London Contemporary Orchestra.

Discography: AI generated

What 'S' comes up in your algorithm?

Feb 17: Noise from Iceland

A cross posting from my Fieldnotes from Iceland blog.

I like this project very much.

It's beautifully put together, and provides a different dimension to the country.

The creator has interviewed people for the project.

Here's one exchange:

Kaśka Paluch:
What does Iceland sound like to you? If you had to choose just one sound that defines it?

Yrsa Sigurðardóttir:
Wind. Definitely wind. I live by the ocean, and wind is the constant background noise. And the sound of waves too, though that depends a lot on the wind. But those two things—wind and the ocean—define the soundscape here for me.

Kaśka Paluch is a musicologist, music journalist, sound artist, and educator, and the creator of Noise From Iceland—the first-ever sound map of Iceland. Originally from Zakopane, Poland, she studied musicology at Jagiellonian University and has published in Onet.pl, Tygodnik Powszechny, Noisey, LAIF, and Presto.

Click the blue circles to hear the recorded sounds e.g. Solheimajökull.

The sound was recorded at the glacier's face. The lake was just defrosting, and the crushed pieces of ice bumping against each other made a sound like wind chimes.

There's also a Spotify playlist...

Check out the album 'Ey' and the track 'Cryo'

Well worth exploring this... a separate blog post is coming...

I might try recording some of my own sounds on my next visit. This is a project which you could ask students to complete while in the country.

From the Bandcamp site of Kaśka.

After creating a first sound map of Iceland in history - www.noisefromiceland.com - the Noise From Iceland project has been released on an album basis. These are field recordings from the island with trance and techno music composed to them. In total, almost an hour of noise - volcano, lava, waterfalls, Icelandic animals and rivers - selected to engage the listener's ear as much as possible. - The sound does not have to be clear, but it has to be interesting - says the author, Kaśka Paluch - my guru of field recordings, Geir Jenssen once told me and this thought was my motto while working on this album.

Noise From Iceland has been created since January 2020. It is an attempt to answer the question: what does Iceland sound like? Proving that apart from beautiful pictures, this majestic land of fire and ice has a lot to offer also to other senses.  

The motive for starting work on the sound map of Iceland was a meeting with a blind tourist who was on my trip when I was working as a guide - explains Kaśka Paluch - It was she who told me how much there is to know in Iceland, even when you cannot see it.

Jan 17: Sigur Ros: Route One

Route One is available to stream on Spotify (and elsewhere)

It is available in various versions.

It's a promotional film for the new music by Sigur Ros, and was a 24 hour long continuous trip around the ring road which runs around Iceland. I watched it for the first few hours on and off, and the vehicle headed on familiar roads in the SW of the country close to Iceland. When I woke up, it had moved round to the East and the landscape was more rugged and the road surface poorer.

This was a wonderful way to spend a few hours listening to the continuous music… and watching Iceland roll by.

This is an excellent way to explore the landscape of Iceland, particularly the south coast - and the sections driven in better light.

The music is split into pieces which are named after a geographical location in latitude and longitude. Copy and paste these into Google Maps to see the place where the band had reached on their journey.

e.g.

Here's Part 1 of the journey.

And someone suggesting the locations:

2:56 - Reykjavík - 64º08'43.3"N 21º55'38.8"W) 

41:41 - Hellisheiði (Geothermal power station in Hengill) 

48:55 - Hveragerði 

1:00:15 - Selfoss 

1:28:12 - Hella 1:39:20 - Hvolsvöllur 

1:54:28 - Markarfljót (river) 

Around 2:07:45 - 63º32'43.7''N 19º43'46.3''W 

2:43:14 / 3:35:28 - Vík í Mýrald 

3:46:06 - Mýrdalssandur (outwash plain) 

4:27:44 - Kirkjubæjarklaustur - 63°47'36.2"N 18°02'16.9"W) 

5:16:44 - Skeiðará (river) 

5:21:18 - Skaftafell (National park) 

6:04:29 / 6:16:40 - Jökulsárlón (Glacial lake) - 64º02'44.1"N 16º10'48.5"W 

7:16:38 - Höfn í Hornafirði 

7:28:04 - Almannaskarð (mountain pass. The tunnel is called Almannaskarðgöng) 

Couldn't find location or name of 8:09:36, apart from it's somewhere in Djúpavogshreppur, but I'd love to know! 

8:52:42 - Djúpivogur