Tag: Iceland

Emilíana Torrini

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Emilíana Torrini, 37, is an Icelandic singer, best known for her 2009 single “Jungle Drum” (14,000,000+ Youtube views) and for performing “Gollum’s Song” for Peter Jackson’s film The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.  Torrini grew up in Kópavogur, where, at the age of seven, she joined a choir as a soprano, until she went to opera school at the age of 15. Her father is Italian and her mother is Icelandic.

Find this tune on her September, 2013 Album titled Tookah. Find her website @ emilianatorrini.com.

Árstíðir

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Árstíðir (English: Seasons) is an Icelandic indie-folk band with classical, progressive rock and minimalist elements. This tune is titled “Ljóð í sand” (Poetry In The Sand). Árstíðir became known to a wider internet audience in 2013 when a Youtube video went viral (3,000,000+ hits) showed them performing impromptu, Heyr himna smiður (“Hear, Smith of heavens”, a 13th century Icelandic hymn) at a train station in Germany. The video was shot by their PR manager after they had played a concert the venue inside the train station. The a capella was noted for improvising with the vaulted acoustics of the train station to effect the echo chambers of a monastic chapel.

Find the Icelandic Hymn that went viral on Youtube here.

Find their album on iTunes here: Svefns Og Voku Skil (Sleep & Waking Returns)

Hymnalaya

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This band from Iceland was formed in 2012. The sound of Hymnalaya is rooted in old Hymns which are combined with indie, ethnic and ambient textures.  The band can be found on Youtube, Facebook and on their website here.

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Humans of Reykjavik

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