Advance listen: New Icelandic musical with world premiere in NYC

Artists: Ívar Páll Jónsson & The Revolutionary Cellular Orchestra | Project: Revolution in the Elbow of Ragnar Agnarsson Furniture Painter

A brand new Icelandic musical will have its premiere in New York this summer. The man behind Revolution in the Elbow of Ragnar Agnarsson Furniture Painter is Ívar Páll Jónsson. It is described as an indie-musical about “three brothers living in perfect harmony and how it turns to conflict, shaking Elbowville to its core”. The two teaser tracks that have been released sound very promising. The Legacy Of Elbowville features Soffía Björg Óðinsdóttir on lead vocals and All We Need Is Confidence is sung by Hjalti Þorkelsson from Múgsefjun. Both are interesting, but All We Need Is Confidence is the standout, with smooth piano parts, clouds of strings and angelic backing vocals. It’s soaring bittersweetness is reminiscent of The Flaming Lips masterpiece Do You Realize?? 

The music on the album is performed by The Revolutionary Cellular Orchestra (RCO), and features an array of guest vocalists, including Liam McCormick (The Family Crest), Sigríður Thorlacius (Hjaltalín), Valdimar Guðmundsson (Valdimar) and more.

Revolution in the Elbow of Ragnar Agnarsson Furniture Painter, premieres in NYC’s Greenwich Village in August 2014.

John Grant wins big at ITV

Hjaltalin performes Crack in a Stone at the award ceremony

Artist: Various | Event: The Icelandic Music Awards

The Icelandic Music Awards went down last night at Harpa, with awards being handed out to a wide range of artists. The biggest winners of the night were Mammút and Hjaltalin, taking home three awards each, and John Grant – American singer now settled in Iceland – who got two. The full list of nominees and winners can be seen on the awards website, but here’s the list for pop and rock:

• Album of the Year – Komdu til mín svarta systir by Mammút
• Song of the Year – Salt by Mammút
• Composer of the Year – John Grant
• Male Vocalist of the Year – John Grant
• Female Vocalist of the Year – Sigríður Thorlacius (Hjaltalin)
• Live Performer of the Year –  Skálmöld
• Best Newcomer – Kaleo
• Album cover of the Year –Komdu til mín svarta systir by Mammút
• Video of the Year – Hver er ég? by Grísalappalísa (see below)
• Producer of the Year – Sveinn Helgi Halldórsson ­for the album Enter 4 by Hjaltalín
• Lyricist of the Year – Bragi Valdimar Skúlason ­ for the album Mamma þarf að djamma