Iceland Part II

 Voces Thules is an Icelandic music ensemble consisting of 5 male singers and instrumentalists playing Medieval and contemporary music in polyphonic voices.  Here is an extract from a concert at the Nordic festival of Medieval music in Sweden:

Record producer, composer and musician Valgeir Sigurðsson (born 1970) creates a soundscape that blurs the lines between contemporary classical and electronic music.  He has been commissioned to write many film scores, but has also written the likes of chamber operas and orchestral scores.  He has set up his own record label, the bedroom community, where he closely collaborates with many other accomplished musicians to realise his projects.  He wrote the film score to the 2010 environmental documentary Draumalandið (Dreamland) about the damage and destruction caused by the aluminium smelting industry in Iceland.  It was also released as an album and here are some extracts from the documentary with the music and some dramatic footage:

Folktronica and indie pop band Múm (pronounced miooyyuujm apparently...) formed in 1997 in Reykjavik.  Their music is characterised by soft vocals, electronic glitch beats and effects and variety of traditional and unconventional instruments.  Here is a live version of their song A Little Bit, Sometimes from their 2007 album Go Go Smear the Poison Ivy:

Multi-instrumentalist and producer Ólafur Arnalds was born in Mosfellsbaer just outside Reykjavik in 1986.  He mixes strings and piano with loops and beats, a sound ranging from ambient electronic to electronic pop.  Here are a few tracks from his 2020 album Some Kind of Peace:

That's it from Iceland, next we're taking a quick trip to Greenland.  In the meantime you can follow my virtual ramblings on my Tripline map.

Wales - The Southeast

We conclude our journey around Wales with a visit to the most populous part of the country, the southeast.  Welsh folk band Fernhill were formed in Swansea in 1996 and have been described as "highly regarded, innovative cultural ambassadors for Wales and its folk music".  The use of the trumpet gives their tunes a distinct jazzy feel.  This is a song from their 2011 album Canu Rhydd called Glyn Tawe:

Singer/songwriter and harpist Georgia Ruth Williams, or just Georgia Ruth as she prefers to be called, was born in the small coastal village of Llantwit Major near Cardiff, but grew up in Aberystwyth.  She sings both in English and Welsh and her style is described as folk and indie pop.  Here's a live performance of her song Week of Pines from her 2013 album of the same name:

Carreg Lafar is a contemporary traditional folk band formed in 1993 in Cardiff, the capital of Wales.  They use a mix of traditional and original music to convey a contemporary and fresh approach, whilst staying firmly rooted in the language and tradition of Welsh song and dance music.  Carreg Lafar apparently means speaking stone or echo stone.  This lively number is the opening track of their 2016 album Aur called Aderyn bach:

Also based in Cardiff are duo Bragod, consisting of Welsh native Robert Evans and Trinidadian Mary-Anne Roberts.  They perform historically informed medieval Welsh music.  Evans plays the crwth, which is a type of bowed lyre, while Roberts sings and dances,  The result is quite mesmerizing!  This is their story:

They only recorded one album called Kaingk in 2005 and this is a fun live performance of a song off that album called Y March Glass:

And here a more formal performance of a song that does not feature on the album Yr Wylan (The Seagull)

Calan is considered an "M4 Corridor" band, after the motorway connecting the towns of Swansea, Cardiff and Cwmbran, where the 5 members of the band come from.  When they formed in 2006 the band members were only between 13 and 22 years of age.  They perform traditional Welsh folk, singing both in Welsh and English and have already gathered numerous awards.  This is the opening track of their 2017 album Solomon called Kân: 

And for something more traditional from the same album, #DeportationSelfie, which they composed after they were refused entry to the USA for looking dodgy and took a selfie of themselves whilst being driven in a police van directly to their plane.

That was it from Wales, next we'll head back into England and explore the south of the country.  As usual you can follow my virtual ramblings on my tripline map.  

Scotland, Glasgow

It's almost Hogmanay as they call New Year in Scotland, one of the biggest parties on the Scottish calendar.  It's so big here that the Scots get 2 days off, so what better place to celebrate it than in Glasgow.

Glasgow is the most populous city in Scotland and maintains a fierce rivalry with the capital Edinburgh.  Whilst Edinburgh is generally considered the prettier city. Glasgow has a working class industrial heart as a port city.  Although ever since they were awarded the European Capital of Culture a few years back, it has moved upmarket somewhat.  I have never stopped but for a few hours in the city, so can't comment on any of that, but judging by the amount of good music coming from this city, it's alive and well.

Back in 1978 a band called Kentigern formed here named after St.Mungo who was the Scottish apostle of the kingdom of Strathclyde in the 6th century.  I don't know what happened to them subsequently, but they released a couple of albums, including a self-titled one in 1979, which is currently not available any more.  Here are 3 jigs from this album:

Before them, in 1969, the Battlefield Band formed and are still active today, although in a completely different line-up to the original set-up.  Here's a cheeky song from their 1976 debut album Farewell to Nova Scotia (which is available as a free download on Folk Yourself) called The Bonny Wee Lassie Who Never Said No:

Much more recent arrivals on the Glasgow folk scene are the trio Talisk.  Formed in 2014, they consist of Mohsen Amini on concertina, Hayley Keenan on fiddle and Graeme Armstrong on guitar and they have already earned themselves a BBC folk Band of the Year award in 2017.  This tune, The Abyss, is the title track from their 2016 debut album:

The quartet Rura burst on the scene in 2010 with their award winning performance at the Celtic Connections Festival in Glasgow.  They consist of Jack Smedley on fiddle, Steven Blake on pipes and whistles, Adam Brown on guitar and David Foley on bodhrán and flute.  Here is a tune from their 2015 album Despite the Dark called The Dark Reel performed live at the Tradfest in Glasgow:

Burd Ellen is new folk music project featuring the haunting voice of Debbie Armour.  Have a listen to this spell-binding vocal mosaic from their fresh off the press 2019 self-released single called Chi Mi Bhuam, which according to Google Translate means you to me.

Moving away from traditional music, Admiral Fallow are a young band playing what is described as orchestral indie pop, whatever you make of that.  The songs are apparently autobiographic taken from the life of lead singer and main writer Louis Abbott.  Here's a song from their 2009 debut album Boots Met My Face entitled Squealing Pigs: 

As usual you can follow my virtual journey on this link on tripline.  Happy Hogmanay everybody!