
Iceland might only have a population of 318,000 but the number of inhabitants on this oddly-shaped Nordic island is constantly growing. Iceland's artistic output is also expanding. The cliché goes something like this: Iceland is a small nation and therefore constantly striving to prove itself to the outside world. So far its countrymen and women have conquered many facets of society and culture with Oscar nominations, a Nobel Prize, Olympic medals, the first female president and eh, strong men and beautiful women. As for music, Iceland has Björk and Sigur Rós . The end. Right? No sir. [...]
I raced just as fast as I could to the replay button on this one. The new single from HJALTALÍN, Reykjavik Iceland's 10 piece, makes a tale dance in "Suitcase Man"; a song about a photographer that steals people's faces with each shot (s)he takes. But as the song will portend, this photographer has inner [...]
My bag is still killing me. 4 days on painkillers and spending most of the weekend lying on the floor is not exactly my preferred way of living. Have an appointment with a chiropractor this afternoon and I'm seriously looking forward to hearing the loudest "CRACK" ever, when my back is put back in place. So for now the words will remain few, but hopefully everything will be back to normal (whatever normal is) very (very) soon! Meanwhile enjoy a few songs found in that much talked about mailbox... + She Sir – [...]
Os Hjaltalín, colectivo islandês que há muito pouco tempo soube que existiam, lançaram este ano o seu 2º álbum, 'Terminal', sucessor de 'Sleepdrunk Seasons' de 2008, que parece ter sido um verdadeiro triunfo. Com participações asseguradas no famoso festival Iceland Airwaves, os Hjaltalín têm actuado ao lado de várias bandas de grande cotação internacional que se tem dirigido a tão interessante

Hjaltalín - Thu komst vid hjartad i mer Hjaltalín är från Island och gör fantastisk musik som denna låt. Den är på isländska som titeln kanske avslöjar men de gör även musik på engelska. Deras förra album Sleepdrunk Seasons var producerat av Gunni Tynes från múm och Benni Hemm Hemm. Nyligen släpptes den nya skivan Terminal , åtminstone i Island, där denna låt faktiskt inte är med.

OK so its about time I informed you of what I've been up to for the past few weeks. I went on holiday with my family to Benidorm - don't judge me. Basically spent a week going to the beach or lying beside the pool and at night venturing out to see trogolodytes like Sticky Vicky . After I came back I flew up to Iceland with a few uni chums for a wedding - Scottish-themed funnily enough, so I was looking braw in my kilt! [...]

Grace Jones, Andrew Motion, The Royal Opera House, Thom Yorke, Shane Meadows... all at Latitude this weekend and I'm working so i'll probably miss them all (not that Im complaining). On Friday night Ill also be trying to look inconspicuous on the Film & Music stage having volunteered to do a bit of filming for Indie Ghetto (I didn't notice the Pet Shop Boys were on at the same time when I said yes!!). Back in January as part of a feature on DIY Music TV for BBC News, I hung round a gents [...]

From Knox Road to all of you, Happy Fourth of July. For our non-US readers, thanks for stopping by regardless, and we hope you're feeling some country lovin' as well. *With this pause in regular action, we'd love to hear your feedback on how we're doing. Anything at all is helpful, whether it's in the comments, by email, or through other social networks - such as twitter or facebook. Tell us what you like and don't like. What do you want more of/less of? Let us know! [ Megha M photography] The Format - "I'm [...]
Have a safe and sane Fourth. Or at least, safe. Violent Femmes "American Music" from Add It Up Elliott Smith "Independence Day" from XO Bruce Springsteen "Darkness On The Edge Of Town" (live) from Winterland, San Francisco 1978-12-15 Neko Case "Star Witness" from Fox Confessor Brings The Flood Hjaltalín "Goodbye July / Margt Ad Ugga" from Sleepdrunk Seasons [...]

we'll try to hold on tight, if only for the night Hjaltalín - Goodbye July / Margt Ad Ugga Iceland's Hjaltalín don't have not have the easiest name to pronounce so it's a good thing their tunes go down smooth. The sprawling "Goodbye July / Margt Ad Ugga" showcases the bands rollicking side as well as their softer and lighter side. They are one of the many fantastic bands playing July's Open'er Festival in Gdynia, playing a Friday set between The Kooks and Moby. I'm gonna be all [...]
MAP - Music Alliance Pact #5 Nuovo appuntamento con l'esperimento internazionale del Music Pact Alliance (riassunto delle puntate precedenti: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 ). A questo giro i nomi già noti sono un po' più presenti (vedi Broken Records, Let's Wrestle, Here We Go Magic...) ma mi sembra ci sia comunque parecchia carne al fuoco. Per chi vuole scaricare tutta la lista in colpo solo ecco il link . Come al solito, commenti e consigli [...]
AMERICA – I Guess I'm Floating Here We Go Magic – Tunnelvision Brooklyn's Here We Go Magic is the bedroom folk-pop project of Luke Temple, who is releasing his self-titled debut this year. He has been praised by Sufjan Stevens and Ben Gibbard for his uniquely gorgeous vocals and meticulous lo-fi production aesthetic. Tunnelvision is the first single – one part Shakespearean sonnet and one part circus music, swirling in a beautiful mess of [...]
Este mês, a Music Alliance Pact foi notícia no Mtv da Roménia (foto), graças ao blog romeno, que faz parte desta "liga", o Babylon Noise.P.S. Sejam pacientes, por favor, ainda não tive a oportunidade de traduzir todos os textos dos blogs. AMÉRICA: I Guess I'm Floating4 Here We Go Magic – TunnelvisionHere We Go Magic, de Brooklyn, é o projecto folk-pop, de quarto,de Luke Temple, que lançara o seu

Here's February's edition of the Music Alliance Pact. For those of you who don't know about MAP, it's a collection of music blogs from around the world who band together once a month to shed light on up-and-comers from their home countries. It's sort of like the WTO without the human rights violations. This month we've welcomed Mexican blog Club Fonograma to bring the total participation to 22 nations. Our contribution this month includes an excellent track from Brooklyn-based Here We Go Magic . Nathaniel's decree has become somewhat [...]

PressPlay - chosen by our Portugese MAP blog partner - Posso Ouvir Um Disco? . MAP (Music Alliance Pact) is a monthly feature where music bloggers across the world share a track from their home country that they think you should hear. 22 blogs are submitting their country's pick this month. My Irish contribution is Tenaka who I suggest you get on right away. Let's get right to it. AMERICA – I Guess I'm Floating Here We Go [...]

More music, more exclusives, more premieres of the best music from around the world courtesy of some of the best country specific music blogs in the world. That's M.A.P. and this is the February edition. AMERICA – I Guess I'm Floating Here We Go Magic – Tunnelvision Brooklyn's Here We Go Magic is the bedroom folk-pop project of Luke Temple, who is releasing his self-titled debut this year. He has been praised by Sufjan Stevens and Ben Gibbard for his uniquely [...]

The 15th day of the month means Music Alliance Pact time, when the blogging community comes together to offer up their favourite song for the world's ears. Think of it as the international invasion it's OK to support. Last month we welcomed Babylon Noise to the party - a development so significant it was reported by MTV Romania no less, and with a fair degree of enthusiasm by the young brunette presenter, who is clearly a [...]

This is our very first input on MAP, the Music Alliance Pact, a blogosphere project by The Pop Cop which invites 22 different publishers from different countries to showcase a monthly recommendation to share to the world. I found the idea to be splendid and the collective contribution by our now fellow bloggers is exciting to say the least. Club Fonograma is representing Mexico, which I know it's odd considering I don't live in Mexico (but I was born there) and the blog is in English, but let's face it, the big majority of the content comes from [...]

Music Alliance Pact are din luna februarie inca un blog, reprezentand Mexicul. Multa muzica buna vine din acea zona, dar presupun ca vor promova rock en espanol mai mult decat, sa zicem, Lucha Reyes . Cu alte cuvinte MAP a ajuns la 22 de tari si creste. Asa cum v-am obisnuit, fiecare blog din fiecare tara a propus cate o melodie deci avem 22 de artisti din tari diferite,piese destul de noi.Din Romania, in aceasta luna ii avem pe The Amsterdams care se pregatesc de un album nou, dupa EP-ul de anul trecut. Ma pot astepta [...]

Es 15 de Febrero y toca otra entrega de MAP (Music Alliance Pact), tengo que el capitulo del mes pasado ha sido uno de los que más me ha gustado, he conocido muchas buenas bandas que ya comentare despues, para Febrero la misión de elegir a nuestro candidato no ha sido difícil, de hecho me parece que "Covida" se ha convertido en la mejor canción rock pop que haya salido de estos lugares, gracias a Catervas por la canción y definitivamente tienes que escucharla, todo un clasico para nunca sacarla de tu reproductor mp3. Para descargar las 22 [...]