Valtari

I’ve been enjoying the latest album from Sigur Ros, called valtari, since it was released. Yesterday we got tickets to see them live next year, which reminded me of the mystery film experiment they’ve been running. They gave a dozen film makers the same small budget, asking them to create whatever comes into their head when they listen to the songs from the valtari album, the idea being to bypass the usual artistic approval process and allow people complete creative freedom. As you’d expect the results are a complete mix. Two stand out for me.

Rembihnútur

All about meditation and the great tool that Sigur Ros’ music can be to connecting with our deeper selves.

Dauðalogn

As the director says it is “a spiritual and meditative journey into nature”. Sums it up really…

Erased Sounds

Came across this playlist celebrating 5 years of the music label Erased Tapes yesterday – I’ve been enjoying some of their sounds they cover for a while – Olafur Arnalds, Nils Frahm and A Winged Victory For The Sullen – much of it contemporary classical with a twist… calming and inspiring. Worth a listen if you haven’t come across them before…

Advent begins, so it must be time to play the album Good Will

Advent begins, so it must be time to play the album Good Will.

Free Christmas Music Download from Church of the Beloved.

Celebration of spirituality and music

Enjoying the stream of the recent Credo event that took place in the US – an evening with Kjartan Sveinsson and Jónsi & Alex (all from Sigur Ros) performing their solo stuff in celebration of spirituality and music, as part of the White Light Festival 2010.

Beautiful stuff – and as it is available to stream for free it’s the next best thing to being there.

You can find the stream at: Credo in Credo – WQXR.

…and they have escaped the weight of darkness

I’ve been enjoying Ólafur Arnalds (myspace) new album “…and they have escaped the weight of darkness” (what a great title for an album!). Chilled ambient classical… with a meditative twist. Brilliant. The last song on the album is a favourite, but the single, Hægt, kemur ljósið”, is also great too and as you’ll see below has a nice video to go with it.

His songs attract some great videos – a previous one for a single called Ljósið deserves a mention… a meditative depiction of the sound. Enjoy!

One Good Thing

April was a good month for new music… I’ve been enjoying recently Lou Rhodes’ new album called One Good Thing (album on Spotify). One of my favourite artists since the days of Lamb, this new album continues her solo work as it moves from Electronica towards a folky acoustic sound, but still with the beautiful and poignant lyrics. The opening ‘One Good Thing’ talks about:

“Everyday the news is telling; Of crisis and war; All I know is what they’re selling; I ain’t buying no more; And all it takes is; One good thing to happen.”

Which Lou Rhodes says is:

“written in response to the constant scare-mongering and negativity we seem to be so often overwhelmed with in the modern world… I’m not denying the existence of a sometimes harsh reality. Yet sometimes just one tiny thing can change a whole outlook; one sweet happening can change the shape of the day. I prefer to embrace the joys in life, however small, than look behind me in fear.”

Having failed to find a date from her current tour near us, I was very pleased to see that Lou Rhodes has been announced in the latest line-up for Greenbelt 2010 – and as Polly has banned us from camping with a 6 mth old at GB, it’ll mean us planning our day visit to coincide with her appearance… or will it tempt my wife into letting us camp for the whole weekend?