Monday, January 20, 2014

Icelandic Music

Iceland is known to have a strong, traditional past in folklore and mystical, mythical stories. Many Icelandic arts, including writing and music, still incorporate these traditions. Several musicians that come from Iceland have broken the international barriers and gotten the chance to share their music with the rest of the world and to even make it big. Of Monsters and Men is an Icelandic group who recently crossed that line a couple years ago becoming popular in the United States, Europe, and Australia. A new and upcoming Icelandic artist is Asgeir. He released his first album 'In the Silence' in both the Icelandic and the English language, both of which are extremely popular. He has just recently started touring internationally. Icelandic musicians often say that they're fresh and original sound comes from living on a small island that often stays uninfluenced by other musical sounds. The Icelandic music scene is known to be very supportive of one another rather than competitive. Below are links to the English version of Asgeir's song 'King and Cross' as well as to the Icelandic version.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-dHIkF_lO4#t=182   English Version

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HH6WQBsG8BI#t=44    Icelandic Version