KRÍA BREKKAN

Kría Brekkan (Kristín Anna Valtýsdóttir) strike me as the type of girl I can relate to; shy and dreamy, but always around to observe and be very in touch with whatever the surrounding is. When you look at the character of an artist, it is very often that you find little definitions of their soul in the work. Kría Brekkan has shown us her personality as painfully innocent, shy and free of spirit, but yet it is powerful enough to smash cement. Iceland has this certain charm for producing musical sensations, and Kría Brekkan is one of the most treasured gifts.
If you have been following bands like Animal Collective, múm, and Slowblow, you'll know that Kría has been a part of each in some point. Over the course of subsequent releases, Kría's confidence in her voice has certainly continued to grow and become the central focus of the music, without losing any of the emotional, crystal finish. Now, all alone in a one-member musical project, Kría Brekkan has produced a beautiful EP, Wildering, just over nine minutes long. It is not a far cry from múm; we are still at home listening to sensual electronic loops, vocals hidden behind a veil of distortion, fluttering tweets and twinkles in the background. The album is over as soon as it has begun, but the overall affect is one not to be forgotten; slightly unsettling, like a beautiful haunting or the coo of owls in the night. Hear it for yourself...since the EP is only three tracks long, I will post two from the EP and one from the Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan project. Enjoy!

Listen!
Gömul Vísa Um Vorið
Sis Around The Sándmill
Wildering

website - myspace - last.fm - buy

GROUPER

The word 'grouper' comes from the name of a type of deep swimming fish found in warm and tropical seas. In another case, 'Garoupa' is in the Russian dialect of the Enchained Forest region of Siberia. Then, a particularly different Grouper, my favourite of all, is actually Elizabeth (Liz) Harris from Portland, Oregon. Though she has been releasing music since 2005 (Way Their Crept (2005), Wide (2006), and Cover The Windows And Walls (2007)), Grouper has only just recently begin to recieve the attention she well deserves, with the arrival of her new album, the creepily named 'Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill'. Not much information is provided on Liz Harris, and perhaps this mystery is a good thing, for it will just have to let the music speak for itself.
What I feel from Grouper's music is it being somewhat of a hazy dream, one of the ones you get when you are sore with the cold and the world appears dim and you are very forgetful...yet years later, you can recall those peaceful hours of sleep and beautiful dreams that occured. The music is melodic and the vocals are wispy and ethereal, though I have yet to know of the lyrics. Although built on a guitar, vocals and some special filtering and processing, the atmospheric feel of Grouper's music is absolutely immense, almost overwhelming. The earlier albums are more oriented on a drone style, more focused on that form of escalating ambient sound. The newest album, Dragging A Dead Dear Up A Hill has revolutionised the sound of Grouper, bringing a more melodic dream pop quality to the already wonderful music. The sound is dark but yet always dotted with the feeling of hope. The track 'Heavy Water/I'd Rather Be Sleeping' especially reflects this aspect for me; I'm imagining a girl walking through the street calmy, observing a surrounding chaos that is slowly resolving on her peaceful behalf. All these images are accompanied by a slightly vignetted, unfocused effect, which makes me wonder whether Grouper's music actually exists or whether this is all just some wonderful dream.

Listen!
Disengaged
Heavy Water/I'd Rather Be Sleeping
Make Me Over

myspace - last.fm - buy

SCHOOL OF SEVEN BELLS

School Of Seven Bells is a new band compromised of Benjamin Curtis (Secret Machines) and twin sisters Alejandra and Claudia Deheza (On! Air! Library!). Perhaps this is why their music is so harmonious and melodically well done; a strong friendship within the group, as well two girls sharing close biological bond. Formed in 2007, School Of Seven Bells have been generating much talk about their very recently released debut, Alpinisms. The reason behind this is quite clear. Already we are captured by the band's curious name (taken after the legendary South American crime college) and by the crafty album cover (a burst of colourful rays from between mountains). On receiving this album, I couldn't wait to listen but it was worth to wait...first run through I was intrigued, second time I was already absorbed by the music, and third listen left me completely in love! It must be said that this album would be the best approach to shoegaze style music I have heard in quite some long time; School Of Seven Bells are certainly set apart from the less imaginative latter-day shoegazers. Borrowing from many different styles of varying origins, School Of Seven Bells' music sparkles and shines, wearing its range of influence quite well. Appalachian melodies and folk tradition are blended with chilly electronic textures on 'Iamundernodisguise' and 'Connjur' was clearly inspired with pristine 60s style harmonies. The whole album is filled with psychedelic bass, cosmic rhythms, silky vocals and sweeping arrangements. This is ethereal pop at its finest.

Listen!
Face To Face On High Places
Half Asleep
Iamundernodisguise

website - last.fm - myspace - buy

MILENASONG

Milena Sabrina Katalinic Hunstad (otherwise now known by her shortened form, Milenasong) has magic running through her veins. Her past is mysterious, but we know that she is of Norwegian/Slovenian/Croatian heritage, which in that knowledge instantly creates a spark of curiosity, these being lands of folklore and stories and dainty tales. It is no doubt that Milenasong's music carries the same spirit. With a Fostex 4-track as her starting to point to creating luscious sounds, Milena clearly has a general fixation on dimensional and organic instrumentation accompanied by honestly meaningful songwriting. Being an achingly intelligent girl, Milena's messages are cryptic and hauntingly beautiful. To me, this music is an absolute soundtrack to Berlin, inspired by the delicateness and beauty found in a city once ravaged by wars and conflict, a shining beacon of hope in a dark night. The music is billowing and extremely visual, layered with different instruments and double-track vocals, ambient in some places and folky in others, yet never unfocused. On both albums, Can't Tape Forever and Seven Sisters, the music seems to find find your heart and grasp it tightly, cameoflaging to your emotion. Listen to Milenasong when you're happy and the sun will burst from its grooves providing even further an unspoilt mood of no worry or fear. But listen when you are blue, and your heart and chest will feel heavy with aching, little lumps forming in the back of your throat. A harmonious blend of gently plucked strings, guitar, piano, and electronics, Milenasong knows quite well how to feed your emotions and leave you in a deep trance of thought. I highly recommended, and please check out Milena's website to see the beautiful drawings and poetry she is sharing with us!

Listen!
Figs Tree
Lily Wyatt
Thirty

website - last.fm - myspace - buy

NIOBE

Yvonne Cornelius is the secretive soul who hides behind the alias Niobe. Since her 2001 debut, Radioersatz, we have been shown what an extraordinarily unique and colourful palette Niobe holds in musical talent. You see, in the world of wonderful Niobe, music simply isn't just manufactured, but rather taken into careful hands and transformed into a work of art. Niobe takes her vivid palette and paints many pictures for us, letting us see an amazing amount of worlds from the imagination; a snowy village with a steeple church nestled in the Alps, a mysterious run through a haunted mansion, a shift through long forgotten records in a 1940s Buenos Aires radiostation, a dreamscape lost amidst a field of pink and yellow flowers. Songs, both red and blue, combine and seperate to compliment each other, each album a masterful perfection of otherworldly styles. Guitars strummed peacefully, voices filtered ten times over, synth arrangements, and explosions of orchestral pop all have a place in Niobe's music. The moods and styles are eclectic, jumping from melancholic ambient to jazzy 'feel-good' anthems, bringing with them both organic and electronic sounds. Whichever way you choose to let Niobe's music effect you, the experience will leave you feeling enlightened and have you in a breezy sense of calm.

Listen!
Ghoast's Wharf Quai
Give All To Love"
Radio Mexico

website - last.fm - myspace - buy