María er virkur þátttakandi í hinni blómstrandi tónskáldasenu sem heldur betur hefur vaxið fiskur um hrygg síðustu ár. Verk Maríu hafa verið flutt af Sinfóníuhljómsveit Íslands og komu út á hljómdiskunum Recurrence og Concurrence. Concurrence hefur nú hlotið tilnefningu til Grammy-verðlauna árið 2020 og er það mikill heiður. Í janúar næstkomandi kemur svo út hljómdiskurinn Kom vinur sem inniheldur tvo kórverk eftir hana.

María er eftirsóttur meðspilari og hefur spilað inn á breiðskífur Spiritualized, Gyðu Valtýsdóttur, Juliana Barwick, Yann Tiersen, Sigur Rós, Ólafar Arnalds og Canon Bleu svo fáeinar séu nefndar. Hún á stóran hlut í Odin’s Raven Magic sem hún vann ásamt Sigur Rós, Hilmari Erni Hilmarrssyni, Steindóri Andersen og fleirum.

Við fengum Maríu til að setja saman lagalista með lögum sem veita henni innblástur og má heyra fjölbreytt safn laga með Morton Feldman, Colleen, Kjartani Sveinssyni, Zeena Parkins, Boards of Canada, Tom Waits, St. Vincent, Brian Eno o.s.frv.

The post Innblástur # 7 – María Huld Markan Sigfúsdóttir appeared first on Smekkleysa SM.

Odin’s Raven Magicor Hrafnagaldr Óðins is a communal composition of Sigur Rós, Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson, María Huld Markan Sigfúsdóttir, Páll Guðmundsson and Steindór Andersen.  This piece was initially conceived at Reykjavík Arts Festival and the Barbican Centre in London in 2002.  

Parts of this release have been circulating as bootlegs ever since the London performance and now it’s finally seeing it’s long due release on limited white vinyl, standard vinyl and CD.  

The album will be released on December 4th and you can pre-order your copy here.

The post Sigur Rós release Stendur æva appeared first on Smekkleysa SM.

Odin’s Raven Magic eða Hrafnagaldr Óðins er samstarfsverkefni Sigur Rósar, Hilmars Arnar Hilmarssonar, Maríu Huld Markan Sigfúsdóttur, Páls Guðmundssonar frá Húsafelli og Steindórs Andersen.  Verkið var upprunalega flutt á Listahátíð í Reykjavík og í The Barbican Centre í London árið 2002.

Hlutar af útgáfunni hefur komið út sem bootleg og hefur selst dýrum dómum á netinu og nú er loksins að koma út viðeigandi útgáfa af þessu magnaða verki.  Odin’s Raven Magic kemur út 4. desember og er fáanleg í forsölu á lituðum vínil, venjulegum vínil og geisladisk.

Tryggðu þér eintak hér. 

The post Sigur Rós gefa út Stendur æva appeared first on Smekkleysa SM.

Icelandic cellist, singer, and composer Gyda Valtysdottir, a founder of the band múm and 2019 winner of the prestigious Nordic Council Music Prize, releases Epicycle II on her label DiaMond in collaboration with Sono Luminus on August 28, 2020.

 Epicycle II, which was produced by Gyda and mixed with Jónsi, features music written for her, and/or in collaboration with her, by eight of Iceland’s most compelling composers – Ólöf Arnalds, Daníel Bjarnason, Úlfur Hansson, Jónsi, María Huld Markan Sigfúsdóttir, Kjartan Sveinsson, Skúli Sverrisson and Anna Thorvaldsdóttir. The album is a sequel to her highly acclaimed first solo album from 2017, Epicycle, on which Gyda created personal renditions of written music spanning over 2000 years. An epicycle refers to the geometric model of the solar system by the Ancient Greek mathematician and astronomer Ptolemy, in which a smaller circle’s center moves around the circumference of a larger circle.

On Epicycle II, Gyda stretches the boundaries of genre even further, selecting composers who all have created their own unique sonic environments. The outcome is an expansive and colorful landscape, varied but connected in profound unity through Gyda’s highly personal touch. 

 A founding member of the experimental and groundbreaking band múm as a teenager in the late 1990s, Gyda later studied classical cello and improvisation in Reykjavik, St. Petersburg, and Basel. Known for her deeply personal and organic performances, she has worked with a varied group of artists across genres, performed concerts around the world, and composed music for films. She earned a double master’s degree from the Hochschule für Musik in Basel where her main teachers were cellist and composer Thomas Demenga and violist, composer, and improviser Walter Fähndrich.

Of the new album, Gyda says, “When the idea of Epicycle II came to me, it felt like it already existed. On the first Epicycle, I interpreted music by composers from the past. This time I wanted to collaborate with contemporary composers and musicians who have each created their own, unique musical language that doesn’t fall easily into any existing category. It became clear to me that I didn’t have to look far to find exquisite musicians all around me and soon I had a list of people who I greatly admire – people who had all shaped me in some way as a musician.

I also happened to know all of them since I started making music in my teens. Our world is interconnected and I wouldn’t be who I am without my relation to others, including the people that contributed to this record. This group of people is really a musical galaxy, where the connections are endless: From Kjartan producing Ólöf’s first record, which Daníel made some string arrangements for, to Úlfur touring as a bass player for Jónsi’s solo tour and María’s long collaboration with Jónsi and Kjartan … or from Daníel conducting Anna’s compositions, as well as joining Sigur Rós for their orchestra concerts, to Kjartan and Skúli soon releasing a duo album, and much more.”

The post Gyða’s Epicycle II comes in August appeared first on Smekkleysa SM.