Iceland

Iceland is a tiny nation far away from anything else. It's quite astonishing how many great artists and bands there are in this small population. Bands, such as Björk, Sigur Rós and Múm are known throughout the world, but there are a lot more of these great artists that have not received similar kind of popularity, although they possess all the keys for it. Iceland has a very specific sound. Its music actually sounds like Iceland. The cold and rugged environment, darkness and silence of the nature is present in beautiful and haunting melodies. most of the three and a half hour playlist can be described with these words. There's beautiful music ranging from folk to indie pop and to post rock. At the end of the playlist there are some less conventional Icelandic bands featuring rock, electro and funk tunes. Here is the playlist: Iceland


Björk
Björk is undoubtedly the most well-known Icelandic singer. Her highly original style of indie pop conquered the world in the 90's. There's nothing similar in the world. Björk's unique vocals express all the different emotions beautifully and her songs have interesting instruments, effects and sounds to keep you interested for a long time. Absolutely brilliant stuff!

Sigur Rós
Sigur Rós is one of the greatest bands that has ever existed. Their really unique post rock ranges from beautiful symphony-like pieces to heavy guitar walls. The lead singer Jónsi's high vocals have otherworldly qualities which is even further enhanced by the meaningless lyrics, Ancient Icelandic or even modern day Icelandic. Electric guitar played with a bow makes for an interesting sound.

Of Monsters And Men
This band is one of the forerunners of modern indie folk, where the sound is quite far from traditional folk. their music is full of huge sounds created by traditional instruments combined with more modern ones, choir bits and larger than life pianos and electric guitars. The male and female vocals work beautifully together.

Seabear
Seabear represents the indie pop style that is very endearing. Their music is very melodic and they include sounds from glockenspiels. The general style is close to indie folk, but the singing style is more etheric and there are a lot more weird sounds added to the mix. Absolutely beautiful songs with great melodies.

Árstíðir
This singer-songwriter sounds phenomenal. His clear and beautiful vocals are doubled with great harmonies over picked guitar, soft bass and authentic string sounds. There is great melancholy in these songs. I can imagine the dark winter morning in Iceland with magical snow cover over the tiny cottages while listening to this.

Kaleo
Kaleo's music sounds almost exactly like Bon Iver's first album. The vocals are high and etheric and it is accompanied by acoustic guitar and great melancholic melodies. The production is maybe a bit warmer though. Excellent music for heart brakes and romantic moments.

Ásgeir
This singer-songwriter's high-pitched vocals sore beautifully over simple acoustic guitars picked beautifully. The vocals have a range of great overdubbed harmonies with a dream-like reverb sound. Simple sound world gets amazing power from piano and subtle drums that appear like out of nowhere to give spices to the beautiful music.

Hafdís Huld
This singer-songwriter is a perfect example of a female singer-songwriter keeping it simple and thus making absolutely beautiful music. Her clear voice, great guitar-playing and melodic songs work brilliantly without big sound production tricks. Her songs and her voice speak for themselves.

Ólöf Arnalds
This singer-songwriter's music is a bit more traditional folk than the previous indie artists'. Even her voice sounds a bit more authentic and her guitar-playing definitely has been captured on track as it sounds in the studio without any additional sounds. This is for all you purist folders out there.

Dikta
Dikta plays beautiful and melodic indie folk. Th Icelandic melancholy is present but the songs have endearing warmth about them. Violin and guitars work together beautifully and the songs rise from minimal to bigger effortlessly.

Bang Gang
This is for all you emos out there. Bang Gang's beautiful and silent music is full of agony and melancholy. Piano and guitar give a great background to fantastic vocals that sound a bit like Billy Corgan from time to time. Only not as nasal.

Snorri Helgason
This singer-songwriter plays quite traditional style of folk/Americana. Most of his songs are based on skilful guitar picking and his soft and trained vocals. There are some great additional instruments there as well, but the overall sound is quite purist.

Svavar Knútur
This music represents beautifully the genre of melancholic singer-songwriter men who play their guitars skilfully and cry their heart out in beautiful and highly personal songs. There's some heartbreaking quality in this musician's way of expressing his music.

Leaves
Big and echoey folk music with melancholic melodies and skilful production. The basic structure of this music is fairly traditional folk, but the production makes it sound perfectly modern. There are some great emotions in this music.

Emilíana Torrini
This singer-songwriter relies on the honey dripping voice of hers. The backgrounds are fairly basic guitar songs, but her voice makes them really magical. The production is very minimalistic and leave a lot of room for that absolutely beautiful voice of hers.

Klassart
This folk duo plays dark and skilful music drawing influences from Americana. The melodies are beautiful and guitar-playing is top notch. They also use some electric guitars to give their music some more edge. Melancholy is strongly present.

Lay Low
This band's guitar-playing is absolutely fantastic! It's folk guitar at its best. The lead singer's honey voice is beautiful and puts a smile on the listener's face. This is how natural indie folk should be made.

Slowblow
This band's music is very close to traditional Americana folk. They use banjos and screeching furniture sounds on their album to create an atmosphere of rural cabin in the middle of nowhere. Songs are melancholic and warm at the same time.

Mugison
Mugison's music can be described as a mixture of folk and blues. The guitar-playing is absolutely phenomenal. The raunchy vocals give attitude over these fantastic acoustic guitar masterpieces. This is for everyone who is interested in skilful guitar playing.

Júniús Meyvant
Meyvant's music is quite stereotypical indie folk, but really good at that. The basic guitar songs are accompanied by interesting instrumentations and sounds. His rough vocals fits in perfectly singing these romantic but believable songs.

Ske
This weird folk band has some songs which are sung in Japanese. Most of the songs are in Icelandic however. Songs are more pop-oriented than most of these Icelandic folk bands', but the sounds are a bit more lo-fi.

Borko
Borko uses innovative sounds and effects in his folk music that features weird rhythmic changes familiar from progressive rock. The songs are a bit complicated, but very surprising and rewarding because of that.

Jónsi
The lead singer of Sigur Rós has also tried the solo career. The music sounds a lot like Sigur Rós' but it's a bit more pop-orientedly produced. His solo songs also include some songs sung in English. There's absolute beauty in these larger than life sounds and melancholic melodies.

Sóley
Blinking pianos and quiet and weirdly pronounced vocals make this artist's songs sound extremely Icelandic. There's something magical and dreamlike in her voice and songs. This is unmistakeable Icelandic sound that can only be made in that environment.

Múm
Múm is one of the most well-known bands from Iceland. They are, however, far from mainstream music. Their music is full of weird instruments and sounds and their music is more about dreamlike landscapes than radio-friendly pop tunes.

Hymnalaya
Hymnalaya's quiet indie pop sounds very Icelandic. Delicate male vocals blend into artistic music filled with obscure instruments and minimalist melodies. This almost sounds like music for films, although the songs actually have lyrics.

Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson
The only album available in Spotify is made in collaboration with Sigur Rós, so the sound obviously has similarities to that. Still, this project has more acoustic tones and more ambient organ sounds. Very relaxing music for a special sofa napping time.

Hjaltarín
This atmospheric music is very beautiful, yet haunting. The female vocals are clear and beautiful. Piano, the strings and deep drumming give an air of rugged wasteland. Music is very minimalistic, but perfect for relaxing and just listening.

Vok
Vok plays electronic sounds blending with echoey guitars. At times it reminds me of The XX. Their music is very modern and this is exactly the kind of music that appeals to hipster crowds out there. They even use some saxophone.

Pascal Pinon
This etheric sounding dream pop duo sounds really Icelandic. Endearing quiet songs have highs and lows and the two singers' vocals work brilliantly together. Songs could be a bit more interesting and production could be a bit more innovative, but it's quite good already as it is. I saw Pascal Pinon live some time ago. They're even better live.

Amiina
Amiina's music is really quiet and beautiful. It mostly relies on beautiful sounds created by a vast array of different instruments. The sound takes the main stage over the melodies, rhythm or lyrics (it's mostly instrumental). The sounds are really good and relaxing though so there are many things to enjoy.

Ólafur Arnalds
This musician's music is almost like classical music but in a more post-rock kind of way. There are pianos, strings and other beautiful instruments painting breathtakingly beautiful melodic landscapes. The music is mainly instrumental and it's perfect for relaxation and meditation.

Elvør Pálsdóttir
This singer-songwriter uses folk sounds, but the songs are more pop-attuned. With different kind of production this music could work on dance floors, but as it is, it's much more beautiful and enjoyable. Good use of sounds and beautiful melodies.

Ragnheiður Gröndal
Great melancholic singer-songwriter melodies with spices from blues and country. The instrumentation is on the background of the phenomenal singing performance. The vocals are quite phenomenal.

Rökkurró
This band does exactly, what Icelandic artists know how to do best. Quiet, beautiful and melancholic music with absolutely fantastic pianos and obscure vocals. The vocals are in Icelandic, but it doesn't matter at all that they're incomprehensible, since everything is so beautiful.

Stafrænn Hákon
Picking acoustic guitars and blinking electric guitars start from quiet and beautiful and rise higher with the accompaniment of even more guitars and drums. Beautiful post-rock with clear sounds rather than great big overdrive walls.

For a Minor Reflection
This post-rock band really knows what they are doing. Starting out quiet, moving to bigger and bigger sounds. There's everything from minimalist electric guitars to great big sound walls and heavy drumming. And the songs are of course long.

Sin Fang
This band makes very classy indie pop music. There are elements of post rock, dream pop and electro. The vocals are very echoey and there's some innovative use of sounds. Even the melodies are quite interesting.

Mono Town
This band is one of the best new finds for me on this list. Their melodic indie pop is full of catchy hooks. The melodies are fantastic and the sounds are skilfully made. There are also some excellent string arrangements.

Tilbury
Tilbury plays indie pop-rock with loads of great electro sounds. The vocals are beautiful and clear. All the parts of the music are cool. I'm surprised that these guys are not more well-known, since their music is exactly what people in indie circles want.

Feldberg
This electro-pop band knows how to make catchy melodies and classy sounds. The male and female vocals are used in innovative ways and the instrumentation is very modern. Everything from hand claps and out-of-rhythm vocals shout modern indie.

Jet Black Joe
Welcome back to the 90's. Jet Black Joe's songs sound exactly like early 90's alternative rock in the US. Not quite grunge, since the sounds are softer, but there are definite similarities to Seattle sound. Very American, but quite good at that.

Skakkamanage
This indie rock band is very cool and interesting. Their songs have fast electric guitars and drumming suitable for indie discos. The melodies could be a bit more interesting, but the attitude is right for a great indie band.

Apparat Organ Quartet
This indie band uses a lot of electro sounds and weird sound vocoders to make space age music. The music relies mostly on groove and great organ melodies. The vocals are used only as an instrument, since the lyrics are mostly just random loops of words.

Benny Crespo's Gang
This is indie rock for all you overdrive guitar band lovers out there. Dark melodies and traces from post punk revival. They also use some innovative instruments. Melodies could be a bit more interesting I suppose.

Mammut
Mammut plays Icelandic indie rock. There are interesting rhythmic features and echoey vocals in their music. The music is a bit complicated to get into, but it can be quite rewarding as well. Very cool stuff!

Diabolus
This music sounds like a blast from the past. Progressive rock with flute solos and late 60's-early 70's atmosphere. The apparent comparison is Jethro Tull. Rhythmic changes and skilful playing make this music quite interesting.

Jaguar
Who would've thought that there would be this absolutely amazing funk band from Iceland? This is how funk music should sound like. Outstanding performances, great melodies and most of all an amazing funky attitude.