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| New Releases of Icelandic Albums Composer and guitarist Gudmundur Steinn Gunnarsson released the album Horpma on May 20 with Carrier Records in New York, where it has been covered in niche magazines and on a few radio channels. Horpma is in fact a composition for 27 plucked and stricken string instruments which is meant for listening on stereos at home. Together the instruments sound like a giant harp, as described in a press release from Kimi Records. Meanwhile, solo musician Snorri Helgason, formerly of Sprengjuhöllin, is finalizing his sophomore album, Winter Sun, which was made in collaboration with Sindri Már Sigfússon (Seabear, Sin Fang Bous). Its release by Kimi Records is scheduled in July. Snorri Helgason. Helgason performed in a concert in Krakow, Poland, on May 18 along with Poland's main borderline rockers and he will also perform at the Brainlove Festival in London at the end of this month. Helgason will follow up on the release of his album with concerts in Iceland this summer and a large tour of Europe next winter. The record label Smekkleysa recently released the album Langt fyrir utan ystu skóga ("Far outside the outermost forests") where mezzo-soprano Ásgerdur Júníusdóttir performs songs by Björk, Gunnar Reynir Sveinsson and Magnús Blöndal Jóhannsson. The three composers are all on the border of classical music and other musical genres in their creations, including jazz, pop, theater, film and electric music. They are all pioneers in their fields and have made a mark on Icelandic musical history. Jónas Sen plays piano, organ and other instruments on the album, and a jazz quartet was put together specifically for the recordings. It is comprised of Pétur Grétarsson (piano), Thórdur Högnason (contrabass), Kjartan Valdemarsson (accordion) and Óskar Gudjónsson (saxophone). This is Júníusdóttir's third studio album. write your comments about the article :: © 2011 Jazz News :: home page |