by Allister

I am actually working on a lengthy and very important post about a famous musician who sang about flying teapots. But in the interim, as I prepare my adjectives — whoops! I released another album. This was actually recorded in December 2014.

In October we visited Iceland for the first time, and our visit was mainly confined to the far north of the island, where there is a large variety of striking landscapes around the town of Akureyri. This music was inspired by some of the sights we found most moving: climbing the otherworldly Hverfjall caldera and viewing the scenery for kilometres around; the view toward the Greenland Sea and the Arctic from the northern fjords; and the bizarre landscapes and colours of the Hverir geothermal field. This is only a sampling of the wonders we beheld.

I’m sure that it’s all quite normal and prosaic for Icelanders, but for an ambient musician who loves nature, it was probably the most musically inspiring vacation of my life.

So when we got back we whipped up these four tracks, with field recordings courtesy of Internet Archive users.

If you are from Iceland, I hope we have done your land justice. If you aren’t from Iceland, I hope this inspires your own vacation!

This release is “name your price” at Bandcamp. It forms a sort of loose trilogy with the Canadian-themed Near North and our Siberian odyssey, Sibir.

TRACKLIST (click to listen)

1. Hverir Geothermal Area
(info about the place) (video)
2. View of the Greenland Sea north of Siglufjörður, 1
(info about the place)
3. Mývatn viewed from Hverfell caldera, October
(info about the place and Hverfell)
4. View of the Greenland Sea north of Siglufjörður, 2

A video (with my vacation pix!):