I Was A King to release new 7" in January

Norwegian indie act I Was A King recorded three new songs with Gary Olson (The Ladybug Transistor) which will be appearing on a new 7" due out in January.

Feature: Iceland's new heroes

Pitchfork reviews Sin Fang Bous

Pitchfork on the new album from Seabear alter-ego Sin Fang Bous: http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/12889-clangour/

PopMatters on Sin Fang Bous

PopMatters reviews Seabear alter-ego Sin Fang Bous: http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/69220-sin-fang-bous-clangour/

Sin Fang Bous - Clangour and flutes (video)

Pitchfork is premiering the new video for "Clangour and flutes" from Seabear alter ego Sin Fang Bous: http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/download/148485-pitchforktv-sin-fang-bous-clangour-and-flutes-video-premiere

Borko
Celebrating life
Morr Music

The album cover and track titles would lead you to believe that "Celebrating life" is a lighthearted affair, but the actual material present on the record is much less jocular than one might expect. Borko are very much an Icelandic affair, sharing some aesthetic traits with Múm and, at times, Sigur Rós – especially on "Shoo ba ba" which oddly parallels features of the "Music for split sides" EP Sigur Rós released in 2004, sometimes referred to by its track names: "Ba ba / Ti ki / Di do". This said, Borko are less sprawling than Sigur Rós and, at times, more organically composed than Múm. These similarities and disparities, paired with the overly-apparent blitheness, allow Borko quite a bit of freedom. "Summer logic", one of the more demure tracks on "Celebrating life", flows into the playful, shifting "Doo doo doo" with little difficulties. "Spoonstabber" feels much more akin to an experimental Seabear composition than any of other the aforementioned Icelandic groups, yet not divorced from the rest of the material. As quirky as serious music can be, "Celebrating life" feels lost somewhere between an indirect, ambient Broken Social Scene and a more instrumentally-anchored Múm, and definitely worth a listen. m
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson

Top 10s for 2007: It's a Trap!

PSL has Icelandic act Seabear performing live for them: http://svt-psl.colo.netstar.se/default.aspx?entryID=300

Various Artists
A Number Of Small Things - A collection of Morr Music singles from 2001-2007
Morr Music

This charming compilation collects all 17 releases of Morr Music's singles-only sublabel A Number of Small Things. Quite surprisingly, the 36 tracks preserve an almost album-like feel despite their seven-inch-ancestry: True to the label's namesake (a song off Múm's debut album) the generally excellent contributions oscillate between finely-crafted indie-pop, IDM, and electronica. Between other big names (like Markus Acher of The Notwist, Valerie Trebeljahr of Lali Puna or Simon Scott of Slowdive), Scandinavian highlights include Seabear covering The Undertones' "Teenage kicks" and, most of all, Benni Hemm Hemm's stripped-down collaboration with Jens Lekman on "Aldrei". All in all, this CD or any of the corresponding seven-inches could make for a great musical present this year - trust me, I've tried it before.
- Arnulf Köhncke

Seabear
The ghost that carried us away
Morr Music

I've begun to lose all faith in people who proclaim that there's nothing happening musically these days. So far this year, I've completely fallen in love with CS Nielsen, Aerial, Immanu El, the new Shout Out Louds, amongst numerous other releases - and this is limiting myself to Scandinavian bands. Seabear are now firmly in the running for the best effort of 2007 with their wonderful "The ghost that carried us away". Just as many were wondering if Sigur Rós would be the defining watermark of Icelandic music for the foreseeable future, especially given the lukewarm reception to Benni Hemm Hemm's most recent work, Seabear powerfully demonstrate that there is life outside of Sigur Rós and Björk, and that Icelanders have just as much control over warm, acoustic numbers just as powerfully as arctic, sweeping efforts. "I sing I swim" is by far the best number on the record, and amongst the best songs I've heard this year. "Lost watch" displays that Seabear's talents aren't merely limited to the warm and present, but also to detached and ambling explorations. Overall, "The ghost that carried us away" is more than ample evidence that the contemporary music scene is far from stagnant or inadequate, and that Icelanders don't need to play electric guitars with bows or have a voice as powerful as an avalanche to create exceptional pieces of music. It's an exceptional album, and worth parting yourself from a few dollars to own.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson

Music (for Robots) on Icelandic act Seabear: http://music.for-robots.com/archives/002222.html