A day of happenings!

So, today, being Friday, is a fairly short day for me, academically; I have but a single class* and, as such, I generally have a good amount of time that is free. So, today, I took advantage of this is several ways; first, I moved into my new room in the flat with David, Ryder, Paul and the mysterious Swiss man named Jonas.** I also managed to catch both Jenny Hval and Ólafur Arnalds' shows at Norræna Húsið, which was excellent. David, Paul and I also went to Barbara on Wednesday so we could see Guðrið Hansdóttir do an off-venue show.

This week, which is ostensibly*** a Study Week wherein we get 9 days off of class (Saturday through to the following Sunday), happens to coincide with Iceland Airwaves, hence the shows happening. The ones I've been to are off-venue and, thus, free - a good thing, considering the price of a wristband for the actual event!

Now, considering the fact that there have been many things afoot, I've decided to provide for you evidence of both a photographic manner and videos of 3 of 5 of Ólafur's songs (he had to play a short set, as he had another gig to get to.)

For your sanity, though, I've generously put these all below a jump.



First, my room. Which looks like the office of a 17th Century English pimp. A high class English pimp, mind you, but still. I heartily approve.

It's also on the landing path for Reykjavik Airport, which makes me nostalgic for the house I spent most of my childhood in, back on the Hamilton mountain. Ah, youth.

Enough reminiscence, though! I also recorded the middle three songs that Ólafur played, so here they are for you, in stunning, mediocre quality!

First, he started with 1440, but I was unable to record that well enough - people were in the way and whatnot. Song two, though, was a song called Poland, which was written, funnily enough, in Poland, after a rather rough night of travel:



After Poland was Ljósið



Then came Erla's Waltz



He ended with Lag fyrir Ömmu, from his free Living Room Songs release but, alas, I ran out of space on the card to catch it.

As I didn't record Jenny Hval or Guðrið Hansdóttir's shows (Jenny because I was saving the space for Ólafur and Guðrið because I left my camera at home on Wednesday), I will instead give you videos of theirs:

First, Jenny Hval's Blood Fight, which sounds like what would happen if Björk decided to front for the Tea Party when they're in a Doors-y kinda mood.



And then there's Guðrið Hansdóttir's A Faroese Fisherman Speaks of Drowning, which is just...well, just listen.





So there you go, ladies and gents. This is how I've been spending my week off!****


*The Medieval North, taught by Viðar Pálsson.
**Seriously, Jonas just kinda showed up one day. I didn't even know which room was his until I moved in. It was kinda surreal.
***Viðar claims that just because we had a week off at the beginning of the term, we have received our legally mandated week off already. Technicalities, I say. Also, we could always use more time off. Seriously.
****As opposed to finishing off a paper for Viðar's class. Because I'm good like that.