"Tautou" by Marble Sounds

Hey!

So I am in no way a professional when it comes to music, but I do love it a whole lot, and I like sharing my thoughts with others!

The last few years I've been falling more and more in love with the lovely Belgian band Marble Sounds. (Yes, you read it correctly: a non-Icelandic band I like!).
A while ago they released their new album Tautou. Several interviews stated that this album was going to be different and bolder. That scared me a little bit, as I love the careful vocals on the previous albums Nice is Good and Dear Me, Look Up. But I am still very excited about this, so I would like to share my thoughts on it with you!

First of all, the album art. I mean, look at this:

It's so pretty and exactly the feeling the music gives me: calm, innocent and relatable. There is even a little booklet with lyrics! I haven't seen that in a while.

To make sure I review this album thoroughly, I am going to listen to it and give my opinion on my favourite songs (probably most of them then). Here we go!

The Ins and Outs: They released this song just as I left for Iceland in November, so for me this is permanently linked to that trip. It also stands out from the album because I know it pretty well already. My first thoughts when I heard this were 'oh oh.. It is different'. I was a little worried for a while, but as the piano and guitars started, it felt like Marble Sounds again. It's a good sing-along-song and great choice for a single, in my opinion. (And, oh, that voice...)

The First Try: Yes, those strings!!! That was the one change I was absolutely thrilled about. Strings and Marble Sounds! Yes. They fit perfectly in this song, and they fit perfectly with the Marble feeling that I value so much. It's definitely a great start to this new album.

K.V.: And this is where the tears came. So soon? Yes, so soon. This song is calm and mainly focused on the (incredibly amazing) vocals and strings. But then the flute. This song made me smile through the tears because it was so Marble Sounds. I know that actual critics keep saying that they're bolder, but the fragility in the vocals has definitely stayed and I am glad it has. This song will definitely be on repeat a lot in my house.

Tout et Partout: Some of my all time Marble favourites are Sky High, Leave a Light on and No One Ever Gave Us the Right. There is a reason for that. It is the female vocals. They match so perfectly with the male vocals and add a feeling of mystery to it all. This song already feels like the video could be an awesome, well-dressed, female French secret agent on her way to kick some ass. In a mysterious and sophisticated way.

These Paintings Never Dry: This song caught my attention immediately. It is fast and catchy already at the first few seconds of the song. It will be a challenge to learn the lyrics properly, but so far I like to sing along to the chorus as fast as I can. Again, the strings and the soft female vocals in the background. Yes.

The songs I skipped are of course also worth noticing and I love them all a lot, but I will leave it here so you can discover them yourself. Listen to it on spotify, check out their website and you can even see them live! (if you're in Belgium or The Netherlands.) I'm seeing them in April in Amsterdam and I couldn't be more excited.

What a way to revive my blog, isn't it? I hope to see you soon!

Love,
Mia

PS: The Iceland vlogs are on their way.. Don't worry! I'm working hard! 

Sin Fang

Hey lovely reader,

In my busy schedule I have finally found some time to blog about the awesome man who is called Sindri (the cool guy from Sin Fang) and me meeting him.

Firstly, let me introduce Sin Fang to you. Sin Fang is a band from Iceland, I would describe their music as light and happy, poetic and filled with sounds. The man behind it all is Sindri Már Sigfusson. He is complicatedly related to the lead singer of Sigur Rós, which is basically how I found his music. He is also the man who founded Seabear (another Icelandic band). He’s not very famous (yet) which is why I was able to go to his concert in Zwolle on the 31^st of May. It wasn’t too expensive and Zwolle isn’t very far away for me. 

On my way to Zwolle

At first I had no one to go with, but I knew a girl from Tumblr, Myrthe, who wanted to go too, so I met her and her mother in Zwolle. I was way too early; I took a train earlier because I was afraid I’d be too late. The concert started at 9 pm and I arrived at 7:30 pm. At least I was on time!

While I was waiting, Sindri suddenly passed me and I kind of froze until I regained my strength to make a quick picture. I was terrified and felt bad that I didn't wave or something.. But I made up for that later!

It's him! *

When Myrthe and her mother arrived, we went inside the building. It was really comfy and cozy inside. The show was going to take place in the attic, so we climbed the worn stairs until we entered a tiny room with couches and tables with chairs and a miniscule stage. There was no one else apart from us and a few crew members who were setting up. We sat down at the table that was closest to the stage and waited while more people started to arrive.

At some point someone lighted a candle and put it on our table and all the other tables, making it even more cozier and intimate.

The supporting act was Pascal Pinon and they made me fall in love with them head over heels (something the supporting act for Sigur Rós couldn’t). The two sisters were also from Iceland and this was their first time performing abroad. The music was magical, the two voices cooperated perfectly both in English as in their native language. The two girls seemed happy with the setting and we enjoyed their music enormously. 

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Sin Fang’s performance was even better than I had expected. Sindri is a warm, kind of lay back and funny person and he looked like he was having as much fun as we were. They performed some old songs, Two Boys, Clangour and Flutes and Catch the Light, but they mostly played the songs of his new album Flowers. His music has a lot of sounds and instruments and it sounds hard to perform live, but they pulled it off. 

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My personal favourites were Look at the Light and Clangour and Flutes.

After the show ended, we went to the merchandise and I bought a bag:

Suddenly we saw Sindri walking around near the stage, and we decided to go to him and ask him to sign something. I talked to him for a while and he recognized me from twitter (I had tweeted him a few times). He signed my notebook and some things Myrthe had taken with her.
It was absolutely amazing, he was so nice and I felt comfortable talking to him (even though I’m normally a rather shy person). I forgot to mention he’s an awesome artist and he draws pyramids with faces and melting pizzas, he’s so cool. Also he skateboards. 

Please ignore my face **

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Anyway, we had an amazing night and Myrthe’s mother was really cool because she brought me to the train station where my mum picked me up (I’d already missed the last train).

I couldn’t be more happy after a concert, this was definitely one of a kind. I had never seen such a small place for a band to perform and the intimacy of it all made it absolutely perfect.
Sindri, please come back to The Netherlands soon, I will definitely come!


Love,


Mia



Sin Fang on Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook


Pascal Pinon on Tumblr and Facebook


* Pictures made with my ipod, sorry for the quality 

** Pictures made by my friend and companion Myrthe

PS: Apparently blogger doesn't like me and wants one half of the font to be bigger than the other half. Sorry about that. 

Sigur Ros on tour: Amsterdam

Hey,

As you might have read before, I went to the Sigur Rós concert in Amsterdam on the 21st of February. My sister accompanied me, even though she's not that into the music, because I had no one else to go with! Thanks so much :)

This reminds me of Owl City

The concert took place in the Heineken Music Hall in Amsterdam. It's a pretty big location and the show was sold out! While we were in the queue waiting for the doors to open, I saw all kinds of people, even people who were not English, all anxiously awaiting the same awesome music. Some musicians have the same 'type' of fans, like screaming girls, but Sigur Rós has all kinds of people listening to their music. Also it made me feel less alone in my musical taste; I don't know many people in my environment that likes Sigur Rós as much as I do. I felt less weird, so to speak.

The supporting act was, disappointingly, a bit boring. The guy called himself Blanck Mass. His music is apparently used in the official Olympic opening in 2012, but his performance in Amsterdam didn't really warm my heart. He performed for about half an hour, and the entire time he didn't stop once. His music just went on and on and I think his problem was anti-climax. Nothing happened for thirty minutes straight, just an annoying wining sound and some spinning triangles on a screen.

I don't know, maybe other people liked it, but I had the idea everyone was thinking 'WHERE'S SIGUR RÓS?'. I was.

Finally Sigur Rós came on stage. At first they were behind a sheet on which beautiful images were projected. There was a spotlight on Jónsi, however, so we were able to see him. I was standing two pretty tall guys, but I could just peek between their heads so I could see Jónsi!

a bit like this

About halfway there was this guy who was pretty big and he stood right in front of me. He clapped with his arms above his head all the time as well, so I had to try to make pictures and videos in between his arms.. It was a bit annoying but I just ignored that.

The shadows on the screen were awesome

They sang literally all my favourite songs (I only would’ve loved it if they did Sé Lest, Samskeyti and Starálfur).

Ný Batterí made me tear up immediately (even my sister felt the sadness in his voice, and she doesn't like it!). His voice in 'real life' is even stronger and clearer than on the albums. Olsen Olsen, the ingenious song without lyrics, but with vocals, made me so happy. The light bulbs on stage flickered on and off like fireflies in a forest. The piano intro of Sæglópur and Hoppipolla made me want to sing and jump! Three new songs were performed, they were so amazing! I can't wait for their new album (it's to be released this year, guys, THIS YEAR).

The way home was pretty hard, thanks to the last train that didn't leave. We ended up in a deserted train station at one am. We had fun though (at least I had).

I had the best of times, thanks to Sigur Ros and their amazing music and my sister who sacrificed her night for me!

love,
Mia

Bright Star

Hi everyone!

And we're back with an amazing film I've seen recently.

This film - Bright Star - is not just a film like any other to me. The film is about the life of the famous and ingenious poet John Keats. I had researched this tragic life of his before and I was already touched by the terrible events that took place in the short period of time.

When my sister suggested to watch this film, I was hesitant to agree. I was more in the mood for happy endings and funny quotes. Eventually I gave in and we watched it. This was probably the best choice I've made in the past weeks. Believe me: this film has affected me more than any romantic film.



I actually think that this film doesn't fit in the 'romantic film' genre, even though it's extremely romantic. It's so tragic that it stays in your mind for days. I'm the living proof because I think I watched it about a week ago and I'm still thinking about it all the time. Maybe that's just because I'm weird. Anyway, the film is so romantic and the ending is so miserable (and very well performed!).

However, I don't think just the magical performance of the amazing actors did the trick, nor the beautiful surroundings or the light atmosphere or the amazing costumes. No I think that the fact that all this really happened made me fall for this film forever.

The film is comparable to Becoming Jane (this film is about the (love)life of Jane Austen; also tragic) but I think Becoming Jane is somewhat lighter than Bright Star.

Watch the trailer!

Love,

Mia