A Baker's Dozen Of Songs By Innovative, Imaginative, And Incredibly Interesting Icelandic Bands

I know, I know... I've been going heavy on "song posts" of late, and I do apologize for the lack of variety. But you must understand that this is my first week back from paternity leave, I am working on very little sleep, and listening to music that I don't already know backwards and forwards has helped me get through the week so far.

Regular readers of this blog may recall from previous posts that I am slightly obsessed with the country of Iceland. I revel in any and all opportunities to discover more about this wonderfully enigmatic island nation.

This time around, I decided to explore the modern music of Iceland. And I was delighted – but not altogether surprised – to find that Icelandic bands are producing music that's not only on par with, but in some cases far superior to the music of the rest of the world. Here's a smattering of songs by bands I'd heretofore never heard of, but with whom I am now enamored. I hope you'll enjoy listening to these as much as I did...

(There will probably be at least one more of these posts in the days ahead; so if you like it, you're in luck! If you don't, consider yourself forewarned!)

1)  Árstíðir  ~  "Shades"

2)  Cheek Mountain Thief  ~  "Cheek Mountain"

3)  Feldberg  ~  "Dreamin'"

4)  Hjálmar  ~  "Borgin"

5)  Hjaltalin  ~  "Feels Like Sugar"

6)  Klassart  ~  "Thangad Til Tad Tekst"

7)  Of Monsters And Men  ~  "Little Talks"

8)  AMPOP  ~  "My Delusions"

9)  Sigur Ros  ~  "Glósóli"

10)  Valdimar  ~  "Yfir Borgina"

11)  Agent Fresco  ~  "Implosions"

12)  GusGus  ~  "Over"

13)  Amiina  ~  "Sicsak"