The Fanpage of the Icelandic band Hellvar by Wim Van Hooste

Monday, March 31, 2008

Heida @ Frikirkjan 18. February 2008

Heida Protest against the works in Þjórsá river area - Baráttufundur gegn virkjunum í neðri hluta Þjórsá
Pictures @ http://halla.storkur.net

Þingmaður ræður pönkara

Andri Ólafsson skrifar:
„Atli er mikill prakkari og pönkari og hefur því líklega kunnað að meta þá þætti í mínu fari," segir Ragnheiður Eiríksdóttir, Heiða í Unun, sem hefur verið ráðin aðstoðarmaður Atla Gíslasonar alþingismanns.
Heiða og Atli kynntust þegar þau voru bæði á framboðslista Vinstri - grænna í Suðurkjördæmi fyrir síðustu kosningar. Atli í fyrsta sæti en Heiða í því þriðja.
„Þar kynntumst við vel þegar við flökkuðum um allt kjördæmið í kosningabaráttunni," útskýrir Heiða.
Aðstoðarmannastarfið er ekki full vinna heldur 33% stöðugildi. Heiða segir að það veiti henni tækifæri til að vinna frekar að sínum hugðarefnum í stjórnmálum eins og að vinna gegn byggingum álvers í Helguvík.
Source:
www.visir.is/article/20080328/FRETTIR01/80328068

Unun @ Aldrei fór ég suður Festival 2008

Unun - Heida @ Aldrei fór ég suður Festival Picture in Fréttablaðið

Performance of Icelandic Bands Hellvar | Vicky Pollard | Motorfly in China in Jeopardy

Chinese authorities seem reluctant to grant three Icelandic bands permission to perform at the Midi Music Festival, which will be held there the first week of May, after Björk declared support for Tibetan independence during her recent concert in Shanghai.
Björk’s stunt angered Chinese authorities and now it is uncertain whether the members of the three bands, Vicky Pollard, Hellvar and Motorfly, will be given a visa to enter the country, Fréttabladid reports.
“We are in constant contact with our spokesperson at the festival and he has told us to stay calm and wait,” said Ásgeir Gudmundsson, band manager for Vicky Pollard.
Source:
Iceland Review Online www.icelandreview.com
Original article in Fréttabladid:
Kínaferð hljómsveita í uppnámi eftir Tíbetsöng Bjarkar
Tvísýnt er um þátttöku þriggja íslenskra hljómsveita á Midi-tónlistarhátíðinni sem verður haldin í Kína fyrstu vikuna í maí.
Ástæðan er hvatningarorð Bjarkar Guðmundsdóttir til Tíbetbúa á tónleikum í landinu á dögunum.
"Þetta byrjaði að vera eitthvað vesen eftir það," segir Eygló Scheving Sigurðardóttir, söngkona Vicky Pollard, sem er ein hljómsveitanna þriggja. Hinar eru Hellvar og Motorfly.
Ásgeir Guðmundsson, umboðsmaður Vicky Pollard, segir að verið sé að vinna í málinu. "Midi-festivalið hefur alltaf verið bara haldið í Peking en núna stendur til að halda hátíðina bæði í Peking og Sjanghaí. Við áttum að vera með tónleika í Peking 1. og 2. maí og í Sjanghaí 3. og 4. en kínversk stjórnvöld eru að hugleiða hvort þau ætla að setja einhverjar takmarkanir á erlenda listamenn. Ef þau gera það verður ekkert af Sjanghaí-tónleikunum," segir Ásgeir, sem veit vel ástæðuna fyrir þessum takmörkunum. "Þær eru út af ummælum erlendra listamanna í Kína. Það er ekki út af neinu öðru, ég veit það fyrir víst. Það er ekkert leyndarmál." Spurður hvort Tíbetsöngur Bjarkar í laginu Declare Independence sé ekki höfuðástæðan, segir Ásgeir: "Ég vil ekkert tjá mig opinberlega um hverjum það er um að kenna. Fólk getur sagt sér það sjálft."
Ásgeir vonast til að hnúturinn leysist von bráðar. "Við erum í stöðugu sambandi við okkar tengilið inn í festivalið. Hann biður okkur um að bíða róleg. Allt varðandi vegabréfsáritanir er líka miklu flóknara í ár út af Ólympíuleikunum og það er búið að herða allar reglur um straum fólks til landsins," segir hann.
Gangi allt að óskum verður ferðin til Kína fyrsta tónleikaferð Vicky Pollard. "Þetta er svakalega spennandi og gaman að fá að fara á svona stóra hátíð því þetta er stærsta rokkhátíðin sem er haldin í Kína. Þetta er svaka tækifæri fyrir okkur," segir hann og bætir við að það yrði hálfglatað ef ekkert yrði af ævintýrinu.
freyr @ frettabladid.is

Monday, March 10, 2008

Paddy's Irish Pub @ Keflavik

ASK EYGLÓ @ www.icelandreview.com
10. March 2008
Could you tell me about Paddy’s Pub in Keflavík? What kind of music do they play?
Question:
I was just wondering if you could give me some information on Paddy’s Pub, Hafnargata 38, Keflavík. Some of my friends were there and told me it was a good place to go at the weekend. Is there any music? If so, what kind do they play?
Bernie Ward, Dublin, Ireland
-----------------------
Answer: I’ve never been to Paddy’s Irish Pub in Keflavík myself, but from what I’ve read, it’s a pretty cool place to hang out.
Your fellow countryman Danny (he might even be one of your friends who went there) rated Paddy’s with five pints of beer on ratepubs.com, saying the atmosphere was “great” and the live bands “grand.”
On TheRealIrishPubs.com, a Nik Shamrock (who seems to be a bit subjective) said, “Visitors say Paddy’s creates the feeling and hospitality of a true Irish pub,” adding that Paddy’s offers an exceptional, international variety of beers and ales, that it offers great music every night of the week and live bands two to three nights a week. Also, during weekends, “You can come and enjoy all the best European Premiership matches live on our projection screen with some of the most colorful people you can possibly find,” Shamrock concluded.
In a post in an Icelandic chatroom by the band Hellvar, Paddy’s is also given a great review. They say it’s a place that the “alternative” crowd and foreigners like to visit, adding that it hosts a pub quiz every other Thursday. In terms of the music played there, I’m under the impression that it is mostly rock.
Beyoncé and Jay-Z also seem to like Paddy’s; they went there to watch American football during a stop over in Iceland in January.
Paddy’s Irish Pub in Keflavík is only five minutes away from the international airport, but about 45 minutes away from Reykjavík.

Sunday, March 09, 2008

Hellvar & Abbababb! @ Aldrei fór ég suður Festival 2008


Artists on the Program of Aldrei fór ég suður this year:
Bob Justman, Hjaltalín, Retro Stefson, Sprengjuhöllin, XXX Rottweilerhundar, Sign, SSSól, Mysterious Marta, Megas og Senuþjófarnir, Dísa, Hraun, Morðingjarnir, Skakkamanage, Karlakórinn Ernir með Óttari Proppé, Múgsefjun, Johnny Sexual, Ben Frost, Abbababb!, Sudden weather change, Vax, Vilhelm, Hellvar, Hjálmar, Biogen, Skátar, Ultra mega teknóbandið Stefán, Steintryggur, Lára Rúnarsdóttir, Benny Crespos gang, Flateyrar-rapp og Hálfkák.
www.aldrei.is

Heida: Truckdriver & Baking Pancakes | Dr. Gunni's Poll | No Björk


Interesting Parts of an Interview (2002) with Ólafur Josephsson of Stafrænn Håkon featuring Dr. Gunni & Heida
What do you think of the current music scene in Iceland?
It's pretty interesting. Lots of good bands/artists around. The scene is just so small over here. It's quite hard for bands to get their albums released on Icelandic labels.
Which band is the most popular or innovative in Iceland right now: Björk, Sigur Rós or Múm?
I would say Sigur Rós, because of their unique style. They've created their own thing that is not similar to anything else. They are definitely pioneers. Múm have also done a similar thing, but not as prominent.
Which of Björk's albums you rated as her best?
I don't listen to Björk.
Is "Vespertine" by Björk more popular than "Ágætis Byrjun" by Sigur Rós in Iceland????
I don't know.... I guess Sigur Rós is more popular.
Had you participated in the Dr. Gunni's poll "The Best Icelandic Albums Of Last Century" for his coffee table book about Icelandic rock music "Eru Ekki Allir I Studi?"? Did you agree with the results of 200 "professional people" and 4000 "regular people"?
Sigur Rós - "Ágætis Byrjun"
Björk - "Debut"
Megas & Spilverk Þjóðanna - "A bleikum nattkjolum" etc.
No I didn't... I think he just did the list by himself ?? But I'm not sure, so I didn't even get a chance doing that !!!! Well I haven't listened to all of the albums on the list.... but Spilverk Þjóðanna are great lots of stuff on there... Instead of Spilverk Þjóðanna at #3 I would have put Hinn Íslenzki Þursaflokkur - "Þursabit"...
Your Top 10 Icelandic albums of all time?
Here are some... but I guess I will forget something though...
Lárus Sigurðsson - "Jarðhörpusálmar"
Sigur Rós - "Ágætis Byrjun"
Hinn Íslenski Þursaflokkur - "Þursabit"
Sofandi - "Ugly Demos"
Bag Of Joys - "Nú á ég vermand vini"
Múm - "Yesterday Was Dramatic, Today is OK"
Sigur Rós - "Von"
Gunnar Jökull - "Hamfarir"
Curver - "Haf"
Náttfari - "demo"
Lárus Sigurðsson - "Encounters"
Which other bands in Iceland are very innovative? Borko, Dr. Heckle & Mr. Jive, Kuai, Sofandi?
Sofandi are great. Their album "ugly demos" was the best Icelandic record of 2001 for sure. Borko (Iceland) I've heard once live, and he's quite Múmish. Kuai are also pretty good. Dr. Heckle & Mr. Jive, haven't heard them. Sofandi are the most innovative of these bands. There is a band called Náttfari that are brilliant. Kimono is also quite good.
Your opinion about Rymi, Trabant and Úlpa?
I've heard Trabant and Úlpa, but not Rymi... Trabant are pretty good though I've only heard them live once and Úlpa are also pretty good, but only heard them live so far.I heard a track by Leaves on BBC WS this year. Maybe next big (pop) thing from Iceland? Haven't heard much... but what I've heard sounds poppy and that's not bad at all !!!! I guess they'll be more popular in this year... getting bigger....
Do you know what is Heida of ex Unun doing?
Probably baking pancakes or working as a truckdriver... No I'm not sure... I think she's doing her own stuff... I really don't care or know anything about her !!!!!!!!!!
Source:
www.post-rock.lv/files5.htm