Bat out of Hellvar Painting

Bat out of Hellvar (Acryl, 20x20cm)

Panorama Recording Studio Shot

Recording Studio - Photographs by Donald Gislason

Hellvar @ Paddy's on 18. December 2010

Jólatónleikar - Christmas Concert 

 @ Paddy's, Hafnargata, Keflavík

18. December @ 21:30

Program:

Meðlimir úr Klassart
Halli Valli
Hobbitarnir
Hellvar
Addi trúbador
A band on stage

Elvar & Heida @ Curver's Exhibition in 2006

Heida & Elvar @ Curver's exhibition @ Nylo Gallery

Curver Thoroddsen exhibition @ Nylo (2006)

Hellvar in the Studio

Sverrir in Texas Jesús

Sverrir with long(er) hair (Second from left, above)

Elvar in the News

About the rehearsal of HAM he wanted to witness with his students of the Rock School of Keflavik.

Hellvar @ Airwaves 2010 - Markus Moises Photographs

Steamy Elvar

 Sverrir cool as usual on bass

Hellvar @ Backpackers hostel in the shopping street Laugavegur, across the infamous Brynja Shop
Alexandra went to the Hairdoctor for a new punky haircut

Girls gone wild @ NASA

Cheers!
F$$$ Heineken!!!

Heida having a drink on stage @ NASA

Going underground?

Elvar & Heida on guitar on stage @ NASA

Heida & Alexandra Duo Singing @ Backpackers Hostel

Alexandra Singing @ NASA 

All Photographs Copyright Markus Moises

Thanks to Markus

Hellvar @ First "Ladies Night" // Konukvöldið # 1 @ Sódóma on Friday 19. November

Sódóma
presents
Konukvöldið #1
Friday 19. November @ 22:00
Admission: 1000 IKR
Program:
Pascal Pinon
Bárujárn
Hellvar
Skelkur í Bringu
DJ Flugvél og Geimskip

Pascal Pinon @ Gogoyoko
Bárujárn @ Gogoyoko
Hellvar @ Gogoyoko
Skelkur í Bringu @ Gogoyoko

Hellvar @ Airwaves 2010 - The Slideshows

Hellvar @ Packpackers Hostel off-venue (15. October) & NASA venue (17. October 2010)
Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Hellvar @ NASA - The Photographs

Heiða covered John Lennon: "I'm only sleeping"

Heiða recorded a John Lennon song for the Rás 2 Poppland John Lennon Cover Competition.
"I’m only sleeping" by Heiða Trúbador
The voting starts on Monday 4. October.

Wikipedia about the song

Hellvar @ Styrktartónleikar HSS @ Friday 8. October 2010 @ Sódóma Reykjavík

Styrktartónleikar HSS
Support Gig for Þorbjörg
Music Program with

Noise, Coral, Æla, Vicky, Hellvar, Kallakór Kaffibarsins, Bróðir Svartúlfs
& more

Friday 8. October 2010
@ Sódóma Reykjavík, Tryggvagata

Þorbjörg Elín Fríðhólm Friðriksdóttir is a patient with a chronic lung disease
Donate here:
Bank Account of Þorbjörg 542-14-401515
& Kennitala: 061051-4579.
More information: Halli Valli Tel. 6928042

Hellvar goes NASA @ Airwaves 2010

Hellvar is playing @ a nice spot @ this year's festival.
Hellvar @ NASA @ 19:30 on Saturday 16. October @ Iceland Airwaves 2010

Hellvar @ Iceland Airwaves 2010 Festival

Points on Hellvar you need to know but were afraid to ask:
• Hellvar comes from Keflavík, the Murder capital of Iceland
• Hellvar was a drum machine-based band but has recently recruited a human
• Hellvar has two girls in it
• Hellvar broke some Chinese law while touring in China
• Hellvar sounds weird, especially the music
• Hellvar's debut album is called ‘Bat Out Of Hellvar'
• Hellvar wrote a song with Phillip Glass without telling him
• Hellvar tried to tell Phillip Glass but he never answered
• Phillip Glass receives royalties if you ask your local radio station to play the song ‘Nowhere‘ by Hellvar
• Hellvar is recording a new album to be released in January 2011
• If Hellvar was a restaurant it would serve Kebab and Falafel

Gardening in the USA

Review of Unun's "Super Shiny Dreams" in CMJ Magazine (1996)

Review of Unun's "Super Shiny Dreams" in CMJ (1996)
Another review online:
Sarajevo-X
When the Sugarcubes decided to call it quits almost three years ago (the band referred to it as an "indefinite hiatus," but we all know what that means), distraught Sugarcubes fans were appeased by the announcement of an upcoming Björk solo album. Surely Björk's stuff would reflect and be influenced by the work she had done with her former bandmates. Or so we all naively assumed.
Then Debut was released, and suddenly we all realized we were going to have to share Björk with every techno-raver alive. Don't get me wrong, the dance-oriented direction of Björk's solo material isn't unbearable. It's just that the void the Sugarcubes left in my life when they broke up hasn't been filled by either of her albums.
Enter Unun, the Icelandic trio that features former Sugarcubes guitarist Thor Eldon. With the release of their debut stateside release, Super Shiny Dreams, my prayers have finally been answered.
Unun's guitar-driven catchiness rivals Tiger Trap and even Heavenly, sometimes surpassing them. Eight musicians play on the record, but the three core members are Eldon, Icelandic noise hero Dr. Gunni on bass and singer Heida.
Super Shiny Dreams is the over-the-top pop record that the Sugarcubes' quirky instincts never allowed them to make. All the stops have been pulled out with Super Shiny - it's pure ear candy from start to finish. You know when you hear a really catchy song, and then realize that if there were really epic keyboards added it would be the best song ever written? Unun uses those keyboards.
Maybe it's just an Icelandic thing, but Miss Heida sounds a lot like Björk on a really happy day after drinking way too much coffee. Unun's music definitely sets the stage for their super-catchiness, but it's Heida's hyper energy that makes this record worth listening to 20 times in a row. Her witty lyrics round out the whole picture, which she uses to discuss falling in love at a first-aid evening class ("First Aid") and falling in love with a TV star ("Kung Fu Blue"), and to compare getting fucked over by a lover to Christ being crucified in "The Good Friday": A very Good Friday/ maybe for Him who's nailed to the cross/ and excellent Friday/ for you who's nailing some uptown slut.
This is great pogo-pop with an excellent sense of humor - which is a major feat, considering that all these songs were originally written in Icelandic.

Hellvar in PPP Tonight

Hellvar vs. Skriðjöklar Tonight in the Pop Quiz Popppunktur @ RUV.

Hellvar on Friday 3. September 2010 @ Rockville Festival 2010 @ Paddy's Reykjanesbær

Rockville
@ Paddy's
Keflavik/Reykjanesbær

Dagskráin/The Schedule

Wednesday 1. September

0:30 – 21:00 Örvar

21:15 – 21:45 Myrra Rós

22:00 – 22:30 Johnny Stronghands

22:45 – 23:15 Fjarkarnir

23:30 – 00:00 Ástþór Óðinn

00:15 – 00:45 Reason to believe

Thursday 2. September

20:00 – 20:30 Nevolution

20:45 – 21:15 Klaus

21:30 – 22:00 Rökkurró

22:15 – 22:45 Lifun

23:00 – 23:30 Black Earth

23:45 – 00:15 For a minor Reflection

00:30 – 01:00 Endless Dark

Friday 3. September

20:30 – 21:00 Keanu

21:15 – 21:45 Dark Harvest

22:00 – 22:30 Bróðir Svartúlfs

22:45 – 23:15 Hellvar

23:30 – 00:00 Reykjavík!

00:15 – 00:45 Æla

01:00 – 01:30 Bárujárn

Saturday 4. September

20:00 – 20:30 Kallakór Kaffibarsins

20:45 – 21:15 Nóra

21:30 – 22:00 Valdimar

Fireworks

23:00 – 23:30 Orphic Oxtra

23:45 – 00:15 Berndsen

00:30 – 01:00 Who knew

Sunday 5. September

Rockville hangover-killer

21:45 – 22:15 Joanne Kearney

22:45 – 23:15 The Esoteric Gender

23:30 – 00:00 Hangover-Killer Bunny

Festival Pass: 2.500 IKR

1 Night for 1.000 IKR

Get your Tickets @ Faktorý @ Reykjavik or Paddy's @ Keflavik

Good Musica

Alexandra & Heida @ The Hudson River

Photograph by Robert

Spot the Hellvar T-shirts

@ USA

Hellvar Rex

@ Stekene, Belgium

Review by Paul Gary Nixon

Hellvar
Just having grown from a four piece to a five piece with the addition of drummer Oli the next band come from Iceland. A mix of electronica and rock probably puts them into the category of electronic rock. Of the eight tracks here there are two live performances that emphasise the heavier, rock edged side of their music persona. American readers can check them out on a few dates in early August and the two live tracks ‘Nowhere’ (which also appears in a studio version) and ‘To Late, Liar’ certainly illustrate their ability to craft a tune around the Heida’s strong vocals. I have been trying to avoid typing the second part of the sentence, because if I were in an Icelandic band I would hate it, however, I have to bow to the inevitable and say that, particularly on ‘Stop That Noise!’ she sounds like Björk. In the interest of blogging balance, I can say that that they in no way remind me of Sigur Ros. There, now that’s over we can move on. My favourite track was a track to gossip about, ‘Kjaftaedi’. The backing keyboards somehow reminded me of The Eurythmics’ ‘Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)’ and it’s stripped down simplicity appealed to me. I also liked both of the live tracks, ‘Nowhere’ (studio version) and ‘Stop That Noise!’. Let’s hope they don’t take their own advice.
Source: Nr. 68 @
Paul Gary Nixon @ MySpace

Heiða "Svarið" (The Answer) Review in Morgunblaðið

Review in Daily Newspaper Morgunblaðið
on 25. November 2000

Hressandi tilbreyting frá Heiðu og félögum
SVARIÐ

Svarið er fyrsta sólóplata Heiðu Eiríks

Lög og textar: Heiða Eiríks
Upptaka og upptökustjórn: Birgir Örn Thoroddsen
Hljóðfæraleikur: Birgir Örn Thorodddsen gítar og ýmis fríkhljóð, Þorvaldur H. Gröndal trommur, Sverrir Ásmundsson bassi, Sigurður Björn Blöndal bassi, Birgir Baldursson trommur, Guðni Finnsson bassi, Ólafur G. Ólafsson trommur Valdi Kolli bassi, Stefán Magnússon gítar, Freyr Eyjólfsson mandólín, Vernharður Jósepsson bassi, Sigurjón Kjartansson gítar, Samúel J. Samúelsson básúna, Lára Lilliendahl Magnúsdóttir trompet, Hildur Guðnadóttir selló, Úlfur Eldjárn farfísa, Jóhann Jóhannsson.
Tekið upp í stúdíó Rusli 2000.
Útgefandi: Japis.
Platan er styrkt af tónskáldasjóði FTT.

EINN dropi jólaplötuflóðsins 2000 er sólóplata Heiðu Eiríks. Þykir mér dropi þessi reyndar vera í stærra lagi og spái plötunni töluverðri athygli, jafnvel vinsældum. Ég myndi síður en svo lasta það ef platan yrði söluhá, því mér finnst hún standa undir öllum kröfum sem hægt er um gæði. Heiða er góður lagasmiður og textarnir eru alls ekki sem verstir. Fátt er hægt að finna að hljóðfæraleiknum og útsetningarnar eru hreint ágætar.

Lögin eru öll mjög frábrugðin hvert öðru og spanna stílbrigðin allt frá órafmagnaðri tilfinningasveiflu yfir í argasta pönk. Því er það rödd og söngstíll Heiðu sem heldur plötunni saman og gerir hana minna sundurleita. Reyndar er það svolítið erfitt að láta plötuna spilast í gegn, því lögin kalla svolítið á mismunandi stemmningar. Það getur til dæmis verið erfitt að vera kippt úr hugljúfu lagi í rokk og stuð. Þetta ætti þó að vera hægt að leysa með því að búa til sína eigin lagaröð á geislaspilaranum. Veislur held ég þó að séu hvað bestur vettvangur fyrir plötuna, því þá geta gestirnir dansað og hvílt sig á víxl. Hún hefur nefnilega á sér allsterkar stuð-hliðar.

Heiða sýnir það og sannar hér með að hún er mikil söngkona. Hún hefur breitt raddsvið sem hér nýtur sín vel. Raddanirnar eru flottar og laglínurnar hæfa rödd hennar fullkomlega, svo útkoman verður áreynslulaus og beint frá hjartanu. Helsta aðalsmerki plötunnar er enda að mínu mati söngurinn.

Í mörgum laganna má heyra andblæ sem minnir á Unun forðum, sem er bara gott og blessað, en önnur og fersk áhrif eru einnig áberandi í þessu stórgóða framlagi Heiðu. Það er eiginlega ófært að fara að tíunda hvaða lög eru best og hvaða lög eru síðri á plötunni. Ég tel það verði að vera hausverkur hvers og eins sem á hana hlýðir. Lögin eru einfaldlega öll góð, en bara svo frábrugðin hvert öðru, svo eðlilega falla þau misjafnlega að smekk manna. Lagið sem mér féll þó best, svona eftir nokkuð skamman áheyrnartíma, er alveg örugglega lag númer þrjú ,,103 mars", sem er fallegt dægurlag í mjög smekklegri órafmagnaðri útgáfu. Einnig finnst mér textinn við það vera sá besti á plötunni. Laglínan er svolítið skemmtilega skandinavísk einhvern veginn, minnir jafnvel á sænska söngvaskáldið Kornelis Vresvik og hans líka.

Algjörlega ófært reynist mér aftur á móti að finna dæmi um slæmt lag á plötunni. Lögin hafa einfaldlega eitthvað við sig sem gerir að verkum að manni getur ekki fundist þau vond, jafnvel þó svo að manni líki þau ekki beinlínis, svona í fljótu bragði. Platan verður svo aftur betri við hverja hlustun.

Eftir þennan mikla lofsöng er vægast sagt nauðsynlegt að taka fram að verkefnið er stórt. Um það bil tuttugu manns koma að plötunni með einum eða öðrum hætti. Það er ótvírætt mönnum til sæmdar að vera bendlaðir við þessa plötu.

Mér finnst nýjasta framlag Heiðu til íslensks tónlistarlífs vera nokkuð frumlegt. Þá á ég ekki við frumlegt í þeim skilningi að verið sé að skapa nýjan stíl - enda er margt sígilt í lögunum - heldur er platan skemmtilega á skjön við þá íslensku tónlist sem hvað mest hefur verið hampað fyrir frumleika síðustu misseri. Þetta gerir það að verkum að hún er mjög hressandi tilbreyting. Það er í mínum eyrum að minnsta kosti.

Ólöf Helga Einarsdóttir

MBL

More Live @ NY Photographs by Lára

All Photographs by
Lára Lilliendahl Magnúsdóttir