Smekkleysa SM / BadTaste SM

Smekkleysa has a new page on Facebook!  With a huge percentage of the world actively on facebook, we decided that we needed a page where we could convey information to you quickly and accurately.  Please become a fan of us at: http://www.facebook.com/smekkleysa.plotubud?ref=ts

Sigur Rós are playing at Laugardalshöll in Reykjavík on November 23rd as a four-piece for the first time in Iceland in many years. It will be the last show for their current world
tour.

Tickets are on presale now here and will be there until the general sale starts Nov 4th at 10am GMT.

http://www.smekkleysa.net/shop/sigur-ros

Björk releases a new single “Náttúra” through One Little Indian on October 20. The single will be initially available on iTunes  and in Iceland where it is available from Nattura.info; then everywhere digitally on October 27. All proceeds from the track will go towards the Nattura Campaign (www.nattura.info).

The single is now available and we have also setup donation page for the Náttúra Campaign.

The single was composed specifically to encourage active support for the Nattura campaign, which aims at collating and providing sustainable and eco-friendly options suitable for Iceland, and generating alternative ways to utilize it’s natural resources. People will be able to submit their ideas on the website for sustainable green workplaces for Icelanders. According to Björk, “It is now more important than ever before to emphasize a respect for nature…I believe that profits, technological advances and working together with nature can all go hand in hand. None need to be sacrificed at the expense of the others.”

The new single is written and produced by Björk and features Radiohead’s Thom Yorke on backing vocals, Brian Chippendale (Lighting Bolt) on drums, Matthew Herbert on synth/bass, and Mark Bell on additional electronic beats. Opening with a huge elemental swirl, “Nattura” then fires up an incendiary and fierce tribal rhythm. The song sees Björk firmly on the march in celebration of her homeland, in hopes that Icelanders harness its energy in a sustainable way.
For more information on the single and the Náttúra Environmental Campaign please visit www.nattura.info or www.bjork.com.

Further to this there will be a massive conference on sustainability in Reykjavik, hosted by nattura.info and the University of Reykjavik as can bee seen in this statement:

Working meeting on alternative ways to utilize natural and human resources in a self-sustainable ways

For some years, various attempts have been made around the country to find ways to utilize natural and human resources other than those employed by large scale industry. These innovative attempts have led to a greater variety of options and have helped to increase Icelanders’ personal accountability for their own landscape. Yet, for various reasons little heed has been paid to these attempts and there has rarely been sufficient follow-up to many of the ideas that have been forwarded. There has been a sharp division between promising plans and their entrepreneurial implementation on the one hand and between
investments and the networks that serve to generate them on the other. In these difficult times, when people are desperately trying to find alternatives to the excesses of large-scale industry, we must a way erect bridges between unlike areas of interest.

Björk Guðmundsdóttir’s new song, Náttúra, composed especially to encourage active support for a more environmental approach to Iceland’s natural resources than those suggested by parties who are aloof and blind to the consequences of their actions, will be heard for the first time on Icelandic National Radio (RÚV) and sold on the internet náttúra.info. Thom Yorke of Radiohead assisted Björk with the production  of Náttúra and there is bound to be considerable international response to the song.

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Sigur Rós will release their fifth LP “Með Suð Í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust” on June 23rd. We will have it available for you at the Smekkleysa webshop at http://www.smekkleysa.net and also at our shop on Laugavegur in Reykjavík. A live stream of this gorgeous new album is available now through the Sigur Rós MySpace page.

“Með Suð Í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust” was co-produced with the band by renowned producer flood, and was recorded in New York City (at Sear Sound Studios), London (at Assault and Battery Studios and Abbey Road), Reykjavík (at Álafoss, the band’s studio, as well as a church in Reykjavík), and Havana, Cuba.

The album title translates into english as “With A Buzz In Our Ears We Play Endlessly.”

This is the first album in the band’s career to be made outside of Iceland. It is also their first album to feature vocalist Jónsi’s vocals in English on one track. In addition to the English, one of the album’s tracks is sung without lyrics and the rest of the tracks are sung in Icelandic.

We are all very excited for this album’s release. To pass the time until June 23rd, be sure to see the rest of the amazing Sigur Rós catalogue at our webshop!

    We are are heading out to Belgium for a Massive one day festival at Bozar Art Centre. Make shure that you can be there on the 30th of April. EDGY EVENING of BAD TASTE The art scene in Iceland is notorious for a diversity and eclecticism that has led many to think that all Icelanders are mad. Judge for yourself at the EDGY EVENING of BAD TASTE where musicians, poets and artists from every nook and cranny of Iceland will be at their most kooky and uncanny. Collaborations of unexpected proportions will ensue followed by a DJ-set until dawn or until everyone is dead, whichever comes first. Icelandic artists strongly dislike being pigeonholed, so here is a cursory glance at what each one of them does. And the artists performing:

Ásdís Sif

Byrkir

DJ Magic

Ghostigital

Eiríkur Örn Norðdahl

Finnbogi Pétursson

Helmus und Dalli

Hrafnkell Sigurðsson

Ingibjörg Magnadóttir

Lay Low

kimono

Kristín Svava Tómasdóttir

Radium

Ragnar Kjartansson

Retrön

riceboy sleeps

Sjón

Steintryggur

Stilluppsteypa

Technowitch

Örvar Þóreyjarson Smárason

We have done a small myspace!

Our online shop has nearly all of our catalogue plus many more titles. Some of our titles are also availble as CD release with the option of downloading the album while it arrives in the post. How instant is that!