hildur ingveldardóttir gudnadóttir:

she has been around in the core of the neu-icelandic music scene for the past years, and is a prominent figure within the group. she has worked with various artists such as múm, skúli sverrisson, pan sonic, jóhann jóhannsson, schneider tm, angel, stilluppsteypa and is also a member of few bands, most noticeable nix noltes big band, which plays a great blend of bulgarian and balkan music, with some 'sonically dirty spices' as one once put it.these spices must be doing her some good, for she's very active on any side; she's composed quite a lot for various instrumental arrangements, made music for film, theatre and dance projects, played around with electronica as well as making sound-installations and sound-related happenings. her first solo album as "lost in hildurness" was released by 12 tónar 2006.

stilluppsteypa:

"foreigners think we're fighting or cursing," once muttered heimir bjorgulfsson, the former spokesman for the icelandic expatriated ensemble stilluppsteypa. since the departure of heimir to the world of fine arts in la the axe was swinged again by sigtryggur berg sigmarsson and helgi thorsson, both now living in iceland. stilluppsteypa have unleashed well over a dozen releases in their tumultuous existence of electro-absurdism laced with subversion, black humour, and horror.

bj nilsen:

bj nilsen is a sound and recording artist, who lives and works in stockholm, sweden. for the past 9 years he has been releasing records as hazard on the uk label ash international and also as bjnilsen on touch. his work focusses primarily on the sound of nature and its effect on humans, field recordings and the perception of time and space as experienced through sound, often electronically treated.

Nilsen and Stilluppsteypa put together two releases in the past, both centered thematically around alcohol abuse and a common dark Nordic background. Here they have added cellist Gudnadóttir, whose familiarity with somber folk traditions, particularly Balkan (as with guest features for Pan Sonic, Skúli Sverrisson, or múm) underpin this set of haunting, quietly evocative pieces. By reading the title, you'd await a brighter theme, yet the air of loss and longing is still present, equally moving.

The cello parts are at the core, and, perhaps like a good mother, Gudnadóttir oversees her children's playing with whatever she decides to throw around. But they all remain from Nordic countries so they don't speak much - "sparse", "minimal" and "atmospheric" should be their favourite three words. Oh, and "subconscious" too. Sure to invite the personal, poignant response in any careful listener, this is drone with a heart and an eye on the eternal, and the finite at the same time. Best enjoyed in a fetal position. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.