12 Tónar Treasure

Quite possibly the hippest record store in the universe. Located in an old house at Skólavörðustígur 15 in "downtown" Reykjavík, this humble establishment has been at the forefront of Icelandic music for years. I had previously stopped in in 2009 with Wim of I Heart Icelandic Music and Heiða of the Icelandic band Hellvar. Last week I returned and Johannes was still there, greeting me with hot coffee and all the latest in Icelandic music. One display had a group of hand-painted CD boxes with a home-made CD nestled on a bed of grass inside:

Needless to say, when I discovered that it was an EXTREMELY LIMITED* edition of the music for the National Theatre's adaptation of Sjálfstætt fólk (Halldór Laxness' Independent People) I snatched up the one with the most 'artistic' cover. The music is melancholy and spare; I found it to be most enjoyable (althogh the Weaver thought it to be almost unbearably sad), and was more than a little surprised (although I shouldn't have been) when I discovered that the composers were Högni Egilsson and Guðmundur Óskar Guðmundsson, of the group Hjaltalín. I last saw them playing with Páll Óskar at the 2009 Iceland Airwaves festival:


         Högni Egilsson                                                               Guðmundur Guðmundsson

*18 copies!