The ethereally-voiced, Tin Tin-haired Jonsi Birgisson arrives in Sydney today after helping close out an unforgettable four days of Splendour in the Grass last night.
For those holding out for his Sydney and Melbourne headline shows, you are in for a hypercolour entrancing cross-artform collaboration with 59 Productions, who have been called “the most exciting purveyors of video for theatre in the world”. They are responsible for projection design for multi-award winning Iraq war drama Black Watch, brand new projections for Les Miserables, as well as countless operas and theatre productions around the world.
The design for the show is partly physical and partly ephemeral, using a combination of set elements, animated projections, light, and shadows – which are synchronised with Jonsi’s euphoric tunes and ecstatic dancing.
The nature-themed projections continually morph… HD thunderstorms rage and flames flicker across a forest stage. Blue lakes pour out from the venue walls. Feathered sketches of wolves hunting deer, hummingbirds, and tumbling flowers float amongst his five piece band.
But truly, words can do this experience no justice. Watch the trailer of Jonsi’s live production (above) and head to jonsi.com for more live photos. While you’re there, download your free copy of Tornado from Jionsi’s debut solo album Go from jonsi.com/tornado.
I reckon it’s really important to travel. Whether its in a Rolls Royce or with a rucksack…
Travel gives you perspective and frees you up from the day-to-day. For me it gives me a kind of sense check of what you are doing, where you are going and what’s really important.
Even though I’m in my late 30’s… I am a hopeless case with spending at least part of my holidays on one (or many) of my favourite artists. There is always music involved. I can’t see that ever changing… Add in some of your favourite people in the world and I’m pretty damn contented.I’ve done most musical festivals in the world but for me, Coachella is the best and most intelligent. Goosebumps on multiple occasions. Hairs on arms standing up – check. Really – it’s that good.
Imagine, a dream line up… backdrop it with a lush green space in the middle of the California desert. Surround that with palm trees… Then back drop it with an intense mountain range. Cap it with some snow at the very top just off in the distance. Then add a picture-perfect blue sky and you are getting close. This is music lovers festival heaven.
At night the palm trees are underlit with different colored spotlights…and 5 massive Hollywood-style spotlights are planted around the parameters of the festival shooting into the sky and meeting up in the middle of the festival space. The sunset at the end of each day is something to behold as the sun rests for the night behind the mountains. And when the bands play, they play to a surrounding backdrop of palm trees or a hint of desert… it’s hard to explain in words but hope you are feelin’ me on how good it was. Although there were 60,000 people each day, it doesn’t feel suffocating or over-crowded. It’s clean and well-run. Yep. It’s pretty impressive. And if you believe in energies and spirits and those kind of otherworldly touchpoints… well I think it has all of that going on as well.
But most importantly, I have never seen so much incredible music and such a musically-forward line up as this year. I highly recommend it.
If you’ve not heard today’s incredible 10th anniversary Splendour In the Grass lineup, have you not a computer / radio / phone / ears / eyes????
OK so camping tickets are $450 (ouch), but we’ve done the math & it turns that makes each set $5.55… Five and half bucks to heard the new LCD album live!? The full lineup is below, with our favourite acts on the LHS. (Full disclosure, they’re all ours!)
Laura Marling Ltd Edn I Speak Because I Can CD/DVD with 5 free downloads, postcard artwork, and lyrics booklet
Jonsi blockmounted poster featuring Go album art
Operator Please signed 7″ vinyl of Logic / Logic (Dolby Anol Remix)
Ben Harper & Relentless7 signed blockmounted poster featuring White Lies… art
Gorillaz limited edition Plastic Beach CD/DVD
Hot Chip One Life Stand double gatefold vinyl
Goldfrapp Headfirst collector’s edition cassette
Just head to our sister store at theinsong.com/splendour, buy any of the singles or albums to receive competition details, and tell us in 25 words or less how you plan to warm up for Splendour.
So, this week we had the MGMT album leak (ed: it sounds like The Kinks to me) but let’s continue to dwell on their magical hit song that is Time To Pretend. That song has legs. Jónsi, my current musical fixation, gave me another reason to hit play over and over again when he did a cover of the song at BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge.
With its twinkling piano, it’s a bit chillier and bit more forlorn than the anthemic orginal.
Last year another favourite frontman going solo did a rather memorable cover of Time To Pretend. Paul Dempsey did a collection of covers on the Counterfeits and Forgeries bonus disc to Everything Is True. Like Jónsi’s, the tinge of regret and loneliness comes through on this one but set to forthright acoustic guitar.
Jónsi’s album Go is out next Friday. Paul Dempsey’s Everything Is True is specially priced over at iTunes and JB Hi Fi. And, you probably already have MGMT’s Oracular Spectacular.
Sometimes when I like a song soooo much, I have to ration my listening, lest I give myself overkill. Currently somewhere between uncontrollable high rotation and self-imposed limited rations is Jónsi’s newest single Go Do. It’s coming from the Sigur Rós’ lead singer’s upcoming solo album Go. The songs on Go are playful, energetic, dramatic and with the majority of lyrics in English, I can take a break from both my Icelandic and Hopelandic Language 101 studies.
Included on the Go Do EP released today over on iTunes, are album tracks Kolniður and Grow Till Tall. We have them streaming on the soundcloud for you to take a listen in all their glory. Jónsi also kindly shared the track Boy Lillikoi awhile back to introduce his solo work.
So there you go, your Friday listening sorted. Because once you hear Go Do you will likely need to listen again approximately every 15 minutes. Lather, rinse, repeat.
We have received word and sight of a new project from Jón Þór Birgisson, but the mystery is yet to unravel…
Head over to jonsi.com to preview 5 snippets from tracks (in English no less!) from the upcoming solo release. And if that doesn’t sate your appetite, sign up to his mailing list to receive a free mp3 of Boy Lilikoi.
For those of you unacquainted with the ethereal mews of Jónsi, he is the voice behind Icelandic heart-melters, Sigur Ros and recent side project Jonsi and Alex.
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