With a population of around 320,000, Iceland has managed to turn out a surprising amount of amazing musicians. Some say that the beautiful and bleak landscapes help inspire a sound that is both unique and captivating, while others make mention to the fact that as a small community, artists aren’t afraid to go all out with their music. Whatever the reason,  many good acts have come out of Iceland, including some really great bands with post-rock influences.

Sigur Rós

If you’ve heard of one Icelandic post-rock band, it’s probably Sigur Rós.  Though now on hiatus, Sigur Rós has made a huge splash around the world with their ambient and etheral sounds, lead with Jónsi Birgisson’s distinctive and charming falsetto voice. With their album Ágætis byrjun gaining them international praise, they have since released 3 more albums, along with multiple EPs, live albums and compilations.

 

Amiina

 

Amiina began as a classical string quartet, working with Sigur Rós in their string compositions. After the release of their first full album Kurr, along with the hiatus of Sigur Rós, Amiina began their first solo tour in Europe and North America. They have elements from all across the board present, including contemporary classical, post-rock and ambience, intertwined with sampling and electronic loops to make a sound both interesting and beautiful.

 

Ólafur Arnalds

Ólafur Arnalds is an Icelandic pianist and composer who I’ve mentioned before in this column. Arnalds began his musical career as a drummer for multiple hardcore bands, but now plays music both peaceful and poppy. His melodic piano loops along with strings and rock instrumentation creates compositions that, though simple in construction, are rich in sound and atmosphere.

 

Jóhann Jóhannsson 

Jóhann Jóhannsson is and Icelandic minimalist composer from Reykjavík, Iceland. Jóhannsson’s pieces are intermingled with elements of minimalism and ambience, blending in samples and post-rock elements to create some magnificent and monolithic compositions. He has released 8 albums, and worked with numerous film and stage performances.

 

For A Minor Reflection

The four-piece For A Minor Reflection is an instrumental post-rock band reminiscent of bands like Explosions in the Sky and Mogwai. Though starting as a hard rock band and then a Pink Floyd cover band, they recorded an album of original post-rock material in 2007, and released a follow up album in 2010.

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