KK (his full name is Kristján Kristjánsson, and his initials are pronounced "cow cow") is an Icelandic singer-songwriter whose music I first encountered entirely by chance during a boat trip in Reykjavík harbor a few years ago. I picked up some CDs while I was there and managed to obtain another after I got home, but his records aren't exactly easy to obtain in the US (though as it happens, he was born in Minnesota). The three songs below are from a 2008 album called Svona eru menn. I speak no Icelandic so don't ask me what any of the lyrics mean, but I really don't care; I could listen to this music all night (and I just may). One of these years I may even get my hands on a copy.
Update: Svona eru menn can be downloaded from IcelandicMusic.com. The CD seems to be essentially impossible to locate.
Earlier post: Reykjavík Blues
3 comments:
Interesting, esp. with the first song, to hear music that's obviously original but immediately feels familiar. (I mean that as a good thing.) It seems to me I've heard that song before (as the song says), but I know I haven't.
The first one reminds me a bit of Dylan, I think. He's very well versed in American and other pop and folk music. That's actually how I came across him; he and a musical partner have done several CDs of Icelandic versions of old chestnuts. I heard a voice singing what were obviously songs I knew but with lyrics I couldn't understand.
Yes, very much like Dylan. It sounded a little Cajun to me too.
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