Bára Gísladóttir – HĪBER (2020, Iceland)
Our next spotlight is on number 921 on The List, submitted by mimo.
This utterly gorgeous album features eight electroacoustic pieces that explore texture, darkness, and the concept of hibernation through manipulation of the sounds Icelandic composer Bára Gísladóttir is able to coax out of her double bass. The album title comes from the classical Latin adjective hibernus, meaning “wintry”; Gísladóttir extends that meaning to describe a feeling that lasts longer than just a season, perhaps not surprising given the length of wintry weather in her home country. Two tracks in particular reference the state of the artist’s hands while sleeping/hibernating – during the process of recording the album, suddenly Gísladóttir could no longer sleep with her palms facing up (“her palms faced down forever after”), and sometimes would wake with them clenched into fists (“fists clenched”). A year after this album, those fists would publish the score for a song called “Rage against reply guy“,[1] and I think I’m in love.
- I can’t find Gísladóttir playing it, but here’s a cover. ↩︎
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