Hlynur Gudjonsson – Death Was A Stranger EP
Gold and Silver Recordings 2009
Listen while reading:
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The Death Was A Stranger EP is the last release I’m reviewing from Gold and Silver Recordings – for now! And again it’s Hlynur Gudjonsson who can call this record his own. I’ll try to keep this short because I think you all have heard the name of him if you have read something on this blog in the last days.
The EP features four tracks whereas one is a re-recording of a track Hlynur performed live and which you can hear at the Live At Folk artNOW! album. The other three tracks are EP exclusive and two of them are accompanied by Haruko which provides additional guitar and singing. I think it is justified to rather speak of a mini album than of an EP because you got such a nice composition of the different tracks.
Hlynur Gudjonsson and Haruko
Even if all songs are sad and slow Hlynur obtains a vast differentiation – every track got its own mood and history. The different melodies, the use of a second acoustic guitar and Haruko’s voice are the keys to reach this goal. But underneath the surface the tracks stay simple and intimate and never lose the character of great country influenced singer-songwriter folk.
The sound of the EP is clean and not as raw as Hlynurs other releases, but this doesn’t mean it is better or worse because of this fact. It’s just different and I would say that it was good choice to do it this way. Hlynur’s voice did not change – it is still very doleful and emotional but I think it sounds a bit more dryly…or maybe more edged…or a bit more distant, however.
If you want a copy of the Death Was A Stranger EP, you have to visit one of his shows, because it’s a Tour EP only. But if you can’t come to one of his gigs, contact him if you really, really want to hear the music. Once you got it you won’t, you can’t be disappointed if you like sad acoustic folk. Visit Hlynurs MySpace site, his personal website and the label page of Gold and Silver Recordings for more information and stream the whole EP at Last.fm.
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Catalog:
GS-003: Hlynur Gudjonsson – Death Was A Stranger EP
GS-FREE-002: Haruko – Live EP
GS-FREE-001: Haruko & Hlynur Gudjonsson – Stable Session EP
GS-002: Itai Faierman/Hlynur Gudjonsson – Split EP
GS-001: Hlynur Gudjonsson – Live at Folk artNOW!
[...] This weekend was one of the best I ever had so far because I had the opportunity to see Haruko and Hlynur Gudjonsson live. On Friday they played a show at the Exil in Chemnitz/Germany and I for myself was more exited than ever. They started to play some songs together and than alternated playing their solo tracks whereby both of them played new material as well as tracks from their current releases (Haruko’s Wild Geese and Live EP and Hlynur Gudjonsson’s Death Was A Stranger EP). [...]
[...] Wild Geese and Hlynur Gudjonsson’s Nashville Sky Pt. 2 from the great Death Was A Stranger EP (reviewed here). Where Haruko’s voice is ethereal and her guitar play lulling, Hlynur Gudjonsson’s is dark, [...]