Lögberg-Heimskringla - 01.03.2009, Page 7

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Lögberg-Heimskringla • 1. mars 2009 • 7
Just tíu dropar, please!
Nelson Gerrard
Icelanders on both sides of the ocean are famous for their love of coffee, and
even today the word coffee
is virtually synonymous with
Icelandic hospitality – a deep-
ly-rooted tradition brought to
North America by our immi-
grant ancestors more than a
century ago.
Another inseparable aspect
of Icelandic culture is a sense
of history, and a new blend of
custom-roasted coffee, ‘Icelan-
dic River Roast: Tíu Dropar’,
celebrates both our history and
our tradition of hospitality.
Roasted fresh every month,
this delicious blend of organic,
fair trade coffee is packaged
by the pound with a unique la-
bel featuring a vintage, apron-
clad, pioneer amma with cof-
fee pot in one hand and cup
and saucer in the other. The
back label includes an explana-
tion of the phrase “tíu dropar”,
which translates as “ten drops”
and is a standard Icelandic re-
quest for “just a little more…”
Icelandic River Roast can be
made as strong or weak as you
like, but this carefully crafted
blend emphasizes the deli-
cious nutty coffee flavour of
a medium roast - a refreshing
change from dark roasts which
tend to overpower the unique
bean flavours from around the
world.
Icelandic River Roast’s his-
torical connections go beyond
the label. Created as a celebra-
tion of our Icelandic pioneer
heritage and as a fundraiser for
Icelandic River Heritage Sites,
this coffee not only offers a
taste-trip back to the kitchen
tables of yesteryear, it supports
ongoing work to preserve his-
tory and bring our heritage to
life for present and future gen-
erations. Included in the cost
of each pound is a small dona-
tion – a win-win initiative, as
you enjoy delicious high-qual-
ity coffee while supporting
important heritage projects. A
simple way to pitch in and lend
a hand, this initiative also pres-
ents an opportunity to bypass
the corporations who increas-
ingly control world markets.
There are obviously cheaper
(and less tasty) brands, but
none of them locally roasted,
organic, fair trade coffee that
supports not only producers,
but our Icelandic heritage at a
grassroots level.
To inquire about Icelandic
River Roast: Tíu Dropar, visit
the Icelandic River Heritage
Sites website: www.icelandi-
criver.com or phone Nelson at
204-378-2758, Wanda at 204-
378-2482, or Harley at 204-
254-2691.
PHoto courtesy nelson gerrard
You will ask for more than ten drops of the coffee.
New Jóhannsson album remarkable, cinematic
Icelandic composer Johann Jóhannsson’s latest release Fordlândia could easily be
the soundtrack to a film. The
film’s genre? Definitely drama…
but with several seemingly unre-
lated storylines.
Fordlândia is the second en-
try in a purported trilogy by the
Icelandic sound wizard, a trio
of records inspired by Ameri-
can technology and iconic brand
names.
The first, entitled IBM 1401:
a User’s Manual and released in
2006, was a conceptual album
based on a recording Jóhanns-
son’s father made on the titular
computer 30 years ago.
This time around Jóhanns-
son’s creative stimuli were
stirred by the story of Henry
Ford’s failed (and kinda shock-
ing!) attempt at establishing a
civilized town in the heart of
the Amazon. This hamlet, built
in the 1920s, produced rubber
and featured a hamburger joint,
white picket fences, and, oh
yeah, no alcohol or cigarettes.
Slowly, the native workers re-
jected this town and its strange
food/housing/rules, often refus-
ing to work until eventually their
extreme dislike escalated into ri-
oting. Ford’s rubber farming ex-
periment came to a tumultuous
end. To this day, remnants of
the idealized town can be seen
in Brazil; but nature, clearly ap-
palled, is tirelessly working to
erase man’s mark.
The thematic focus of the al-
bum though isn’t entirely on na-
ture’s slow recovery from man’s
quick devastation. For further
inspiration, Jóhannsson also
draws upon mythology (chime-
ras, the death of the god Pan)
and physics (a research paper
on quantum theory, and the sci-
entific exploits of rocket builder
John Whiteside Parsons). What
mythology, physics, and Henry
Ford/nature have in common
isn’t immediately clear; in the
end, it’s the music brought out
by these sundry muses that mat-
ters most.
Album opener “Fordlândia,”
clocks in at 15 minutes plus, and
is pretty much what you’d ex-
pect from the talented Icelander:
it is orchestral in its instrumen-
tal grandness, unhurried and just
plain gorgeous. This flows nice-
ly into “Melodia (i),” a short,
emotion-stirring number built
around a lovely clarinet melody.
For track three “The Rocket
Builder (Lo Pan!),” Jóhanns-
son reverts back to the crawl-
ing expansiveness of the album
opener before shifting again to
a short, melodic piece “Melo-
dia (ii).” This cycle of dreamy
and epic / pithy and melodic re-
peats five times, until the finale
“How We Left Fordlândia,” a 15
minutes composition that builds
and builds into a stunning cre-
scendo.
In the end, Fordlândia is an-
other remarkable achievement
for the Icelandic composer. It’s
beautiful, thought-provoking
and unabashedly cinematic.
And after archaic computers
and Henry Ford’s failed vision,
I can’t begin to imagine what
Jóhannsson will turn to next for
inspiration.
* * *
ITEM! Iceland will be well
represented at this year’s South
by Southwest festival in Texas,
one of the United States larg-
est music celebrations. The
sounds of Núna festival alumni
Sprengjuhöllin as well as Steed
Lord, Benny Crespo’s Gang,
and Bloodgroup will all be
showcased.
Mykael Sopher is a fifth gen-
eration Canadian of Icelandic
descent on his father’s side. If
there is anything related to Ice-
landic music you wish to bring
to his attention, feel free to email
him at: soundingicelandic@
gmail.com.
by Lillian Vilborg
Harðfiskur & Skyr
Direct and intelligent,
Lillian Vilborg’s editorials
for the Lögberg-Heimskringla
illustrate her passion for her
Icelandic heritage. Her writing
reflects her broad range of
interests, her compassion and
her commitment to family,
friends and Icelanders
around the world.
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