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Dissonant Landscapes: Music, Nature, and the Performance of Iceland
Listening to the dissonances of nature and nationhood in modern Iceland
During the past three decades, Iceland has attained a strong presence in the world through its musical culture, with images of the nation being packaged and shipped out in melodies, harmonies, and rhythms. What 'Iceland' means for people, both at home and abroad, is conditioned by music and its ability to animate notions of nature and nationality. In six chapters that range from discussions of indie rock ballads to 'Nordic noir' television music, Dissonant Landscapes describes the capacity of musical expression to transform ideas about nature and nationality on the northern edges of Europe.
During the past three decades, Iceland has attained a strong presence in the world through its musical culture, with images of the nation being packaged and shipped out in melodies, harmonies, and rhythms. What 'Iceland' means for people, both at home and abroad, is conditioned by music and its ability to animate notions of nature and nationality. In six chapters that range from discussions of indie rock ballads to 'Nordic noir' television music, Dissonant Landscapes describes the capacity of musical expression to transform ideas about nature and nationality on the northern edges of Europe.
- GenresMusic
216 pages, Paperback
Published June 6, 2023
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January 17, 2025
Interesting look at how the Icelandic landscape has been positioned as intrinsically tied to the music created by its people, both internally as a form of nation building following decolonization and the 2008 economic crash, and outwardly to market the Icelandic tourism trade.
Super specific convergence of a lot of my interests. Ngl, my love of experimental music and many of the acts that have emerged from Iceland was one of the primary drives behind my 2022 post-graduation visit to the island (the other being knitting and Icelandic Lopi wool lol). Was interesting to reflect on my own perceptions as they relate in the greater context of modern history, and prior familiarity with much of the music discussed made the book easy for me to digest. The ideas brought up also reminded me of the ideas of pastoralism that have stuck with me so much after reading The Machine in the Garden by Leo Marx, albeit applied to a non-American context.
However, the biggest thing that stood out to me was how well written this was for an academic work. Picked this book up as pleasure reading while I still have staff access to UPenn's library holdings during my internship there, and as someone who primarily reads academic non-fiction for fun, I was very pleasantly surprised lol.
Super specific convergence of a lot of my interests. Ngl, my love of experimental music and many of the acts that have emerged from Iceland was one of the primary drives behind my 2022 post-graduation visit to the island (the other being knitting and Icelandic Lopi wool lol). Was interesting to reflect on my own perceptions as they relate in the greater context of modern history, and prior familiarity with much of the music discussed made the book easy for me to digest. The ideas brought up also reminded me of the ideas of pastoralism that have stuck with me so much after reading The Machine in the Garden by Leo Marx, albeit applied to a non-American context.
However, the biggest thing that stood out to me was how well written this was for an academic work. Picked this book up as pleasure reading while I still have staff access to UPenn's library holdings during my internship there, and as someone who primarily reads academic non-fiction for fun, I was very pleasantly surprised lol.
Displaying 1 of 1 review