Day 2. Up and out! i think i was probably the first customer of the day in the bad taste record shop. I was on a mission.. i bought the CD 'Raddir' I had been trying to get back in the UK, it's a compilation of old recordings of people singing folk music - including Rimur. Rimur is a kind of icelandic poetry, which is sung or chanted. You can read more about it on the website of icelandic writer and poet Andri Magnason. I asked if there were more Rimur CD's and bought another by Steindor Anderson, who has recently collaborated with the band Sigur Ros. I went off to the Tourist information centre to see if i could find out anymore about Steindor and the folk music of Iceland. a few steps out of the Tourist office I got a call from Steinunn at the State radio RUV, she invited me for lunch and suggested we called a few people about interviews. We were in luck, Glaciologist Oddur Sigurdsson from the icelandic meteorological office was available, so I walked over to meet him and had a fascinating interview. He measures the rate the glaciers melt. He had a lot to say about the sound of glaciers too and told me about a very dark and melancholic icelandic lullaby which talks about the howl of the glaciers. It translates as 'Sleep long love mine' .
Back at the hotel i spoke to Steindor, and the folk music museum. more details on Rimur and the song 'sleep long love mine'. That evening I went over to Rikke's apartment for a party. It had been her birthday and her husband had recorded songs for her, that night he performed them. It was a really great evening. Towards the end the remaining guests sung a version of 'Sleep long love mine' which I recorded. Rikke's niece told me more about it's melancholic origins.... very sad!
