Categories
Live music galleries

Live music galleries: Of Monsters and Men [2012]

(I got the idea for this series while sifting through the ‘piles’ of digital photos on my laptop. It occurred to me to share some of these great pics from some of my favourite concert sets from time to time. Until I get around to the next one, I invite you to peruse my ever-growing list of concerts page.)

Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir of Of Monsters and Men

Artist: Of Monsters and Men
When: August 3rd, 2012
Where: Green stage, Osheaga Music and Arts Festival, Montreal
Context: When festival organizers scheduled Of Monsters and Men for the relatively small Green stage in the middle of the afternoon, they hadn’t really broken yet. By the time the festival rolled around, though, “Little talks” was pretty huge and the Icelandic indie folk collective drew a massive crowd, probably bigger than should have fit in that space. I had already been at that stage for a couple of sets and so had a pretty prime spot right near the front. The band was still pretty green and they were still finding their stage feet but the energy from the both the crowd and band was just awesome.
Point of reference song:
“Little talks”

Of Monsters and Men at Osheaga 2012
The other half of the stage for Of Monsters and Men, Osheaga 2012
Ragnar Þórhallsson of Of Monsters and Men
Brynjar Leifsson of Of Monsters and Men
Arnar Rósenkranz Hilmarsson of Of Monsters and Men
Ragnhildur Gunnarsdóttir and Árni Guðjónsson of Of Monsters and Men
Kristján Páll Kristjánsson of Of Monsters and Men
Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir and Ragnar Þórhallsson of Of Monsters and Men

*I started taking tons of photos at concerts in the days of my old blog, Music Insanity. I actually took down that blog in part because I was spending far too much time at shows taking pictures and jotting down notes for reviews and I wasn’t enjoying the music experience enough. Nowadays, I try to take to some good shots during the first few minutes and for the most part, put my camera and phone away for the rest of the set.

Categories
Vinyl

Vinyl love: Of Monsters And Men “My head is an animal”

(Vinyl Love is a series of posts that quite simply lists, describes, and displays the pieces in my growing vinyl collection. You can bet that each record was given a spin during the drafting of each corresponding post.)

Artist: Of Monsters And Men
Album Title: My head is an animal
Year released: 2011 (2012 in North America)
Details: Pink vinyl, 2 x LP, Gatefold

The skinny: The Icelandic indie pop/indie folk sextet scored a smash hit with this, their debut album, mostly on the back of the monstrous single, “Little talks” (see below). Their big sound, based on grand instrumentation and gang vocals, is infectious stuff and album is sold from side to side to side to side.

Standout track: “Little talks”