Hello. My name is Magnus, I hail from Iceland and have recently joined this blog, intending to post my musings on various artists whom I'm busy discovering or want you to discover. I might tend to pull out of my bag various stuff relating to Icelandic alternative scene, old and new, but first off I'd like to mention a guy I met the other day who deserves notice.
Attending the New England Popfest last week I came a day too late and walked into the middle of The Smittens' program on the second evening. I can't say I noticed too much of it, I was too busy being overwhelmed by actually being there to notice much that was going on. What I did notice though was this immensely cheerful guy playing guitar whom I realized had to be Colin Clary wearing one of the sweaters he's famous for, or perhaps The Sweater. Everywhere I've looked for new Indie-pop to discover I have come across this name and sometimes mentions of sweaters, which he apparently refuses to take off. This evening and the next he was there, positively beaming with happiness pretty much all the time, obviously very much in love with listening to music, and playing it.
Colin plays in many bands, apart from playing with The Smittens on friday evening at the Popfest, he also had another project going on the third evening, and I had the pleasure of catching the whole set of Colin Clary and the Magogs on the saturday night. They did not dissapoint and if you haven't seen them playing that should be next on your schedule.
He also has a solo album out on Asarus Records, clothed in a sweater and a shirt, complete with a little breast pocket on the shirt for stuffing the sleeve notes in, and a badge.
Colin Clary and the Magogs - The Shape Of This Town mp3
Colin Clary and the Magogs - The Shape Of This Town video - .mov file 17,1 MB
The Smittens' cheerful song about their native homeland - I Hate Vermont
Colin Clary - The Engine Light's Always On
I liked that track as much as I liked the cover. Another record to add to the list/