Dissonant Landscapes

Listening to the dissonances of nature and nationhood in modern IcelandDuring the past three decades, Iceland has attained a strong presence in the world through its musicalculture, with images of the nation being packaged and shipped out in melodies, harmonies, andrhythms. What 'Iceland' means for people, both at home and abroad, is conditioned by music and itsability to animate notions of nature and nationality. In six chapters that range from discussions ofindie rock ballads to 'Nordic noir' television music, Dissonant Landscapes: Music, Nature, and thePerformance of Iceland describes the capacity of musical expression to transform ideas about natureand nationality on the northern edges of Europe."Dissonant Landscapes takes discussions of nature and the musical imagination to a new level ofsophistication. With Iceland as the crucible of his investigations, Størvold shows how environmentalawareness has infiltrated musical practices that evade easy categorization, but have almost unlimitedpotential to motivate listeners towards action."–John Richardson, author of An Eye for Music: Popular Music and the Audiovisual SurrealTORE STØRVOLD (Trondheim, Norway) is associate professor of music at the Norwegian University ofScience and Technology.