7 essential recordings by Hildur Guðnadóttir, the first Icelander to win an Oscar

Iceland composer and cellist Hildur Guðnadóttir got the 2020 Oscar for Best Original Score, making her the fourth woman composer to win overall, the first to win for a dramatic score, and the first Icelander to win any Oscar. She makes modern classical musical - "a moving fusion of ambient drone and contemporary classical that places an emphasis on exceptionally controlled tone", as Pitchfork describes it before they choose 7 of her essential tracks. There's some interesting music there: Mr. Schmuck's Farm - her project with Schneider TM, improvised electronics with scraping cellos sounds; on her second album 'Without Sinking' she improvises with layers of sound; on her project with Berlin pianist Hauschka they composed tracks inspired by colors; on her album 'Saman' (meaning "together"), she added her crystalline voice; she has done impressive work on the soundtrack for HBO series 'Chernobyl', haunting from a distance; her score for 'Joker' is special - she began composing before filming even started, an unusual practice, with director Todd Phillips and main actor Joaquin Phoenix using her music for inspiration; her latest track is 'Fólk fær andlit' ("people have faces"), released late January, about the (mis)treatment of immigrants on Iceland.