Reykjavík Grapevine - 05.12.2014, Side 23

Reykjavík Grapevine - 05.12.2014, Side 23
An Anthology of the Writings of the Novelist, Essayist, and Humorist Thórbergur Thórdarson Translated by HALLBERG HALLMUNDSSON and JULIAN MELDON D’ARCY Of Icelandic Nobles & Idiot Savants Reykjavík 2014 Also published by BRÚ: The funniest chapters from the writ- ings of Mr. Thórdarson, along with the most daring, as for example his letter to a Nazi from the year 1933. The Poetry of Egill Skallagrímsson, Hallgrímur Pét urs son, Jónas Hall- grímsson, Stephan G. Stephans- son, Einar Benediksson, Davíð Stefánsson, Tómas Guðmundsson, Jón Dan, Kristján frá Djúpalæk, Jón úr Vör, Einar Bragi, Ragnar Ingi Aðalsteinsson, Sigurður Pálsson, Steinunn Sigurðardóttir, Ísak Harðarson, Jónas Þorbjarnarson and many more. Of Icelandic Nobles is 217 pages and Potpourri is 243 pages Translations and biographies by Hallberg Hallmundsson Of Icelandic Nobles & Idiot Savants An Anthology of the Writings of the Novelist, Essayist, and Humorist Thórbergur Thórdarson Translated by Hallberg Hallmundsson and Julian Meldon D'Arcy Distributed by Forlagið – JPV. The books are available in all of the bigger bookshops A Potpourri of Icelandic Poetry Through Eleven Hundred Years Amtmannsstíg 1 • 101 Reykjavík • +354 561 3303 • www.torfan.is experience classical cuisine and Jaako Eino Kalevi’s energetic per- formances, but they weren’t the best. It is very tempting to nominate Future Islands or The Flaming Lips as the best—after all, they were two of the headlining acts and had a deeply emotional impact on me, with the former absolutely gutting me, and the latter being such a grand blues-buster that my face still hurts from smiling. It would be easy to pick them, but the “BEST THING I SAW” was clearly Girl Band. No, they aren’t the Irish Spice Girls, they are a four-part smack-in-the-face noise post-punk outfit that excel at sub- verting your expectations and rocking the fuck out! They are the real deal and you should go see them play, both because they’re really good, and also because there’s not much to watch or listen to on- line, as these bloody wankers still haven’t released anything more than a single 7”... Moments Chris D’Alessandro This is a query that I find daunting, frustrat- ing, and unanswerable and I don't think I'll answer it with the typical expected expla- nation of "Flaming Lips put on the best fucking show holy fucking dog dicks, Fuck yeah Iceland!" Nah, I think I'll go a different route on this one, but it's no less genuine as I feel I could never narrow a festival spanning five blurry nights of dazed and confused magic into one favourite moment. It's never about just one occasion, or specifically one per- formance, it's a beautifully decorated cor- nucopia of good times with good people, with good music, with good vibes and a whole lot of liver punching with alcohol consumption. Some things are lost and forgotten in the hippocampus, which is a major com- ponent in the brain responsible for creat- ing new memories, both long-term and short-term, as well as spacial navigation, hence the swaying of drunkards to and fro as if the gravities of the world are tugging at them from every which angle. I may not remember everything exactly as it hap- pened, but looking back through my pho- tos I'm reminded of one particular beauty I saw at the Girl Band/Spray Paint show on Friday. Here it is in all of its glory: Behold, in all its free-flowing beauty! As a stereotypical hockey-loving Canadian, the best thing I saw at Iceland Airwaves 2014 was definitely this dude's hockey hair. Everyone, meet Kaarl Cårlsberg, he was drafted to the NHL in 2014 for having perfect hockey hair. His flow is impetuous and his defense is impregnable, his stick- handling with the biscuit (puck) is sub-par and his wrist shot is shit, but that doesn't matter when your hair looks this good... anyway players are often too completely distracted by his valiant flow to strip the puck off this rookie. Why was this my favorite Airwaves moment, you may ask in bewilderment? Because man, like Neil Young once said, Rock and roll is about micro moments, and if you don't appreciate this micro moment, than you don't appreciate rock and roll… You hoser. PS—His name isn't really Kaarl and he doesn't identify with hockey in any way, but he was a good sport about us snap- ping a photo of him, if you see him around give this dude a high five! fuckin' right bud. Selfie Valgerður Þóroddsdóttir The best thing I saw at Airwaves 2014 was when two blonde, teenaged Icelandic girls came up to 19-year-old Danish-Palestin- ian poet Yahya Hassan at a bar in down- town Reykjavík and asked if they could take a selfie with him. They said, "Excuse me, I know this is weird but we love your poetry." I have never seen anyone act like that around a poet before in my life. Long live the revolution. Vintage John Rogers Well, this was a "vintage Airwaves" in my opinion, although I seem to say the same thing every year. The headliners didn't disappoint, although the programming of Future Islands against The Knife did. Having chosen Future Islands, I was duly blown away by their odd, intense, emo- tional, theatrical pop music. The only thing that hit quite the same peaks for me personally was Ghostig- ital—a king of improv-electronic-punk band that whip up a storm of energy, and seem indefatigably creative. From the new Icelandic crop, M-Band's tenor vocals and atmospheric soundscapes seemed to shine particularly brightly. 23The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 18 — 2014 MUSIC

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