Reykjavík Grapevine - 11.03.2005, Qupperneq 28

The rock-band “5ta herdeildin” (The 5th
Column) has just returned home after
marching on Moscow.
Internet sites that deal with Icelandic rock
usually describe 5ta herdeildin as a folk band
that performs melodies based on Icelandic
and foreign folk tunes. But Gísli Magnússon,
the band commander and his three fellow
musicians would hardly agree with such a
description: 5ta herdeildin used to be a folk
band, but things have changed. Though a part
of the band’s repertoire is light-minded dance
tunes, one would not recognize any influences
from ethnic music in them. Both the music
and the texts are written by the members of
the band; the texts are mostly satirical. The
members of the band have some experience of
participating in other projects: Hermann, the
drummer, once played banjo for the rock band
“Ríkið” (The State), now dismissed, and Loftur
(the bass player) also plays in the well-known
punk-hard core band “DYS”, led by Siggi
Punk.
Katyusha Takes Off
The first concert took place on the 4th of
March at a small club in the centre of Moscow.
It’s name is “Kitajskyj letchik Jao Da” (The
Chinese Pilot Jao Da) is popular among fans
of modern rock music. The second concert
took place the next day at the movie-house
“35 mm”; the house was packed. Though
only those of the audience familiar with the
Icelandic language could understand the texts,
the music told its own tale. 5ta herdeildin
performed songs from their latest album “Áður
óutgefið efni” (Previously Unreleased Material)
and some still unreleased. At their second
concert the musicians took the audience by
surprise by performing the well-known Russian
folk song “Katyusha”.
The Right Place at the Right Time
Actually, it was not the band’s first trip to
Russia: in 2003 5ta herdeildin got a chance to
take part in the international folk song festival
“SKIF-7” in Saint Petersburg. Loftur the bass
player says: “Unnur Andrea, the girl in our
band had somehow found out that there was no
Icelandic band represented at this festival, so
we were allowed to participate. All we needed
was to be in the right place by the right time.”
At present, 5ta herdeildin are working on their
new album; it is due to come out in the end of
this year or at the beginning of the next.
by Olga Markelova
5th Column Takes Moscow
Random Poem
Hollywood
By Sóley Jónsdóttir
a valley of dark lights rising, unhinged
you’re rummaging through the kitchen
drawers
asking yourself where you put it
and where that music is coming from
night after night
misting its way through the walls, floor
and ceiling
slowly, like coal gas, and your coughs
taste sour
“my aunt, my dad’s oldest sister,
she had so many photo albums they filled
this huge bookcase
each shelf two-album’s deep
but they were covered with dust and if we
went anywhere near them
she’d really let us have it”
your hand resting
on the stack of forks for the second time
you forget what you were even looking for
distracted by the lights in the valley,
wavering
and dying at dawn.
H
.S.
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