Reykjavík Grapevine - 08.04.2005, Page 35

Músíktilraunir has been
around for 24 years. This year 50
bands started out competing among
themselves in five different groups
at five different semi-final nights
at Tjarnarbíó. There each band
played two original songs, competing
to advance into the finals. The
audience chose one band to go to the
finals and a panel of judges one or
two, depending on how good the
bands were. Eleven bands made it to
the finals this year.
Músíktilraunir is an important
event in the Icelandic music scene
and has been for the last two
decades. It gives young musicians
a change to get out of the garage,
play through professional
equipment and most important
of all - in front of lots of people.
Many Icelandic musicians have
made their first music steps in
Músíktilraunir. Popular
acts like 80´s band Greifarnir,
all girl rock band Kolrassa
krókríðandi, Botnleðja, Maus,
Mínus and hip hop sensation
XXX Rottweiler all won
Músíktilraunir at one point.
Other musicians competed
but didn’t win but did something
great later on. A good example
is Jónsi from Sigur Rós, the
Júníusson-brothers from band
Vinyl, Hössi, former rapper
for Quarashi and Siggi, organ
player and songwriter for reggae-
band Hjálmar, to name a few.
Músíktilraunir is an event that
gives young musicians a valuable
opportunity to make something of
themselves and to know how it is
to play in front of an audience in
professional circumstances.
When the results came in at this
years Músiktilraunur—Iceland’s
annual battle of the bands–
Jakobínarína came in first, Hello
Norbert second and The Dyers
third.
In our opinion, the order should
have been reversed.
Our favourites were Hello
Norbert and The Dyer, both
of whom played rock and roll
infused with the right amount of
pop. The Dyers’ guitars were spot
on, and we couldn’t help thinking
this was the band we were sure
had the most promise.
Jakobínarína took the task
of following The Dyers with
remarkable bravado, and we
readily acknowledge their stage
presence. They know how to
perform and you could see that
they were having fun on stage.
As for the sound, a neo-German
meets Manchester experience, it
required timing, and they had this
down pat.
So, Jakobínarína got studio time
at Sundlaugin (The Sigur Rós
Studio) among other rewards
and will probably make an album
this year. Hello Norbert and The
Dyers also won studio time and
are just as likely if not more so to
become popular here in Iceland in
the years to come.
Ed. Note: Our reviewer,
Ágúst Bogason, has competed in
Músíktilraunir, and is the guitarist
in the successful rock meets pop band
Jan Mayen.
Icelandic desert rock band Brain Police welcomed
a new guitar player to the band some weeks ago.
Búi Bendtsen, of the bands Fídel and Manhattan,
replaced Gulli who had been with the band from
day one.
Búi’s first appearance with the band at Gaukur
á Stöng last month was impressive and when
Brain Police played Dillon just before Easter they
sounded better than they have in a long time. The
reason is quite simple– the guitar sounded louder
and the members were enjoying themselves,
again.
Brain Police has been known for their powerful
bass lines and heavy drumming, which at
sometimes has left the guitar a bit in the shadow.
That seems to have changed a bit with the arrival
of Búi. At Dillon, Brain Police played two new
songs; both sounded very fresh and they were not
created with the basic Brain Police formula.
Höddi’s powerful and fuzzy bass was still there
but the six strings played more of an important
role than usual and at some point it sounded like
Jómbi, the drummer, had a free role. Great stuff
indeed, which produced no problems for their
singer Jenni, who sounded great as usual.
Live Mus
ic Review
s
MÚSÍKTI
LRAUNIR
:
Watching
the Birth
of the N
ext Big B
ands
By Ágúst
Bogason
Born Aga
in Brain
Police
place
hottest
in Iceland´s
coolest city
the
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