Reykjavík Grapevine - 21.10.2005, Side 14

DANÍEL ÁGÚST
“I’d like especially to welcome all
members of the foreign press and
record company executives. We
love music!”
ReyKJAvíK!’S SiNGeR-GUiTARiST
For this reason, perhaps opening
his set with a children’s song
version of Peas Porridge Hot on
top of an annoying techno beat
DJ PLATURN GAUKUR Á STÖNG
PHOTO BY KARL PETERSEN
PraVDa >>> this Place is Gonna Be
Packed <<< Tourists, when you think of
Reykjavík the first musical genre that
comes to mind may well not be
drum’n’bass, and Pravda may not be
the first place on your list of places to
visit. Pravda is a bar like many around
the world with colour-by-numbers
décor designed to appeal to the general,
or rather not to offend. ¶ The first thing
you notice is the lack of queue: nASA is
packed, Grand Rokk is full, but this
townie-type bar is, well, empty at 9pm.
Half an hour later it isn’t much better;
the entertainment is basically just a
glorified bog standard DJ slot with
nothing to embellish the music, no
visuals. ¶ At first Ewok’s set is like
background music to a few patrons’
chitchat. That soon changes as a
reasonable deal on Heineken softens
the self-conscious. Still, the bar staff
outdance the patrons. ¶ So how popular
is drum’n’bass in Iceland then? Well one
guy was quite convincing, “Drum’n’bass
has become much more common in the
past year, year and a half. It’s coming
out of the underground.” At this point
flyers are distributed for an upcoming
Mistress Barbara gig at Pravda. The
guy’s girlfriend joins in, “She’s amazing,
we really love her here. every 1st or 2nd
of the month there’s a drum’n’bass
night in Pravda. We have people coming
from all over, international, plus DJ
Lelli and kalli.” ¶ The interesting thing
about this night is that it is mainly
locals, and they all seem to know each
other. More and more people come in,
and photographers that had come and
gone before are now back and taking
pics of Lelli as he finishes while DJ
kalli takes over and the deck skills are
raised a bar. This is now pure drum’n’bass
– they aren’t slipping in anything in
order to make it more user friendly and
the burgeoning crowd is lovin’ it. ¶ High
Contrast are from the uk and, as it
draws closer to the HC set, Pravda
actually begins to look packed. Before,
where there had been a few chairs free,
there is no room, the few brave souls
who used to occupy the dance floor
seem to have bred. It’s hard to find a
place to stand and watch. ¶ HC start
and people are really into it, hands in
the air, cheering, and that’s just the bar
staff. If you left before the end you
would have noticed that there still
wasn’t a queue, nothing alluding to the
party inside. It just proves it’s the quiet
ones you’ve got to watch. DeBoRAH
CouGHlIn ¶ ¶ Gaukur Á StönG >>>
Hip-Hop in Stereo <<< Gaukur á stöng
got off to a slow start. opening act
Spaceman and Cheese suffered for
being first. Despite their demands, they
never managed to “get [our] hands in
the air.” Intact followed with a short set,
playing new songs from their
forthcoming album. They rightfully
claimed to sound a little psychedelic
and ambient, with the DJ cutting some
jazzy samples. They kept things upbeat
and seemed to enjoy themselves, which
almost affected the small crowd already
gathered. ¶ Third in line were seasoned
members of the Icelandic hip-hop
scene, Bent & 7berg, joined by DJ
Paranoia. They played a tight set, which
benefited hugely from their
commanding stage presence and nice
lyrical flow. Members of a growing
group of audience finally started
bobbing their heads and putting a few
hands in the air. ¶ twisted Minds Crew
brought some help along, for the first
time accompanied by a live drummer, a
bass player and a guitarist. The add-on
translated into a much deeper and
thicker sound – twisted Minds Crew
sounded stereo to everyone else’s
mono. The crowd finally began to show
tangible signs of life. Rappers rain and
Mystic One showed their strength,
backed up by the performance of
Beatmakin troopa and DJ kocoon as
well as the extended group of live
instrumental players. SveInn BIRkIR
BJöRnSSon >>> Pump Your Fist Like
this! <<< Hip-hop veteran Cell 7,
accompanied by DJ Big Gee, kicked
things off with a slow ragga beat and
seemed to be holding back a bit at first.
But once every girl in the club pushed
her way forward and started to bounce,
she started delivering rhymes with a
sincere, relaxed self-confidence devoid
of cockiness. Most of her songs were
relatively short for hip-hop numbers,
with beats reminiscent of that laid-back
West Coast sound from the early 90s,
until she kicked things up a notch with a
Miami “beat jeep” number that got both
genders dancing along. If her set had
been longer, and if her songs were at
least doubled in length, she would have
almost certainly stolen the show. ¶
Following up was Dóri Dna with Daníel
Deluxe. After plugging in the MP3
player and starting off with a shouty,
atonal assault, they proceeded to play a
collection of samples of their favourite
rappers: we got to hear ten seconds of
Eazy-E, tupac, Biggie Smalls, and
others while wondering why they
wouldn’t just do their own material.
Dóri Dna then launched into his
rhymes with bravado, getting the crowd
on their feet, especially when doing
material from his previous group
Bæjarins Bestu. So good was Dóri’s
delivery that the stylings of Daníel
Deluxe seemed completely unnecessary,
holding him back more than helping
him. Here’s hoping Dóri will have the
confidence to step up to the mic alone
in the future, because that’s where he
really shines. (See page 12 for The
Perceptionists.) ¶ DJ Platurn was left
in the unfortunate position of having to
follow this explosive act, and things
didn’t fare well for him. Half the crowd
left the club the moment the
Perceptionists left the stage. For this
reason, perhaps opening his set with a
children’s song version of Peas
Porridge Hot on top of an annoying
techno beat wasn’t the best choice. He
had obviously good scratching and
mixing skills, but without an
accompanying MC – especially after an
evening of MCs being in the spotlight –
the impression left was that he probably
would have fared better being put first
on the bill instead of last. PAul F
nIkolov ÞJóð-
LEIkHúSkJaLLarInn >>> Shuck-
and-Jive to Perco-lating Pop <<< Pétur
Ben weathered a late start and a rash
of broken strings to bask in a rapturous
reception from his native fans. And as
far as his shuck-and-jive six-string work
was concerned, it was certainly
deserved. But lyrically, songs about the
evil of television, loving each other, and
his awkward attempts at social
commentary probably translate better
in his native tongue. Sung as they were
in english though, they just came off
naïve. ¶ Eberg closed the evening in
typically eclectic style: slap bass, drum,
and that electronic, effects-heavy coat
hanger. Together they made a beautiful
noise, providing a nice afterglow of
danceable percolating pop to top off an
evening full of dimly lit amour. BART
BlASenGAMe HaFnarHúSIð >>>
keeping Warm in the Museum <<< This
six-band show – five local acts plus new
York art-punks new radio – was short
on good songs but long on kinetic
energy and well-manipulated noise.
From gentle pitter-patter to ear-
bursting guitar fuzz, the barrage of
sound amply filled Hafnarhúsið – the
cavernous art gallery-turned venue –
even when warm bodies were in short
supply. ¶ The evening began well: After
Bacon turned out mostly improvised
instrumentals in front of only a handful
of onlookers, Skakkamanage, a co-ed
guitar-organ-drums trio, worked up
tender, rainy-day folk songs based
around keyboard drones and gentle
murmuring. Though their heartfelt
lullabies tended to hide their heads in
their hoodies, their set incorporated
more melody than the next two acts
combined, leaving the fairly spare
crowd ill-prepared for the noise assault
to come. ¶ “I’d like especially to
welcome all members of the foreign
press and record company executives.
We love music!” exclaimed reykjavík!’s
cardigan-clad singer-guitarist as his
five-piece band took the stage. easily
the loudest band of the evening (if not
the loudest band in all of Iceland),
THURSDAY
NIGHT LIVE
REVIEWS
LAUGAVEGUR 55
{ 16 }Grapevine Airwaves 2005 Friday October 21 – Issue 1 of 3