Reykjavík Grapevine - 02.07.2008, Side 8

8 | REYKJAVÍK GRAPEVINE | ISSUE 08—2008
INTERVIEW By Sveinn Birkir BjÖrnSSon — photo By gaSNEWS
Upon learning that the The Sugarcubes and
Björk’s back catalogues were to be reissued on
deluxe heavyweight vinyl, via something called
Half Speed Direct Metal Mastering, the Grapevine
called up Sugarcubes/Ghostigital vocalist Einar
Örn Benediktsson and asked him what that meant,
and why. “It’s now exactly twenty years since Life’s
Too Good [Sugarcubes’ debut] was released, and
we thought it would be nice to mark the occasion
via a vinyl reissue,” says Benediktsson. “In the
process, we decided to use the opportunity to
re-release some more old albums using that Half
Speed Direct Metal Mastering technique. They say
it makes the albums sound really good.”
Indeed, April marked the twentieth anniver-
sary of the seminal Sugarcubes record, which
featured some truly great songs (Motorcrash,
Birthday, Deus to name a few) and introduced the
world to both Björk and the Bad Taste collective’s
way of doing things. Those who’ve yet to feast
upon the Sugarcubes’ sonic delights are advised
to do so at their earliest convenience – if you can’t
wait ‘til the re-release date of June 30 (or don’t
have a record player), their albums may be found
at Bad Taste’s web-store, smekkleysa.net.
As for the Half Speed Direct Metal Mastering,
the Internet tells us that it is the newest technol-
ogy in vinyl manufacturing, and that it greatly im-
proves on the already (literally) groovy sound of
vinyl. Benediktsson says he looks forward to hear-
ing the remasters in all their Half Speed Direct
Metal Mastered glory. “I’ve always been big on
vinyl, and look forward to hearing the revamped
version. It’ll be something new.”
The following Sugarcubes/Björk albums will
be re-released by One Little Indian come June 30,
on limited edition, individually numbered, heavy
weight 200 gram virgin vinyl:
SUGARCUBES:
Here Today, Tomorrow Next Week!; It’s It!; Life’s
Too Good; The Great Crossover Potential; Stick
Around For Joy.

BjöRk:
Debut; Post; Homogenic; Volta; Telegram; Gling-
Gló (with Tríó Guðmundar Ingólfssonar); Medúlla;
Selmasongs; Greatest Hits; Drawing Restraint 9.
A report released earlier this month by Javelin
Strategy & Research states that if every household
in the USA would stop receiving paper bills and
statements, 687.000 tons of paper could be saved
every year, which is enough to circle the world
239 times. The report examines green banking is-
sues, including consumer habits, and recommen-
dations for financial institutions seeking to attract
environmentally conscious clients. The president
of Javelin, James Van Dyke, points out that be-
sides the obvious environmental benefits, banks
can profit from green-banking both due to the
lower cost of not printing statements, bills and so
forth and also due to an influx of environmentally
conscious consumers. Perhaps Icelandic banks
looking to minimise expenditure for the recession
should look to green-banking?
Sugarcubes,
Björk LPs Get
Luxury Treat-
ment
By haukur S. magnúSSon
Off-Grid housing, or houses that rely on no util-
ity services, is not really a new idea. Here, smack
dab in the First World, it has been mostly the ter-
ritory of survivalists, separatists and dirty hippie
types. In the Developing World of course, it’s not
really known as ‘off-grid’; it’s mostly known as ‘all
we have.’ The past 15 years or so have seen a re-
naissance in ecological thought; a theory called
Global Warming, which was once scoffed at, is
now more or less universally accepted as a clear
and present danger. As humans we are now be-
ginning to recognise our role as stewards of the
environment, to greater or lesser degrees. But the
concept of abandoning the comforts that civiliza-
tion has afforded itself – the ability to flush your
waste away, to open the tap and get potable water
– is intense. Why would you do such a thing? And
how?
I’ll address the How. First, as of now, off-the-
grid living is unfeasible in urban environments,
barring some notable exceptions such as (sur-
prise) San Francisco, California. City building
codes most often require that structures meant
for habitation must be hooked up to water, sewer,
heat and electrical lines. This means a retreat to
the countryside. Once you, legally, and if pos-
sible, secure your holding out in the boondocks
you have a lot of options as far as construction ma-
terials and methods. Eco freaks from around the
world have been doing their homework and most
of their findings are on the Internet. However, un-
less you happen to be independently wealthy, pre-
pare for the hard graft.
The actual make-up of your house is up to
you and will depend on where you are building:
stamped earth works well in dry hot climates
but not so well in wet ones; reclaimed brick and
stone are sturdy but will sink in wet land and hold
moisture; and reclaimed wood is a dodgy idea un-
der all circumstances. Somewhere, someone has
used old tires, tin cans and bales of hay to build
a home. The material you use is up to you, what
is not are the three basics: water, heat and sanita-
tion. The water problem can be handled as primi-
tively as building next to a stream from which you
will carry bucket after bucket every day, or drill-
ing a well from which you will do the same. Heat
can be created though the use of clever fireplace
situations and ducting or putting up solar panels
on your home in West Iceland and praying for
the sun. As for sanitation, you can create a series
of three reed ponds connected to your privy by
drainage courses to filter and purify the waste. Or
you can shit in a bucket, throw it out your window
and hope for the best.
Now, why? The answer to that is why not?
Maybe you want to minimize your impact on
God’s green Earth, that’s reason enough. Maybe
you want to live you life entirely on your own
terms, from what you eat, what you think, down
to where and how you live. Maybe you enjoy hard
labour and hate neighbours. Any of these reasons
are fine. But maybe the best reason for giving the
metaphorical finger to apartments with WI-FI
hook-ups and video intercoms, parking spaces,
Tuesday morning garbage collection, hot showers
and cold tap water is simply the sheer joy you get
from doing something yourself.
You’re a good little greenie. You
carry re-usable bags to Bonus to
pick up your biological yogurt and
Earth-friendly dish soap. You rock
hemp cloth, don’t use hairspray
and ride a bike with a bell that
goes ring. You separate your glass
from your plastic from your paper.
You feel swell, like you’re making a
difference, and in a small way you
are. But is there something else
you can do? Yup. You can just say
fuck it all.
off-grid houSing, or houSeS
that rely on no utility ServiceS,
iS not really a new idea. here,
Smack daB in the firSt world, it
haS Been moStly the territory
of SurvivaliStS, SeparatiStS and
dirty hippie typeS. in the devel-
oping world of courSe, it’S not
really known aS ‘off-grid’; it’S
moStly known aS ‘all we have.’
Punk Rawk Your House
The a-b-c off living off-grid
icelandic 'torfkofi' – the ultimate in off-grid houSing.
Green Banking
Turns Profit
By oddur SturluSon