Reykjavík Grapevine - 15.08.2008, Side 22

22 | REYKJAVÍK GRAPEVINE | ISSUE 12—2008
I must say that the extremely merry atmosphere at
Organ on Gay Pride Night overwhelmed me a bit
upon entry, but in a moment I settled down with the
thought of this gathering being an uplifting change
from the rather sweaty and stiff atmosphere usually
prevailing at the premises; the lovely and dear Organ
we all know. It wasn’t very long until I discovered
the reason for this peculiar happiness surrounding
the crowd, but even though the attendants boasted
of quite an amount of energy they couldn’t have
matched the energy of their reason for happiness
on their best day: the psychotic duo Stereo Total.
When they made their entrance on stage
they seemed to me as a hipster couple stuck in the
90’s East-Berlin art outburst, in their shiny leather
pants and with their hippie-like haircuts. When
their performance commenced I found out I was to
a certain extent right, but they had certainly more
to offer than a nostalgic look. The music itself was
really cheerful and a bit childish at times and would
definitely have sounded plain naïve if it hadn’t
been for their outrageous performance, which
is undoubtedly their forte. The act of the male-
part of the duo, Brezel Göring, was both explicit
and provoking and whether he was abusing the
band gadgets on the stage with his soothing hip-
movements or jumping on tables hammering Organ’s
chandeliers with drumsticks resulting in shattered
glass and sparks raining all over the audience,
you could always find somebody flabbergasted.
When overlooking the satisfied crowd,
singing along with every single song, closing their
eyes with a smile on their faces, the assumption
that the performance was brilliant couldn’t be
avoided. But was it? To me is was merely simple and
clownish melodies combined with attitude which
represented something new two decades ago but
certainly not any more. Their multi-lingual singing
was interesting at first but when they started
namedropping Japanese idioms and Turkish say-
ings it became more presumptuous than anything
else. They are definitely charming, but the per-
formance was primarily charming because of their
encircled fans making it all look so wonderful.
All Bark and No Bite
stereo totAl: pink on pink on pink never fAils.
WHO
Stereo total
WHERE
Organ
WHEN
Saturday, August 9
THE vERDICT
Staggering performance
but rusty music.
CONCERT REvIEW BY SIguRðuR kJARTAn kRISTInSSon — pHoTo BY gAS
EXPECT
HANG
OVERS...
THE BIGGEST CLUB IN
DOWNTOWN REYKJAVIK.
LIVE MUSIC EVERY WEEKEND.
WWW.NASA.IS
The twelve songs on Activism, an album wracked with emotion and
subtle diatribe, are arguably some of the best tracks to be released
in Iceland this year. Ranging from the low-key acoustic composi-
tion of 'Hey Mom', which features banjo accompaniment by Ólöf
Arnalds and poetic lyrics that bring a lump to your throat, to the
Hüsker Dü influenced scratchy brilliance of 'How Are You?', this is a
record that's very well written (both lyrically and musically), highly
engaging and mysterious enough to become a fixture on anyone's
playlist for some time.
Perhaps the album's strongest point is its variety. Each song
seems to follow an entirely separate aesthetic with a variety of in-
struments and influences, such as the layered vocals and glocken-
spiel on the distinctly Icelandic post-rock sounding 'I Try', marking
the individual tracks in a way that demands your attention several
times over.
In recent years, the successful portions of the Icelandic post-rock
scene have made a sound to call their own and Kira Kira, along with
their topically-named new album, fit quite precisely into this school.
Mixing together brass instrumentation reminiscent of bands like Ben-
ni Hemm Hemm, albeit with a bit more subtlety, and a constant sup-
ply of other orchestral sounds, samples and airy vocals (the type that
bought the Cocteau Twins success), the overall effect is a little discon-
certing to start with but songs like 'Ágústskot' and 'Gremlin Holiday'
bring a welcome accessibility to what is a fine and intricate album.
The rest of the album is crammed with innovation and unexpected
moments. 'Bless' is the closest thing you'll hear ever to a Hawaiian /
Icelandic crossover track with its lazy slide guitar, electro backing
and perky melody, but it retains an honest and charming nature
which manifests itself in several different ways throughout its nine
compositions.
MY SuMMER AS A SAlVATION SOldIER
Activism
KIRA KIRA
Our Map to the Monster Olympics
CD REvIEWS
RevIeweD BY Ben H. MuRRAY
RevIeweD BY Ben H. MuRRAY
THE vERDICT
A magnificent meeting of
alternative rock, folk and
acoustic influences pack-
aged with some excellent
song writing.
LISTEN & BuY
www.myspace.com/ my-
summerasasalvationsoldier
THE vERDICT
Confusingly dense at first
but the myriad of sounds
and influences come
together superbly after a
couple of spins. Worthy of
a gold medal.
LISTEN & BuY
www.this.is/kirakira