Reykjavík Grapevine - 14.08.2009, Page 34

The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 12 — 2009
18
Dr. Gunni just happens to be an
extremely respected pioneer of Icelandic
punk rock. His new album, Inniheldur, is
all kinds of awesome. Get it at 12 Tónar.
The History of Icelandic Rock music: Part 8
Icelandic Hippie Prog
Metal
It is the beginning of 1971 and yet an-
other line-up for the premium hippie
band Trúbrot is born. Trúbrot 3.0 has
organist Karl Sighvatsson and drummer
Gunnar Jökull back on board. The latest
recruit, pianist Magnús Kjartansson, is
still a member, and the old stalwarts from
Hljómar—Rúnar Júlíusson and Gunnar
Þórðarson—round off this five-piece
powerhouse version of Hljómar.
The idea of pop music as an artform
had been in the air for some time, but few
Icelandic bands had considered the mat-
ter seriously. Until now. For months the
nagging argument for Trúbrot had been:
should we be entertainers playing cover
songs for drunk people or should we try
to do something more progressive? Early
in 1971 that question was answered and
the band had its most ambitious idea yet:
to make a progressive concept album.
This was a successful move, as the re-
sulting album Lifun would be consid-
ered one of the best albums in Iceland
for years to come (still number 2 in the
extensive 2009 poll—right behind Sigur
Rós’ Ágætis byrjun!).
Rehearsals for the album started in a
garage on Laugavegur in January of 1971.
To seal the artistic plan, every member
brought a pail of paint with their choice
of colour. All five colours were mixed in a
bucket and the garage walls painted with
the result. The band locked itself up in
the garage and no women were allowed
inside. Early on, it was clear that the al-
bum would deal with “the course of an
unnamed person, from the cradle to the
grave, and the influence of the environ-
ment on that person,” as the band an-
nounced proudly when the project was
premiered live that March. The album
was recorded in London some months lat-
er and came out in the summer of 1971.
Lifun fulfilled all of Icelandic pop mu-
sicians’ most ambitious dreams. The re-
views were good and the album sold well.
The album has thirteen interconnected
tracks, and came in a hexagonal cover.
The music is prog-metal of sorts, equally
influenced by Led Zeppelin and Emer-
son, Lake and Palmer. But what can you
do after such artistic success, especially
when you live in a place as small and un-
populated as Iceland? That fall, Trúbrot
was back to playing (MOR super light-
weight hit) “Chirpy chirpy cheep cheep”
for drunk kids.
Back then, just as now, the only way
out of the grind was international suc-
cess. The band was optimistic and for a
while it looked as the Fantasy label (home
of Creedence Clearwater Revival) would
sign Trúbrot. Nothing came of this. Dis-
appointed, Karl Sighvatsson left yet again,
but the band soldiered on, making the
fourth and final record in 1972, Mandala.
Although it is fine in parts, Mandala is
quite drab as a whole. Not content with
the album and with no idea what to do
next, the band fizzled out early in 1973.
The main rival for Trúbrot’s hippie
crown was Náttúra (Nature). Formed
in 1969 in the same cauldron that begat
Trúbrot by singer Jónas R. Jónsson of
Flowers, the band’s line up changed often
and would total eleven members in all.
For the first year the band played mostly
cover songs, music from The Who’s Tom-
my and Jethro Tull, for instance, but later
original songs would become prevalent.
As the hair grew longer and the smoke
thicker, the music stretched in length and
depth. Drunk kids were not always so re-
ceptive to a 20 minute drum solo, though.
The band had at least twice written
music for their purported début—in 1970
and 1971—but twice the material was
abandoned. In 1971 they were signed on
to perform at the Icelandic staging of the
musical Hair. The band then suffered a
tremendous blow when all their instru-
ments were destroyed in a fire when the
legendary club Glaumbær burned down
in December 1971. Glaumbær was situat-
ed where the National Gallery of Iceland
is today and was the definitive place for
the young crowd during the late sixties
and early seventies.
The only Náttúra album, Magic Key,
came out in 1972 with Shady Owens han-
dling vocal duties and Karl Sighvatsson
playing the Hammond and singing a bit.
The band released the album themselves
(like Trúbrot did with Mandala also in
1972). Náttúra’s album has never been re-
leased officially on CD but many bootlegs
exist and is a sought after item. Along
with Lifun and Óðmenn ś double album,
it represents the best of the Icelandic hip-
pie years. In 1973, Náttúra performed the
music for Jesus Christ Superstar. The
band then quit when the show stopped.
Progressive hippie music just wasn’t the
thing anymore. Now it was time for the
content free and silly seventies!
Go to icelandprog.blogspot.com to lis-
ten to all the records mentioned here, as
well as other fine albums from the same
period: Svanfríður’s What’s hidden there
(hard rock from 1972), Mánar’s hippie
rock debut from 1971 and Icecross leg-
endary heavy metal gloom LP from 1973,
along with later period prog and folk mu-
sic. - DR. GUNNI
By Dr. Gunni, based on his 2000 book Eru ekki
allir í stuði? (Rock in Iceland). A revisited up-
date of the book is forthcoming in 2010.
1. Náttúra in 1972, the line up that did Magic Key: Sigurður Árnason bass,
Björgvin Gíslason guitar, Shady Owens vocals, Ólafur Garðarsson drums,
Karl Sighvatsson organ + vocals)
2. Lifun 3. Magic Key
Music | Review
Árstíðir bring a bit of a free loving,
hair-flowing feel with their début, living
up to their reputation as modern-day
Simon and Garfunkels. While the
actual sound of the music fulfils my
expectation of what that should sound
like, all elegant acoustic melodies
and tender ambience, their lyrics—
particularly the English ones—let
them down. Lacking in power and
sincerity, Árstíðir sometimes give the
feeling they are trying way too hard
for S&G 2009, without really realising
that they go most of the way there
with their music. Moving away from
comparisons, as a standalone piece of
music the album is enjoyable purely for
the songs—if you ignore the lyrics—and
is a nice return to the sound of an era
that’s been ignored by mainstream
music as of late.
-BERGRÚN ANNA HALLSTEINSDÓTTIR
Cold Hands, the track, introduces
matters and sounds like Cosmic
Call have collectively eaten a bunch
of U2 and Kings Of Leon albums
and recorded their subsequent
vomiting session. That alone pretty
much guarantees it’s gonna be their
signature tune and a huge hit. It’s
obvious that the Akranes quintet are
adept indie-epic songwriters with more
than a hint of Angels & Airwaves about
them—It’s OK, for one, could easily be
from i-Empire. The Cure’s influence is
prominent on the Love Cats-y workout
Lightbulbs and the Cosmics delve into
their Police catalogue for inspiration
to the verses of Hangin’ On before
going all shoegaze on our asses. Owls,
meanwhile, displays a terser side to the
band, a downbeat focus that reaches
its zenith on the all-too-short Rhodes-
jacked, bluesy Richard Ashcroft-ism
of Fallin’—the lone violin plaintive in
counterpoint to Sigurmon’s defeated
vocal which is less cosmic than
contemplative.
-JOE SHOOMAN
Árstíðir
Cosmic Call
Árstíðir (2009)
Cold Hands (2009)
arstidir
Peace, love and brown rice.
cosmiccallmusic
Cold of hand, but warm of heart,
Cosmic Call just want your love.
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