Reykjavík Grapevine - 08.01.2010, Page 26

The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 01 — 2010
26
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KEFLAVÍK
BORGARNES
STYKKISHÓLMUR
SNÆFELLSJÖKULL
DRANGAJÖKULL
FLATEY
NESKAUPSTAÐUR
BLÖNDUÓS
SIGLUFJÖRÐUR
BOLUNGARVÍK
HRÍSEY
NARSARSSUAQ
Greenland
FAROE ISLANDS
REYKJAVÍK
AKUREYRI
EGILSSTAÐIR
VESTMANNAEYJAR
ÍSAFJÖRÐUR
VOPNAFJÖRÐUR
ÞÓRSHÖFN
HÚSAVÍK
GRÍMSEY
KULUSUK
Greenland
Blue Lagoon
AKRANES Geysir
Gullfoss
Jökullónið
Kárahnjúkar
Krafla
Hallormstaður
NUUK
Greenland
ILULISSAT
Greenland
www.airiceland.is
CONSTABLE POINT
Greenland
bob cluness
1) ben Frost - by The Throat: This man has
probably created the first true soundtrack of the
Kreppa and possibly one of the most vital releases
to come from Iceland in the past couple of years.
And brave, honourable Iceland responded by
trying to deport him! No wonder the poor bastard
looks so pissed off all the time.
2) kimono - Easy Music For Difficult People:
When I reviewed this, I don´t think I gave it justice
as to how immediate this album is when you first
listen to it. It ś truly a brilliant indie rock album.
3) bloodgroup - Dry Land: They took their base
electro sound and added several new levels of pop
brilliance.
4) Sólstafir - Köld: Primordial, seething with epic
aggression, and just sounded brilliant. This beat
the crap out of all the other metal releases and
took all their money for a laugh.
5) Sudden Weather change - Stop! Handgre-
nade in the name of crib death ´nderstand?:
Beating kimono to the worst album title of the
year, they were full of infectious energy and punky
enthusiasm. It just made me feel old listening to it!
Ragnar Egilsson
“I didn't hear enough good Icelandic records in
2009 for a top 5. I can muster a top 3.”
1. Hildur Guðnadóttir – Without Sinking
2. ben Frost – by The Throat
3. Kimono Easy Music For Difficult People
Sindri Eldon
#1: Plastic Gods - Quadriplegiac
Horrifying and tasteless, just what Iceland
deserves.
#2: Foreign Monkeys - π
It rocked.
#3: TONIK – Form Follows
Solid as a cock.
#4: Weapons - A Ditch In Time
How could you not like this album?
#5: Retrön - Swordplay & Guitarslay
You need to turn it all the way up first, and then it
will blow your mind.
#6: Úlpa - Jahilíya
I'm high right now just thinking about it.
#7: Egill S - Egill S
An album that can be both disappointing and
excellent at the same time deserves mention.
#8: Hjaltalín - Terminal
Not as good as it should be, but not as bad as it
could be.
#9:STEED LORD – Truth Serum
"I'm a dirty dirty dirty dirty dirty millionaire" -
enough said.
#10: Agent Fresco - Lightbulb Universe
It's very well organised.
Florian Zühlke
1) Sudden Weather change - Stop! Handgre-
nade in the Name of crib Death 'nderstand?
I remember how impressed I was by their disso-
nant but huge post-core sound – first at Airwaves
2008 then on their record in the spring of 2009.
2) Muck – Vultures
A very good, dark and heavy hardcore/punk/
metal record by a very young band that hopefully
has its best to come.
3 ) bob Justman – Happiness and Woe
I am still greatly enjoying the melancholic and
touching, but never desperate, songs of Bob
Justman. Elliot Smith's successor seems to be
Icelandic.
4) Múm – Sing Along To Songs You Don’t
Know
There is nothing to complain about here: really
nice Icelandic pop music.
5) AMFJ – Itemhljóð & Veinan
A dark, disturbing drone experiment – roaring and
intriguing –rather than a classical record. On top
there are cool electronic remixes.
Haukur S Magnússon
1. Summer As A Salvation Soldier – Nýtt EP
2. Ben Frost – By The Throat My 3. Sudden
Weather Change – Stop! Handgrenade In The
Name Of Oppression & Alcohol
4. Hildur Guðna – Without Sinking
5. Go-Go Darkness – Go-Go Darkness
6. múm – Sing Along To Songs You Don’t Know
7. Deathmetal Supersquad – Dead Zeppelin
8. Mugison – Ítrekun
9. Kimono – EM4DP
10. Snorri Helgason – I’m Gonna Put My Name On
Your Door
Jóhannes Kjartansson
múm - Sing Along To Songs You Don't Know
Hjaltalín - Terminal
Sykur - Frábært eða Frábært
Tonik - Form Follows
dj. flugvél og geimskip - Rokk & róleg lög
bob cluness
1) The Horrors - Primary colours: I was one of
probably only 45 people who heard their 1st album
(note: It was truly shit). This made it all the more
remarkable that their follow up was so spectacu-
lar. Singlehandedly sparking the Krautrock revival
and possibly the best guitar sounds since My
Bloody Valentine.
2) Fuck buttons - Tarot Sport: the sound of
a million angels off their face on E, in an Ibiza
nightclub. On Mars....
3) Sunn o))) - Monoliths & Dimensions: the
history of man from Neanderthal to space flight in
four loud, apocalyptic stages.
4) Manatees - Icarus, the Sunclimber: Pos-
sibly one of the biggest HOPEKRUSHER albums
I’ve heard in ages. Sounded so oppressive, it made
my ears cry.
5) Zola Jesus: The Spoils: The best of the hyp-
nagogic lo-fi pop to come from the US this year.
Nika Danilova ś vocals sounded so haunted, like a
ghostly apparition on fuzzy tape.
Ragnar Egilsson
1. HEALTH – Get color
2. Girls - Album
3. bat For Lashes – Two Suns
4. Washed Out – Life Of Leisure
5. Fever Ray – Fever Ray
7. Nosaj Thing – Drift
7. Hudson Mohawke – butter
Sindri Eldon
#1: Kent - Röd
Their best album ever? It's quite possible.
#2: Silversun Pickups - Swoon
Where the nineties never end, but in a good way.
#3: Animal collective- Merriweather Post
Pavillion
Yeah, good choice Sindri, real fucking original.
#4: Sparks - The Seduction Of Ingmar berg-
man
The weirdness continues.
#5: Electric Six - Kill
The awesomeness continues.
Florian Zühlke
1) Thrice – beggars
Thrice evolved into a very good alternative rock
band long ago, even managing to record a set of
concept EPs (The Alchemy Index) without becom-
ing awkward. Beggars is their latest and catchiest
album, it brings more exciting details with every
listen – Epic!
2) Gallows – Grey britain
Somehow I overlooked this amazing young band’s
début two years ago, but Grey Britain's raw, ag-
gressive, honest hardcore punk made me a fan of
these heavily tattooed Brits.
3) Ruiner – Hell Is Empty
Hell is Empty is so emotional, so honest that it
gives me shivers down my spine with every listen.
This is how hardcore should sound, but doesn’t
any more since Modern Life Is War split up.
4) behemoth – Evangelion
Maybe the best Death / Black Metal band around
– and fortunately a non-fascist one.
5) Rise and Fall – Our circle is Vicious
Into Oblivion was evil, downtuned and good; Our
Circle is Vicious, adds more experimentation,
more variety and better songwriting to Rise and
Fall's metallic hardcore – and thus makes it one of
my top five records 2009.
Haukur S Magnússon
1.Japandroids - Post-Nothing
2. Converge - Axe To Fall
3. Jay Reatard - Watch Me Fall
4. jj - jj no 2
5. A Sunny Day In Glasgow – A Sunny Day In
Glasgow
6. A Place To Bury Strangers - Exploding Head
7. Bibio - Ambivalence Avenue
8. Jay Z - III
9. Fever Ray – Fever Ray
10. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
11. Dinosaur Jr. - Farm
12. Atlas Sound - Logos
Jóhannes Kjartansson
Tiga - Ciao
Data - Skywriter
Vitalic - Flashmob
Boys Noize - Power
Moderat - Moderat
Joakim - Milky Ways
The Whitest Boy Alive - Rules
Zombie Nation - Zombielicious
Jori Hulkkonen - Man From Earth
The Bloody Beetroots - Romborama
Fukkk Offf - Love Me Hate Me Kiss Me Kill Me
Kings of Convenience - Declaration of Depen-
dence
bob cluness
bEST GIG MOMENTS OF 2009
Klink, celestine and Retrön @ Dillon, Oct ´09:
One of the few times recently that I’ve been truly
terrified for my life. It was a truly mental moment
of crushing live metal.
Mínus and HAM, Friday night @ Eistnaflug,
July ´09: Was a great night for music but I don´t
remember much about that. This was because I
performed my only Good Samaritan act of the year
and acted as a human shield to two metal heads
in wheelchairs so they could watch at the front of
the crowd. They had a great time, while I got 500
moshers going all Drum and Bass on my kidneys
and spine. For two hours. Refreshing!
WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR IN 2010...
In the rock/metal universe, you ŕe probably going
to hear a lot from power trio Ghost Aircraft. They
just released their debut album over Christmas
and will probably be the standard bearers for
that post hardcore sound in 2010. And the debut
album by Severed Crotch should be lacerating our
eardrums as well.
In the Electro world, 2010 sees the debut
from Captain Fufanu, while Pedro Pilatus (the solo
project of Retro Stefsson ś Logi Pedró) should be
getting a lot more attention.
Finally look out for the debut release from
Daníel Bjarnason in February 2010 from those
folks at the Bedroom community. It will finally
make you like neo-classical music. Honest, I
swear!
bergrún Anna Hallsteinsdóttir
Top 5 Artists To Watch In 2010
1. Ojba Rasta
2. Sykur
3. Ólafur Arnalds
4. Skelkur í bringu
5. Stereo Hypnosis
Ragnar Egilsson
“Make your own new next big thing in 2010 mix
and match genre terms! Get your fix of the hottest
prefixes and suffixes! Watch them take temporary
root in 2010!”
1/2:
"lo-"
"prog-"
"grind-"
"cosmic-"
"doom-"
"fusion-"
"chamber-"
"boy-"
"meringue-"
"yoik-"
GRAPEVINE STAFF PIcK THEIR TOP
IcELANDIc ALbUMS OF 2009
GRAPEVINE STAFF PIcK THEIR TOP
INTERNATIONAL ALbUMS OF 2009
GRAPEVINE
STAFF PIcK
THEIR TOP OTHER
STUFF OF 2009
2009: Music
2/2:
"-hall"
"-wop"
"-tronica"
"-fi"
"-grass"
"-folk"
"-wave"
"-core"
"-boxing"
"-chester"
Congratulations! You
have now grown your
very own musical
chimera! Now unleash
the beast on the
world, watch it tear the
blogworld apart for up
to three weeks before
it's abominable heart is
pierced with snark and
it gives up the ghost
on a ten minute special
on BBC2.