Reykjavík Grapevine - 28.08.2010, Qupperneq 38

Step into
the Viking Age
Experience Viking-Age Reykja­vík a­t the
new Settlement Exhibition. The focus of the
exhibition is a­n exca­va­ted longhouse site which
da­tes from the 10th century ad. It includes
relics of huma­n ha­bita­tion from a­bout 871, the
oldest such site found in Icela­nd.

Multimedia­ techniques bring Reykja­vík’s
pa­st to life, providing visitors with insights
into how people lived in the Viking Age, a­nd
wha­t the Reykja­vík environment looked like
to the first settlers.
The exhibition a­nd
museum shop a­re open
da­ily 10–17
Aða­lstræti 16
101 Reykja­vík / Icela­nd
Phone +(354) 411 6370
www.reykja­vikmuseum.is
26
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 13 — 2010
Music | Interview Music | 100 Years Of Vinyl
They split-up in 1983, after Þorsteinn
“Stanya” Magnússon left, but were re-
united in 2006 to perform alongside
Icelandic legend Megas, a choir and
a dozen instrumentalists. Now they're
pseudo-reuniting again (though don’t
call it a reunion), with an ensemble
of twelve musicians at the 100th an-
niversary of the Icelandic vinyl record
at the Nordic House on August 23rd.
The Grapevine caught up with Þeyr’s
guitarist and founder, Guðlaugur Kris-
tinn Óttarsson – or Godkrist if you’re so
inclined – to see what this non-reunion
will be about.
For the vinyl event, why change
from the original electric sound to
unplugged string ensembles?
Each member is free to do as he pleas-
es. We will have a piano player, an op-
era singer, string instruments. We are
not playing together, but each member
will contribute on his own. We take old
Þeyr songs and arrange them for the
ensemble. It's a very vibrant project,
artists are constantly joining and de-
parting.
Why are you playing at the anniver-
sary?
We think that we undoubtedly have to
attend vinyl's 100 anniversary, because
we broke the status quo and kick-start-
ed the exporting of Icelandic music; we
made three albums a year for two years.
We spent most of our time touring over-
seas, in Britain and Scandinavia.
What will your program at the Nor-
dic House consist of?
It starts out with a documentary about
Þeyr's career; from the latter part of
1980 to 1983 with our last project,
the Killing Joke affair [Jaz Coleman
and Kenneth Walker of Killing Joke
moved to Iceland in 1983 and record-
ed a never-released demo with Þeyr].
There's also a vinyl performance [fol-
lowed by a series of performances of
“Þeyrverk” (Þeyr compositions) and a
lecture on sound experimentation titled
“Þeysvísindi” (Þeyr science).]
Why did the Killing Joke affair yield
nothing?
Killing Joke had a bullet-proof con-
tract with E.G. Records and the group
had foundered. The demos fell into ob-
scurity but the multi-tracks still exist, I
think Jaz Coleman has them. We keep
the demos in a safe locker. There are
filmmakers coming here in the autumn,
making a documentary on Killing Joke.
Maybe Jaz and Geordie will show up.
What will the vinyl performance be
like?
The vinyl player will sit on an altar, on
its throne. I'm not at liberty to say any-
thing more about it. [Laughs] But we
always used to put on huge shows.
Swedish dancers, boy scouts, fire, po-
etry readings. We got really good press,
the newspapers went crazy when they
heard Þeyr were playing a gig. Once
Bruni BB [an infamous art/music col-
lective that were sued for decapitating
chickens on stage] were our opening
band. We always got bands from the
grassroots to play with us. We were like
cultivators, helping bands to grow.
You worked alot with sound equip-
ment that you built yourself. Will
you use any of that?
Yes, there will be a special segment
about the “Scriabin” and the “Fourier”
(devices created to affect the audi-
ence in various forms). Þeyr did many
experiments with “in-sound” and “out-
sound”, both in studio and on stage.
What is “in-sound” and “out-
sound”?
“Out-sound” are sounds that are above
the human hearing range. “In-sound”
might be referred to as a disguised
sound; imagine walls that extend and
contract – you don't hear anything but
the acoustics change so you log infor-
mation into the acoustics. This is called
“space modulation”. That's how we in-
tegrated messages into the music. The
original idea was to make Bubbi Morth-
ens [Icelandic pop-star and former
punk] hear voices.
Are there any plans to reissue some
of the LPs that are now out of the
public's reach?
On Þeyr's 20th anniversary I issued
“Mjötviður til fóta,” which is a compi-
lation of tracks from “Mjötviður Mær”
and “Iður til Fóta.” On the 30th anniver-
sary we will maybe issue “As Above”
and “The Fourth Reich.”
Þeyr are known for being shrouded
in a veil of ideology. Would you say
that your theories about universal
truths and systematic brainwashing
are as relevant now as they were in
the '80s?
Yes, their relevance is escalating. The
world resembles a herd though the in-
dividual still stands strong. We're the
birds, overlooking the herd.
Rip it Up & Start Again
On space modulation and the anniversary of the Icelandic vinyl with a post-punk veteran
Þeyr, an Icelandic musical
phenomenon shrouded in
a veil of mystery and delib-
erately obscure, recorded
seven albums from 1980-
1983 and were undoubtedly
the most progressive band of
the Icelandic new wave/punk
scene. The band employed
experimental recording and
composition techniques and
was characterised by an ide-
ology of ancient wisdom, the
occult and efforts to tran-
scend awful truths and con-
spiracies.
ÞóRðUR INGI JóNSSON
Happy
Record
Day!
Icelandic crate-diggers rejoice, for August
23rd marked the one hundredth anniversary
of the first vinyl recording in Iceland. Exactly
a century ago, the first record in the country
was pressed and released by opera singer
Pétur Á. Jónsson with his song ‘Dalvísur’. A
day-long celebration was held at the Nordic
House this past Monday to commemorate
the rich history of sound recording in this
country.
The day’s low-key festivities started
in the early afternoon with a marketplace
gathering of the Hljómplötuklúbburinn
Íslensk Tónlist (‘Icelandic Music Record
Collectors’), a club which has managed to
gather up the most comprehensive collec-
tion of every Icelandic album to date. Other
collectors also came to compare albums
and discuss their all-consuming hobby.
There were a whole bunch of performances
throughout the day including a children’s
program performed by the Langholt Church
Choir, tenor Garðar Thór Cortes singing the
seminal ‘Dalvísur’, and a piano concert by
Iceland’s most famous crooner Raggi Bjar-
na.
Speeches were delivered and talks were
held by Ólafur Þór Þorsteinsson, Jonathan
Garðarsson and Gunnar Svavarsson about
records in various forms over the course of
time – or at least the time that records have
existed. Entertainer, politician and environ-
mentalist extraordinaire Ómar Ragnarsson
was also honoured for his song-writing con-
tribution to Iceland. A timeline exhibit of the
history of the record in Iceland was set up
along a wall in the Nordic House, which will
be in place until the end of the day on Friday,
August 27th for people to check out if they
missed the big event earlier in the week. The
night wrapped up with a re-invented forma-
tion of the early post-punk band Þeyr, de-
livering a much anticipated performance to
a crowd of record nerds, recording industry
greats and fans of all ages.
Although the vinyl record format is no
longer the standard for releasing music
nowadays and goes largely unused in Ice-
land’s current music industry, it was clear to
see at the event that it is still dearly beloved.
It’s safe to say it got the party it deserved.
—REBECCA LOUDER