Reykjavík Grapevine - 07.01.2011, Qupperneq 22

22
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 1 — 2011 Turn back a page to see some of our favourite musicians picks for 'album of the
year' and/or 'decade'. They are all very smart about music. </2010 MUSIC>
In 2001 Icelandic hip
hop exploded with the
genre's first (and
last?) super selling
masterpiece, the XXX
Rottweiler hundar’s
self-titled début. Simple yet cool beats
and impudent and fresh lyrics spewed
out by what appeared to be a gang of
street urchins had everyone take no-
tice, even the masses, who favoured
the mesmerising ballad ‘Bent nálgast’.
A bit of rap frenzy followed in Rottwei-
ler's wake, with a great supply of Ice-
landic rap albums seeing release over
the next few years. However, nothing in
Icelandic hip hop has ever matched the
impact of Rottweiler's debut album.
In 2002, Sigur Rós fi-
nally followed up
1999's ‘Ágætis byrjun’
with the grey and slow
"brackets" album. In
the interim Sigur Rós
had become international indie super-
stars, playing to packed concert halls
the world over. Expectations were natu-
rally high and they were met, kind of,
except that the impact of surprise was
lost. This time Jónsi wasn't in the mood
to write any lyrics, or even name the
songs, so he sang English and Icelandic
word-similitudes—memorably the Ice-
landic likeness of “I am a sea-lion” in
the first song—giving birth to the "ho-
pelandish" hogwash. Sigur Rós were
onwards to more international acclaim
and countless reviews likening their
songs to "melting glaciers".
In 2003, rock quintet
Mínus hit the artistic
jackpot with their ex-
perimental hard rock
masterpiece named
after Iceland's beloved
Nobel laureate Halldór Laxness. This
was Mínus' third album and with noise
magician Curver on their side, the band
members—on a creative streak—just did
whatever the hell they wanted. The al-
bum is the opposite of conservatism
and normalcy, still as crisp and exciting
today as it was seven years ago.
In 2004, electric trou-
badour Mugison be-
came a smash hit with
his second album, the
sloppy but tight, very
experimental and flip-
pant ‘Mugimama Is This Monkeymu-
sic?’ Mugison had already made a
name for himself with his debut album,
‘Lonely Mountain’, released the year
before, but now nobody had to second-
guess his brilliance. Made in solitude in
West fjord village of Súðavík, the album
is adventurous and full of both fluffy
and chunky bits.
In 2005, England
based Emiliana Torrini
hit a true chord with
her ‘Fisherman's
Woman’. The singer/
songwriter had tried a
more complex pop with computerised
dance-beats on her ‘Love in the Time of
Science’ album in 1999 (her debut if
you don't count her earlier cover-al-
bums made in Iceland), but now she
was all hushed down, sincere and mini-
malistic, relying mostly on a trusty
acoustic guitar for support. Dealing
with emotions stemming from the
death of a loved one, Emiliana made a
heartfelt masterpiece.
In 2006 we were
warming up to 2007,
the year of total glut-
tony. Everybody was
apparently going
along with the money
flow, except Pönkbandið Fjölnir ("Fjöl-
nir, the Punkband") who came out of
nowhere to make their sole master-
piece ‘Sonur neyslusamfélagsins var
hér’ (or: “The Consumer Society’s Son
Was Here”). Of course few took notice
of the angry but smart punk rock and
likewise angry and smart lyrics, so Fjöl-
nir vanished without a trace. Even now I
don't know what people were in this
band but listening to the album still
makes me feel strangely joyous.
In 2007 Sprengjuhöllin
(“The Bomb Palace”)
came forth with ‘Tí-
marnir okkar’ (“Our
Times”), which, true to
its title, tried and suc-
ceeded in speaking popwise to "the
times". Sounding as clever as Jarvis
Cocker of Pulp in his prime—or Stuð-
menn and Spilverk þjóðanna in their
prime – Sprengjuhöllin saved demand-
ing listeners from the lyrical doldrums
of almost everything else at the time.
The music was fine indie pop and the
band flew to the knoll of Icelandic pop-
dom with the wistful breakup song
‘Verum í sambandi’.
In 2008 FM Belfast
were all about having
fun on their super jolly
‘How To Make Friends’.
The music came out of
Árni Rúnar Hlöðvers-
son's computers with his girlfriend and
friends singing and jumping around.
"We come from a place where we count
the days until nothing, nothing, noth-
ing…" is an unlikely party-anthem, but
such is the charm of FM Belfast.
2009 brought Hjaltalín
with their second al-
bum, ‘Terminal’. Show-
ing great promise on
their debut album two
years earlier, Högni
Egilsson and his gang now delivered a
complex and ambitious album totally
living up to expectations. Hjaltalín play
melodic and finely crafted pop songs,
often sounding grand and ornamented,
like it should be a James Bond movie
title track.
In 2010 Retro Stefson's
second album ‘Kimba-
bwe’ showed a band
busting at the seams
with creative joie de
vivre. Not shy of doing
whatever they felt like, Retro Stefson's
merry boys (and girl) mixed heavy met-
al with disco, indie pop with afro beats,
and so on. The tightness of the band
and the cleverness of how the band ap-
proaches the music is quite amazing as
the members are (almost) still in their
teens.
Reading the above one can infer
that all types of music were going on in
this decade of constantly evolving rock
and pop music. Obviously, the evolution
has slowed down though, almost to a
halt. All the ingredients are in the pot—
the stew is just constantly being stirred.
The music made in 2010 could have
been made in 2001, and vice versa. The
music is not going anywhere particular,
so you might as well sit back, relax and
enjoy. Maybe this century's first de-
cade will have some kind of collective
"sound" in retrospect—just like "sixties-
music" or "eighties-music"—but as of
now, I just can't pin it down. Future
generations might hear it though.
Not Going Anywhere In Particular The Most Important Hard,
Fast And Heavy Of 2001-10
Music | Dr. Gunni Music | Birkir Fjalar Viðarsson
The '00s fifty best albums
Dr. Gunni's
Best Albums Of The
Decade
2001
XXX Rottweiler hundar - XXX
Rottweiler hundar
Trabant - Moment Of Truth
Björk - Vespertine
Úlpa - Mea Culpa
Funerals - Pathetic Me
2002
Sigur Rós -( )
Apparat Organ Quartet - Apparat
Organ Quartet
Móri - Móri
múm - loksins erum við engin
Búdrýgindi - Kúbakóla
2003
Mínus - Halldór Laxness
Skytturnar - Illgresið
Maus - Musick
Botnleðja - Iceland National Park
Bang Gang - Something Wrong
2004
Mugison - Mugimama is this
monkeymusic?
Singapore Sling - Life Is Killing My
Rock’N’Roll
Jan Mayen - Home Of The Free
Indeed
Pornopop - And The Slow Songs
About The Dead Calm In Your
Hands
Quarashi - Guerilla Disco
2005
Emilíana Torrini - The Fisherman's
woman
Trabant - Emotional
Ég - Plata Ársins
Sigur Rós - Takk
Siggi Ármann - Music For The
Addicted
2006
Pönkbandið Fjölnir - Sonur
neyslusamfélagsins var hér
Eberg - Voff voff
Reykjavík! - Glacial Landscapes,
Religion, Oppression And Alcohol
Pétur Ben - Wine For My Weakness
Benni Hemm Hemm - Kajak
2007
Sprengjuhöllin - Tímarnir okkar
Megas - Frágangur / Hold er mold
Ólöf Arnalds -Við og við
Björk -Volta
Mugison - Mugiboogie
2008
FM Belfast - How to Make Friends
Morðingjarnir - Áfram Ísland!
Lay Low - Farewell Good Night’s
Sleep
Dr. Spock - Falcon Christ
Sigur Rós - Með suð í eyrum við
spilum endalaust
2009
Hjaltalín - Terminal
Bloodgroup - Dry Land
Dikta - Get It Together
Kimono - Easy Music For Diffficult
People
Caterpillarmen - Adopt a monkey
2010
Retro Stefson - Kimbabwe
Jónsi - Go Orgelkvartettinn
Apparat Organ Quartet- Pólýfónía
BlazRoca - Kópacobana
Agent Fresco - A long time
listening
No one wants to make a list like this.
You like to get stoned (no pun) to death
by disappointed band dorks? First I at-
tempted a list of five. I agonised over it.
Stretched it to ten. Tears still rolling. Ex-
ceeded ten but I still feel abused. Svar-
tidauði, Snafu, Myrk, Forgarður Helvíts,
Innvortis, DMSS etc. I know! Talk to me
in 2021.
Andlát – Mors Lon-
ga (2004)
Andlát won the Músík-
tilraunir ‘battle of the
bands’ (and in doing
so, helped make metal
cool again). Wasted no time and re-
corded this head-stomping collection,
securing a loyal fan base that followed
the band’s every riff and thudding beat.
Both were in plenty! The record isn’t
spectacular, but its music, their epic
win and loving fans yell “important!” at
me.
Brain Police – Brain
Police (2003)
Brain Police started
crafting their mastery
in ‘98. Undisputed
pioneers of all things
stoner and desert rock in Iceland. ‘Ja-
cuzzi Suzy’ and ‘Rocket Fuel’ are radio
hits. Regular Joes are now aware of
‘stoner rock’, and stoner/desert bands
keep popping up. Trailblazers in an Ice-
landic context. The crown is theirs.
Dys – Ísland brennur
(2003)
Anthemic hc/punk
with an odd metal un-
dertone. Every song is
a hit. The only punks
singing in Icelandic about social aware-
ness, responsibility, political resistance,
direct action and kindness. Mak-
ing sure that the hc/punk spectrum
wouldn’t become “entertainment only”.
Yes!
Gavin Portland –
Views Of Distant
Towns (2006)
Fighting Shit (band)
predates this release.
Still, sharing the same
main-songwriter and singer/lyricist the
two cannot be separated as GP brought
the best elements of FS’s last album,
built on it and added a more emotive
and refreshingly mysterious edge to it.
The “indie” dashes found herein en-
couraged young bands to venture fur-
ther.
Graveslime –
Roughness And
Toughness (2003)
Your head hurt, after
banging it too hard and
scratching it intensely
trying to figure out the stop-and-goes.
Heavy, organic, charming and playful, it
was one of the most peculiar and best
of the decade. Hear them in The Heavy
Experience and Me, The Slumbering
Napoleon alike.
I Adapt – Why Not
Make Today Leg-
endary? (2001)
WNMTL is important
through the lasting
effect it had through
constantly playing DIY concerts, push-
ing these songs to introduce different
styles of hardcore and going beyond
what was expected, to engage listen-
ers, as demonstrated in the lyrics + ex-
planations, addressing issues and opin-
ions rarely if ever on display at the time,
influencing a different communal spirit.
(Full disclosure: this list’s author is a
founding member of I Adapt. Everyone
still agrees that this should make the
list. Everyone that counts, anyway).
Klink – 666°N (2001)
Took all the nasty,
gritty and unpleasant
elements ‘90s metalc-
ore (before the glossy
magazines stole the
moniker) and made a four-song hom-
age to perversion, degradation, vio-
lence and drugs. And it’s a banger!
Holds up well still to this day and is a
sketchy ass classic.
Mínus – Halldór
Laxness (2003)
Gorgeous slap of ag-
gressive, sweaty and
dangerous stadium-
ready rock, it gave
a much needed kick in ass of young
bands and even the ones that pre-dat-
ed Mínus. Due to the record’s cross-
over potential and success at home and
abroad, other acts, with stars in their
eyes upped the ante, and as a result the
quality of Icelandic rock and metal grew
considerably. I still prefer ‘Jesus Christ
Bobby’ to ‘Halldór Laxness’, but its al-
lure was rare feat indeed and its impact
was felt for years after its release.
Momentum – Fixa-
tion, At Rest (2010)
They gave the words
ambition and grandi-
ose a new meaning.
It’s a breathtaking ex-
ploration of their own potential. Hom-
age to artistic aspiration and autonomy,
sprinkled with psychedelia. Raised the
bar for Icelandic metal. Now you can
shotgun beer and be artistically and
thoughtful at the same time.
Potentiam – Orka í
Myrkri (2004)
Moving beyond the
conventional com-
pounds atmo-scandi
Black Metal. This ma-
terial landed them a release on a re-
spected international label, showing
the rest of the well-hidden black metal
hopefuls that their isolation could be
undone. A feat not many BM bands be-
fore—or after—accomplished.
Severed Crotch –
Soul Cremation
(2007)
Internationally speak-
ing, it’s a bit hack-
neyed, but the band’s
debut release is so spirited and dedi-
cated that it immediately became an “it
had to happen” type of record. Brutal
and technical death metal had a lot of
fans here, yet there was not fully a func-
tioning band to pull the wagon. Subse-
quently contemporary DM brethrens
wanted to improve. The Crotchsters
brought more fun to metal shows.
Sólstafir – Master-
piece Of Bitterness
(2005)
One of Iceland’s old-
est, certainly longest
lasting, metal bands
turned a new page in their career. There
was change in style and approach. A
new sound was being established. New
ears were reached. The coordinates
said world domination, a road was
paved to ‘Köld’, their latest and best.
Now their closer to being a full-time
metal band than any Icelandic crew
before them. The steady success that
pushed Icelandic metal to new heights.