Reykjavík Grapevine - 04.02.2011, Qupperneq 22

22
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 2 — 2011
The Sugarcubes
Music | Dr. Gunni’s History Of Icelandic Rock / Part 27
World Domination Or Death!
Scoring a ‘Single of the Week’ in the
English music press doesn't necessary
mean the instant access to the big time,
but in The Sugarcubes’ case it did. Af-
ter ‘Birthday’ got the honour, One Little
Indian Records was swamped with in-
terview requests and offers from record
companies, both indies and majors. In
the same week in October 1987, The
Sugarcubes graced the front covers of
both The NME and Melody Maker. As
would become customary, Björk was
put in the forefront while the band stood
in the back, a bit out of focus. As music
from Iceland was an exotic novelty, most
of the interviews became a tourism pro-
motion for Iceland—"Such a strange
country, they eat puffins and drink
Brennivín all the time, etc, etc..." This
would be the standard style of Icelandic
music coverage for decades to come.
SuRRealiSTic pop
As was to be expected, the attention
from abroad increased the band’s Ice-
landic fan base. The venues were sud-
denly packed with hipsters when the
band played local shows. All kinds of
wild record deal offers were dutifully
covered by the Icelandic media, and El-
lert B. Schram, editor of the newspaper
DV, wrote an outraged editorial when
the band declined an offer that amount-
ed to "a brand new trawler". For years to
come Sugarcubes bassist Bragi Ólafs-
son would send Ellert postcards from
all over the world, relaying made-up
excess stories of the band on the road.
Eventually, as "artistic freedom" was
regarded over cashmoney, the expand-
ing One Little Indian Records went on
to sign the band for Europe while Ele-
ktra Records got the American deal.
The Sugarcubes’ first album, ‘Life's
Too Good’—a title derived from poet
Jóhamar's sigh of enjoyment after a
hearty meal—was released in April 1988
and scored glowing reviews in Europe.
The album contains such classic surre-
alistic pop songs as ‘Cold Sweat’, ‘Deus’
and ‘Motorcrash’, which were all re-
leased as singles. The video for ‘Motor-
crash’ featured the slick American se-
dan cars that the Sugarcubes had spent
some of their record deal advance on.
The video was directed by Björk's new
boyfriend, Óskar Jónasson, who would
later direct videos for ‘Planet’ and ‘Regí-
na’ as well. In other love affair news, the
new girlfriend of guitarist Þór Eldon,
Margrét Örnólfsdóttir (of Risaeðlan),
turned up on keyboards that the sum-
mer, completing the band’s line-up.
Besides spending their new found
pop money on American cars, The
Sugarcubes were always very kind and
supportive to up-and-coming Icelandic
bands. They released their music on
their Smekkleysa imprint and brought
some of them along on tour, like my
own band S. H. Draumur, which sup-
ported them in England in May 1988.
Later, Ham, Risaeðlan (Reptile) and
Bless (me again) would take baby steps
on foreign soil with support from Smek-
kleysa, playing for more than the usual
crowd of 200 Icelanders and having
their records released abroad under the
far-fetched war cry of "world domina-
tion or death!"
ShooT The SinGeR!
After Europe, The Sugarcubes went to
conquer America. The highlight of the
tour was undoubtedly in September
of 1988, at New York’s The Ritz. David
Bowie—who had jokingly been put on
all of Kukl's guest lists—finally showed
up, and Iggy Pop—an old favourite—did
too. At the time, ‘Life's Too Good’ had
sold about 100.000 copies in England
and 350.000 in America. Eventually the
album would sell well over a million
copies. Finally, after decades of struggle
and starry-eyed expectations, Iceland
had its first universally known—even fa-
mous—rock band.
At this point in time The Sugarcubes
were put in rock star mode with end-
less tours all over the globe. The second
album saw release in October of 1989.
It was released in English as ‘Here To-
day, Tomorrow Next Week’ (quoting
Toad from ‘The Wind In The Willows’)
and in Icelandic as ‘Illur arfur!’ (“Evil
Heritage!”). It was the Sugarcubes only
Icelandic language LP, even though the
band always sang Icelandic when they
performed back home.
A new album meant more tour-
ing. “Around this time we turned into a
rock band machine and lost sight of the
creative side," Einar Örn later admitted.
The second album sold a bit less than
the debut, and in the English media the
backlash hit full force. Einar especially
got the brunt of the UK press’ ire—Mel-
ody Maker's John White went as far as
suggesting the singer should be shot
so his yap would stop. All the endless
touring got on people's nerves, so after
the band finally reached Iceland in May
1990, it took a well-deserved break.
My head waS abouT To explode
In retrospect the band was mentally
finished at this time, but still it would
dangle on until 1992. During their break,
Björk sang Icelandic fifties pop songs
on the ‘Gling Gló’ album with The Guð-
mundur Ingólfsson Trio (an album that
keeps selling to this day, and remains
her bestselling album in Iceland), and
her and most of the other ‘cubes got to-
gether in a 14 strong big band, Konrad
B's Big Band (‘Konrad B’ being Bragi
the bassist on drums). The band's can-
tor was Sugarcubes drummer Sigtryg-
gur, appearing as “Bogomil Font”. After
the Sugarcubes, Bogomil would lead his
own band, The Millionaires, performing
mambo, salsa and cha cha cha, gaining
a considerable local following. One of
few Sugarcubes gigs at this time was at
their old hangout, tiny club Duus Hús,
where they played at the request of the
French president Jacques Mitterand
and French Culture Minister (and
Sugarcubes fan) Jacques Lang.
Björk was especially tired of the sta-
tus quo. "The Sugarcubes were a group
of people that met at my place," she said
in a 1990 interview. "We were different
people, did not have much in common
musically, had very different ideas of
how to do things, but decided to form
a pop band as a joke. We thought this
was very funny, but we were always in
the process of forming other bands.
Accidentally this hobby thing just be-
came the main thing. I realised last
year (1989) that all of my time was being
spent on a hobby."
Björk's musical search led her to-
wards the electric scene. She made
some music with 808 State in Man-
chester just to get it off her chest. "I had
to do it ‘cos my head was about to ex-
plode," she later remarked.
bono callS
There was still one more Sugarcubes
album to be made according to their
contract. Recording commenced in
May of 1991 in a studio in Woodstock,
New York. Björk tried to get her electric
ideas across, to little avail. The record-
ing process was a tiring chore and after
the album was finished, Björk decided
to quit the band. However, she agreed to
do a few promotional tours beforehand.
‘Stick Around For Joy’ came out in
February 1992 and included still more
happy pop, with one of the songs, ‘Hit’,
sailing to #17 on the English chart,
matching Mezzoforte's chart success of
1983.
Offers for American support slots
came in from The Cure and The B-52's,
but it wasn't until U2 called that The
Sugarcubes said: “OK, let's do it.” So
during October and November of 1992,
The Sugarcubes appeared in 17 of the
'Zooropa' concerts across America,
performing for a total of 700.000 people.
A remix album, ‘It's It’, (some members
referred to it as “It's Shit”) was released
before Christmas 1992, and the band
played its final concert at Reykjavík club
Tunglið at that same time. No death cer-
tificate was issued, but the band was no
more (at least not until their 2004 come-
back gig in Reykjavík).
Björk was well on her way with her
debut LP (second if you count her 1977
album). For her, it was no hobby mu-
sic, but the real thing. The album, ‘De-
but’, was scheduled for release in July
of 1993 on One Little Indian. The most
optimistic people at the label thought it
might shift 20.000 copies.
Photos:
1. Happy Happy Joy Joy – The Sugar-
cubes in 1989.
2. The Sugarcubes’ three studio albums,
‘Life's Too Good’, ‘Here Today Tomorrow
Next Week’ and ‘Stick Around For Joy’.
Nathan Hall is a composer and artist on a Fulbright Fellowship
to Iceland this year. He can be reached through www.nathan-
hall.net.
Music | Live Review
Reykjavík’s Dark Music Days Festival (Myrkir
Músíkdagar) is a bit like Iceland Airwaves, if
Airwaves catered mostly to hip classical mu-
sicians, threw in a ton of contrabass instru-
ments, and was operated entirely by about four
people. This year, the usual multi-week festival
was squashed into three-and-a-half days, ex-
hausting my ears in the same way as Airwaves
did, only this time with more sixteenth notes
and fewer earplugs.
ThuRSday
The festival kicked off with a grand concert
by the Iceland National Symphony. Daníel
Bjarnason’s conducting of György Ligeti’s ‘At-
mospheres’ squeezed out of the double bass
section a low sustained note more fantastically
vulgar than I’ve ever heard in orchestral mu-
sic. Steingrímur Rohloff’s ‘Clarinet Concerto’
could have just given me the parts of the piece
featuring growling, didgeridoo-like squeals for
the bass clarinet, and I would have been per-
fectly content. The composition, and Rúnar Ós-
karsson’s performance as soloist, particularly
showcased the bass clarinet as well-balanced
against the forces of the full orchestra.
Daníel conducted his own ‘Birting’, the
crowning achievement of the evening. Daníel’s
work was full of primordial shifts of light and
darkness, mysterious and unexpected sounds
at just the right moments. I went home com-
forted.
FRiday
The onslaught of events began on Friday at
lunchtime, with one-hour events placed at
roughly three-hour intervals until late in the
night. At Kristín Jónína’s lecture, Þorkell Sig-
urbjörnsson mentioned that for years he had to
have an unlisted phone number after receiving
threatening calls—apparently nothing made
Icelanders angrier than his hosting an avant-
garde music programme on the radio during
rush hour.
Sigurður Sævarsson’s ‘Missa Pacis’ was
hauntingly beautiful, performed in the darkly-
lit Neskirkja. The restraint of the vocal writing
made the work’s deliciously full moments shine
even more. It is soon to be a Hljómeyki Choir hit
when it’s released on CD.
The electro-acoustic performances at
Hugmyndahúsið in the late evening included
several works featuring altered found sounds.
Ríkharður Friðriksson stood on stage for his
piece, writing out computer code that pro-
pelled the work in real-time. Strangely en-
thralling.
SaTuRday
The highlight from Hnúkaþeyr Wind Octet
was ‘Andar’ by Anna Þorvaldsdóttir, contain-
ing ideas ‘under the influence of breathing
and tidal waves’. It was also a perfect nod to
the sounds of pounding waves of rain on Kjar-
valsstaðir’s roof. Dark Music Days this year was
sponsored by Iceland’s worst winter weather:
wind, rain, slush, and snow coming at you from
all directions.
Kira Kira’s late-night concert at Norðurpól-
linn was…eclectic. I bet that she could leave
out the heavy reverb and echo effects and
still have interesting pieces left over. For most
of the evening I thought to myself, if I would
feature all these low-sounding instruments:
double basses, cornet, contrabass clarinet–I’d
definitely have a tuba as well.
Sunday
Pulling myself together after a long night (it
was the weekend, after all), I took a bus to CA-
PUT’s performance of Atli Heimir Sveinsson’s
‘5-hjóladrif’ at Norðurpóllinn. The two dancers
on stage sadly only performed during a fifth of
the work, but Atli Heimir’s multi-genre, vigor-
ous and virtuosic (read: ‘crazy’) writing held
my interest.
The final concert of the festival was held
at the National Gallery (Listasafn Íslands), an
acoustically dull but obviously artful venue
for the Reykjavík Chamber Orchestra. Hlynur
Vilmarsson’s ‘Héxié’ for piano, strings, and
low-frequency pulsing electronics conveyed
a stillness that resonated the best through the
museum’s space. Arnold Schoenberg’s ‘Verk-
lärte Nacht’ was the final work on the pro-
gramme, with intense anguish that melted into
sighs of romance, and finally into an uplifting
spiritual breath. It was also the bookend to the
symphony concert a few nights before; it tied
together many of the works over the weekend
that seemed to explore inhalation and exhala-
tion, the passions of simply being alive.
These kinds of festivals are a rare oppor-
tunity to hear so much contemporary music
for such a reasonable price. Much like I expe-
rienced at Airwaves, I found it best to just be a
‘sponge’, soaking up all of the highs and lows of
new classical music in Iceland today, and tak-
ing them home to ponder.
dark Music days
naThan hall
This is the type of music that ex-
perts and self-appointed authorities
on what’s cool make fun of or are
intimidated by. ‘The Order Of Things’
is equal part a display of: the joyous-
ness of playing with individuals that
gel together, yeswecanism (evident
in how they rejoice in riffs, vocals and
song structures most avoid) and an
unashamed homage to their influences
(Theater Of The Absurd, Mr. Bungle,
Fantomas and metal). Going in, I had
my reservations. Coming out, I was
happy as a donkey in an ‘80s arcade.
At first the herky-jerky nature of the
whole thing annoyed me but quickly
it made all the sense in the world. It
flows and these guys have a panache
rarely found in Icelandic bands that
don’t fit particular trends.
If you couldn’t stomach proggy
music that’s also abrasive and scatter-
brained, you will not like this. But if you
want to try, it’s the best place to start.
‘The Order Of Things’ is energetic,
twisted, eventful, oddly catchy and fun
as hell. It’ll give you plenty to chew on.
- biRkiR FjalaR viðaRSSon
ask The Slave
The Order Of Things
asktheslave
Fuck the haters
With ‘Átján og hundrað’, Prins Póló cre-
ated one of Iceland’s more hideously
catchy songs of 2009. Fast forward a
year and Svavar Pétur Eysteinsson’s (of
Skakkamanage) one-man project (now
called Prins Póló) again enchants with
the same lo-fi acoustic pop, this time
with the debut album ‘Jukk’.
However on this occasion there’s
a more expansive, psychedelic bent
to the music, as if Svavar has just
discovered the Beta Band’s ‘3 EPs’
for the first time. The songs sound
loose and free, usually starting with a
simple continuous acoustic riff that’s
allowed to roam the hills before the
other instruments realise it’s missing
and decide to wander off to find it.
Despite the greater ambition, it’s still
as ramshackle as ever (the tambourine
bashings on ‘Njótum afans’ sound so
out of time it’s practically in time).
Many albums often try to do the whole
‘happy loose pop’ shtick, but Jukk not
only pulls it off, it make it look easy as
well.
- bob cluneSS
prins póló
Jukk
www. prinspolo.com
If a winning formula ain’t broke,
don’t try to fix it.
Music | CD Reviews
By Dr. Gunni (Based on his book Eru ekki allir í stuði from 2001). We hear the
good doctor is working on an updated version of the book for 2011!