Reykjavík Grapevine - 08.04.2011, Síða 39

Léttöl
YOuR FANCY RMM vENuES
THE NORDIC HOuSE
Though not traditionally a concert venue, The Nordic
House has long celebrated culture in all its various forms .
SÓDÓMA REYKJAvíK
With its cramped quarters, excellent sound system and
central location, Sódóma is the quintessential Icelandic
music venue .
NASA
Inarguably the classiest of Reykjavík’s venues, NASA’s
slick décor and plush carpets belie the wild partying that
goes on at the dance-floor .
YOuR FANCY RMM ARTISTS
PRINSPÓLÓ
Prinspóló is lovely indie lo-fi from the heart of Iceland . A
one-man operation in the studio, it takes to the stage with
endearing wit and charm as a full band .
NIvE NIELSEN
Greenland-born Nive Nielsen brings simple, country-
themed folk into its own with a hazy, narcotic production
that is as endearing as it is intriguing .
SÓLEY
Dreamy and ethereal, Sóley’s piano-driven ballads recall
Cat Power and Joanna Newsom at their most assured and
elusive .
STAFRÆNN HÁKON
Ranging from minute, intimate guitar twinkling and mini-
mal pitter-patter drum patterns to massive, apocalyptic
noise crescendos, Stafrænn Hákon’s music seems to span
the entire bracket of alternative music .
SAMARIS
With slow, minimal programming accompanying husky
vocals and a sombre clarinet, recent Músíktilraunir win-
ners Samaris might just be the next big thing in Icelandic
techno .
NOLO
Tough, genre-driven soundscaping experimentation and
outstanding pop hooks make Nolo one of Iceland’s most
interesting bands since… well, ever .
FOSSILS
Raging, intense and malicious rock, Fossils make the kind
of music that gets you thinking about switching to a meat-
only diet and endorsing cannibalism .
EINAR ÖRN + SWC
Einar Örn and Sudden Weather Change mark two dispa-
rate generations of Icelandic alternative guitar music, and
will combine at the Music Mess to produce gloriously mis-
understood results .
ÆLA
Skewed, off-kilter and maddeningly obscure, Æla’s proto-
punk veers calamitously from song to song with little time
or patience for explanation .
AGENT FRESCO
Agent Fresco have been all but crowned the princes of
Icelandic stadium rock, with their soaring operatic vocals,
snaking chugga-chugga guitar riffs and hard-battered
drums .
AMFJ
A one-man death march of genocidal sound destruction,
AMFJ would never do anything he’s told, so we won’t even
bother to predict what he’ll be like at the Music Mess .
BORKO
Fruity synth and sample fiddling accompanied by melodi-
ous acoustic guitar, Borko’s music has been described as
being ‘like tiptoeing through a field of daisies while having
a bath of champagne .’
DEERHuNTER
An energetic, adventurous pop-rock band from the Amer-
ican heartland, Deerhunter have never been too indie to
throw some sloppy rock awesomeness into their music
over their ten-year career .
HELLvAR
This noise team smashes together emotion-laden synth-
pop and snarling guitar hooks to make an invigorating
soup of sound .
ÉG
Wholesome folk-rock goodness from one of Iceland’s
most underrated satirists, Ég have recently emerged from
hiatus to remind people what music was like when it was
still music .
KIMONO
Kimono has, of late, been redrawing the battle plans for
Icelandic indie with their epic post-rock compositions .
KIPPI KANINuS
Roomy, atmospheric musical experimentation defines
Kippi Kaninus, whose contributions to the Icelandic ex-
perimental scene over the years have been invaluable .
LÁRA RÚNARS
The energetic pop stylings of Lára Rúnars seldom fail to
amuse and delight, with their carefully laden indie instru-
mentation and catchy singalongs .
LAZYBLOOD + REYKJAvíK!
Premiering their ‘TICKLING DEATH MACHINE’ show that
will run at the Kunstenfestivaldesarts in Belgium this May,
rockist noisemongers Reykjavík! and their sister band,
electro-rockist noisemongers Lazyblood will be sure to
surprise at RMM .
LOWER DENS
Smoky, laid-back guitar hooks and hollow vocals abound
in the music of Baltimore four-piece Lower Dens, and they
look to be a band worth watching .
MIRI
Young alt-rock heroes from east Iceland, Miri have made
a name for themselves in recent years as an innovative,
inventive and altogether fascinating live act .
MuGISON
Blazing a trail that’s led him from skittish experimentation
to atmospheric movie soundtracks to full-blown angst-
ridden cock-rock, Mugison has long been considered one
of Iceland’s finest indie heroes .
ORPHIC OxTRA
Orphic Extra’s lively, Balkan-style folk pop is nothing short
of onstage insanity, with its organized chaos flying all over
the place .
QuADRuPLOS
Slick dubstep infused with all the verve and vigour of Ice-
land’s flourishing techno scene, Quadruplos will most as-
suredly get loud at Music Mess .
SIN FANG
The euphoric product of one of the Icelandic indie scene’s
favourite sons, Sin Fang continues to enthral with its care-
fully crafted pop symphonies .
SKAKKAMANAGE
This rough, homegrown indie band infuses some fun into
the often-drab realities of existence in Iceland, with its
tell-it-like-it-is lyrics and DIY production style .
SuDDEN WEATHER CHANGE
The introverted teen anthems of Sudden Weather Change
find a boisterous outlet in their charismatic live shows .
SWORDS OF CHAOS
With beats and riffs carefully designed for maximum-
efficiency head-banging and moshing, the brutal battery
of hardcore punk that is Swords Of Chaos has become
something of a local legend .
TOMuTNOTTu
Hypnotic ambient from Iceland’s closest cultural relatives,
the Finns, Tomutnottu is as utterly incomprehensible and
yet irresistibly entertaining as the nation that spawned the
one-man act .