Reykjavík Grapevine - 15.07.2011, Page 30

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The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 10 — 2011
Music | Live Review
Secret House Music And
Eventual Rapture
We are all of the sudden getting loads of awesome bands
playing shows in and around Reykjavík! What's with
that? It's so nice!
Since moving to Reykjavík from Califor-
nia, I have been feeling starved of awe-
some shows. Whereas where I come
from, regardless of which direction your
tastes lie, a weekend means having to
pick and choose between shows to go
to; here in Iceland we're lucky if we get
an exciting show every few months,
and even then it might be on a Tues-
day. But it's among those things previ-
ously taken for granted that you earn a
newfound appreciation for—like sun on
a summer day, or a knoll that shelters
from the wind. So imagine my excite-
ment getting to see a show at NASA
with two of my favourite bands, Caribou
and special guest Sin Fang. I got my
butt off the mountain I've been living on
and went straight into town.
SIN FANG PLAY SECRET HOUSE
MUSIC
When a couple years ago Sindri Már
Sigfússon started his new project, Sin
Fang, in which he writes the songs,
sings, and plays acoustic guitar, I won-
dered: what's he doing? Doesn't he al-
ready do that in Seabear? But now it's
of course perfectly clear—the Sin Fang
(then still going by the name "Sin Fang
Bous") debut full-length ‘Clangour,’ re-
leased in 2009, prefigured the stylistic
changes that Caribou would undergo
with the release of last year's ‘Swim,’
culminating in the two bands sharing
the stage last night. Listen to ‘Clangour’
again. It's secretly house music. Sure,
it's cool tinkly indie on top, but on the
bottom it's four-to-the-floor kick driv-
ing it from start to finish. And to great
effect!
Sin Fang kicked off the show shortly
after 22:00. NASA’s big hall was already
filling up, as apparently every hip young
twentysomething in Reykjavík was
in attendance. Sin Fang performed a
mix of songs from both ‘Clangour’ and
their still-hot-off-the-press ‘Summer
Echoes.’ Sindri is also currently work-
ing on recording songs for the third Sin
Fang album.
Performances from either of Sin-
dri's bands are always good—always
tight and well balanced. One wonders
whether there could be a little more
performance in their performance. But
not enough to be disappointed.
They had one hiccup, with their
closing song—apparently some confu-
sion about the key of a song, or whether
it was the right song at all. Whatever it
was, for a couple awkward minutes it
was like a car that just wouldn't start.
But when they got it going it was met
with an enthusiastic cheer that could
have been in response to hearing the
first bars of a hot new hit or simply im-
pulsive reassurance. I'm not sure. Either
way, it went over well.
ENTER CARIBOU
Shortly thereafter, Caribou took the
stage, bathed in white light and exud-
ing an English-speaking personability
and friendliness that is unmistakably
Canadian. Caribou is led by Dan Snaith,
and if I didn't know better I'd think his
PhD was in the field of kick drum (I get
one cheesy joke). He is joined live by
three others, everybody with their own
arsenal of instruments—of both the
electronic and "organic" varieties.
Having released such an eclectic
range of music—the bits of breakbeat in
‘Up In Flames’ (2003), the krautrock of
‘The Milk Of Human Kindness’ (2005),
the Polaris-prize winning psychedelic
sunshine pop of ‘Andorra’ (2009), and
now the deep house of last year's wild-
ly popular ‘Swim’—it must be hard for
Caribou to cater to fans who are pre-
sumably just as diverse. Last night they
stuck mostly to songs from ‘Swim,’ with
a ‘Swim’-feeling throughout. Still, they
treated us older fans to a couple nug-
gets from Andorra, including the haunt-
ing ‘Melody Day.’
Electronic bands take note: That guy
in your band who pretends to "play" the
mixer—hide him in back. And I don't
mean the far end of the stage; I mean
backstage. Caribou delivered electron-
ic dance music with an intensity that
only comes with performance. They
were actually playing the music. With
real instruments. With real intensity.
With real musicianship (they were even
controlling the lights with their feet).
Dan Snaith moved fluidly between key-
board, guitar, a second drumkit and
even a flute-o-phone.
They were tight and they didn't let
up. The set was building and building,
destination ‘Odessa.’ When that weird
hook of their dance hit finally broke,
the crowd swooned with rapture. This
was only to be out-done by the encore. I
think consensus held that it was a great
show.
Words
!órir Bogason
Photography
Alisa Kalyanova
Caribou
Sin Fang
NASA 28/6/2011
Wilburys are back
son, Pétur Eyvinds-
son, Stilluppsteypa
and DJ Musician
take a break from
creating ambient
Their fourth album
is a more focused,
beat driven affair
There are exquisite
electro moments
Music | Review
Caribou and Sin Fang play NASA
Iceland’s electronic Travelling Wil-
burys are back as BJ Nilsen, Jóhann
Jóhannsson, Pétur Eyvindsson, Stillup-
psteypa and DJ Musician take a break
from creating ambient drones.
Their fourth album is a more focused,
beat driven affair with a ‘80s hard
electro/proto techno sound. There are
exquisite electro moments (‘Isabelle
Adjani’, ‘Cafe Eindhoven’), but Jesus,
there are some shockingly nasty synth
sounds on this record that you’d expect
from the likes of Mercedes Club,
especially the track ‘Divine Sensual
Love Fantasy’. A serviceable effort,
but who’d have thought that Jóhann
Jóhannsson was a secret Technotronic
fan?
- BOB CLUNESS
Evil Madness
Super Great Love
evil666madness
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