Reykjavík Grapevine - 15.07.2011, Blaðsíða 31

31
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 10 — 2011
The ‘80s were, perhaps surprisingly,
something of a golden age for Ice-
landic pop lyrics. Socially conscious,
verbally biting artists competed in de-
fining their society with the aid of the
Icelandic language, usually accompa-
nied by rather straightforward rock in-
strumentation or the synthesisers that
were the hallmark of the era. Sometime
after the international success of Björk
and Sigur Rós, the emphasis shifted to
often wildly original music. Sadly, less
attention has been paid to the lyrics,
not least since most artists keep one
eye on an international audience that
suddenly started to take an interest
in Icelandic music. Ironically, as other
people became more interested in Ice-
land, Icelandic musicians became less
interested in singing about it.
The ‘80s masterpieces have mostly
held up well (see last December’s issue
for more on this), give or take the afore-
mentioned synths and the omnipres-
ent drum reverb. One of the foremost
practitioners of the craft was a certain
Bjartmar Gu!laugsson, who made a
slew of brilliant albums in the early ‘80s
to ‘90s, before disappearing to concen-
trate on his other passion, that of paint-
ing.
NO NEW PUNKS, BUT THE HIPPIES
RISE AGAIN
The economic collapse has not so far
led to any new punk-style movement in
Iceland, unlike that what the IMF inter-
vention in Great Britain in 1976 argu-
ably produced as a reaction. Perhaps
this was because Icelandic musicians
mostly stood outside the boom to be-
gin with, but in any case, no Icelandic
version of The Clash has so far mate-
rialised.
Just when his country needs him,
Bjartmar has stepped forth golem like-
again with his new band, Bergrisarnir
(the name refers to one of Iceland’s
protecting spirits). It is perhaps the
most brazenly political album to appear
after the collapse and largely succeeds
in its attempt. The music is competently
executed but unspectacular. Where the
album shines (and this might be of little
help to non-Icelandic speaking listen-
ers) is in the lyricism.
The major events of the years 2008-
2010 are tackled here. Some of the im-
agery is amusingly anachronistic. In the
song ‘Í gallann Allan’, the protagonist, a
riot policeman in full gear, calls his op-
ponents “new hippie trash,” rather than
anarchists. The point is further made
in ‘Velkominn á bísann’, when one of
said hippies listens to Jethro Tull while
lighting a bonfire, probably outside the
Parliament building, and wants to flee
from the future into the past, some
imaginary past no doubt where people
were inspired more by the mountains
than by money.
CLASSIC DRUNKS VS. NEW MON-
EY
This leads into a song called simply
‘Pening’ (“Money”), and the chorus:
“Why do you need so much money?” A
question that should have been asked
years before, come to think of it. One
of the best songs is ‘Konan á allt’ (“The
wife owns everything”). The title is a
reference to bankers’ habit of register-
ing all their possessions to their wife in
the event of collapse, which made them
harder to retrieve by the bankers’ vic-
tims. The lyrics are an amusing contrast
to the old Bjartmar classic ‘Sumarli!i er
fullur’, about a drunk who claims to do
everything much better than his neigh-
bour. That in itself could have been a
good summary of the boom years, but
here the point is made even clearer.
This time the protagonist owns the fish
in the sea, the politicians and eventu-
ally he owns the ruins that he has re-
duced everything to. So that’s why all
the money was needed, then.
The points are simply made but ef-
fectively, much like Neil Young’s trea-
tise on the Bush years, ‘Living With
War’. Both albums would make great
campfire sing-alongs to remind us of
the worst excesses of that troubled
first decade of the 21st century which
is now thankfully over.
Welcome back, Bjartmar. We have
missed you.
- BOB CLUNESS
Music | Review
Bjartmar og Bergrisarnir
Skr"tin Veröld
Predates internet. See: LIBRARY
Welcome back, Bjartmar. We have
missed you.
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