Reykjavík Grapevine - 10.08.2012, Síða 35

CONCERT
JIMI TENOR
IN THE NORDIC HOUSE
AUGUST 17.TH
AT 21:00AUTOBAHN
PHOTOGRAPHY BY JIMI TENOR
IN THE NORDIC HOUSE
ON CULTURE NIGHT AT 14:00
GUIDED TOURS WITH THE ARTIST AT 15:00 AND 16:00
CURATOR: RAGNHEIÐUR KRISTÍN PÁLSDÓTTIR
CONCERT
R E V I E W
ERT
R E V I E W
35 The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 12 — 2012
Joe Dubius
Rainy day in the park
2012
Unquestionable
commitment
Joe Dubius is almost everything that a listener could want
in a folk artist. Flaunting rough and tumble vocals (free of
likeminded artist Ryan Adams’s hipper-than-thou posturing),
he’s first and foremost a down-and dirty bluesman. And therein lies the
issue. Dubius’s white-knuckled commitment to traditionalism leaves
‘Rainy Day In The Park’ on lockstep with the past, not honouring those
who came before him so much as aping them.
Limited to talk of life on the road and all the wanton women, late
night whiskey, and dubious companionship that life brings with it, Joe
finds himself weighed down with tropes already explored thousands of
times before. Which would be fine if we believed him for even a second.
Perhaps in the age of the Internet it’s disingenuous to play the origin
card, but Dubius’s lacquer-heavy tales of life untamed sound more like
the product of a well-stocked audio/visual collection than any firsthand,
hardscrabble knowledge.
At least he’s got the requisite technical chops. “One Horse Town”
shows off a sophisticated strumming pattern, accented with a light
harmonica accompaniment. Meanwhile the title track is a dark cabaret-
style jam so slinky, you might be tempted to dance. Still, it’s tough not to
feel like you’ve heard it all before. - LAURA STUDARUS
All Is Weill With
Sigríður Thorlacius
Café Rósenberg is to music what Bíó Paradís is to movies. It is somewhere the enthusi-
ast can go to really enjoy his or her
preferred art form, rather than have it
as a backdrop to dates or discussions,
popcorn or beer. Not that the place
isn’t packed, mind, and they do have
beer; it’s that people come here to
really listen.
Every night there is a live concert
going on, with performers ranging
everywhere from proto-punk legend
Jonathan Richman to local legends
Gylfi, Rúnar and Megas. On the
first night of August, we enjoyed the
performance of talented songstress
Sigríður Thorlacius, best known for
singing with Hjaltalín and for resur-
recting long lost Icelandic folk tunes.
This time, however, she turned her
attention to Weimar Berlin.
Kurt Weill may not be as well
known in Iceland as in his homeland,
so it’s gratifying to hear part of his
great oeuvre on an Icelandic stage.
Former Sugarcubes drummer and
TV host Sigtryggur Baldursson once
made an album of his songs in Ger-
man, French, Icelandic and English.
Inevitably, he can be seen in the
crowd.
Sigríður mostly performs in Eng-
lish, concentrating not just on Weill’s
Berlin work with Berthold Brecht, but
also on this later Broadway career, af-
ter he was forced to f lee his homeland
during the Nazi takeover. Some of
the best known songs from this later
period include “September Song,”
“Lost in the Stars” and “Speak Low,”
which became standards for crooners
like Sinatra and are also played here.
Between songs, she relays tidbits
from his life, sometimes while the
musicians tune up. The arrange-
ments are tasteful, with piano,
cello and a couple of wind-blowers.
Apart from the English, we also get
“Youkali” in French (also performed
as an instrumental intermezzo) and
it inevitably ends with “Mack The
Knife”—sung in Icelandic.
No doubt we’ll see more of
Sigríður on Iceland’s stages, but
hopefully we will also be regaled with
more of Kurt Weill before too long.
- VALUR GUNNARSSON
MUSIC
Café Rósenberg
Klapparstígur 2501
AUGUST
CafeRosenberg
Sigríður Thorlacius