Reykjavík Grapevine - 07.06.2013, Qupperneq 36

36

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Dáðadrengir
“Allar stelpur úr að ofan”
Dáðadrengir have a special place in
Grapevine’s history. The same year
the paper was founded this band won
first place at Músíktilraunir for its joy-
ful take on Icelandic rap. “Allar stelpur
úr að ofan” (“All girls topless”) is the
only official single that the band has
released and it’s a perfect song to get
our party started.
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Singapore Sling
“Guiding Light”
The Summer of 2004, Sling released
their sophomore album ‘Life Is Killing
My Rock 'N' Roll.’ The most thrilling
moments of that fantastic album come
from the song “Guiding Light”—
named after singer Henrik’s favourite
soap opera. The interaction between
the Moog Synthesizer and one noted
guitar feedback mesmerise the listen-
er to the extreme. The song oozes so
much cool that you could bottle it.
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Trabant
“The One”
(Filthy Dukes remix)
Trabant were “The One,” a unique
phenomenon in the canon of Icelan-
dic music. A postmodern electronic
glam band with gallons of glitter,
equal parts obscenity, sincerity and
irony (though they would never admit
that much), they are sorely missed.
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Reykjavík!
“All Those Beautiful Boys”
“All Those Beautiful Boys” off the band
Reykjavík!’s first album, ‘Glacial Land-
scapes, Religion, Oppression & Alco-
hol,’ is the perfect gay anthem for a city
that has become increasingly more gay
friendly over this past decade.
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GusGus
“Moss”
While Icelandic bankers were high
on cocaine and cheap interest-rates,
GusGus were apparently high on love,
throwing each other into moss and
expanding minds. The banks failed
but GusGus are still the undisputed
royalty of the domestic dance-scene.
This song moves a crowd faster than
riot police with tear gas and fire hoses.
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FM Belfast
“Par Avion”
The song is so catchy that its final eu-
phoric sing-along could be repeated
at concerts for up to 20 minutes with
everybody shouting along the whole
time. The chorus is so big it could be
a soccer anthem, and we mean that in
a good way. If only we all had houses
in the Caribbean.
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Nolo
“Beautiful Way”
This is three minutes and 30 sec-
onds of perfect lo-fi from a band that
named their first album ‘No-lo-fi,’ a
wordplay on their name and sound.
The catchy as hell drum machine in
the beginning of the song draws you
in and you’re hooked for life.
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Apparat Organ Quartet
“123 Forever”
A unique homebred blend of Kraft-
werk and classic rock & roll, Apparat
finally released their second album in
eight years and the fans ate it up. The
song “123 Forever” is all build-up and
blissful rewards; no Icelandic band
has put vocoders to such good use.
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Prins Póló
“Niðrá Strönd”
(Sexy Schidt Rework by
Jack Schidt and Sexy Lazer)
In December 2011, Prins Póló per-
formed their masterpiece “Niðrá
Strönd” with local hero Megas on the
television show Hljómskálinn. What
a great way that was to close a year
in which a remix of the song by Jack
Schidt and Sexy Lazer was played in
every bar and club in Reykjavík.
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Retro Stefson
“Glow”
Last year’s major hit is a cross be-
tween Prince and Masters at Work.
Its rhythmic structure has a biological
effect on your hips and feet and the
monster chorus and soulful backing
vocals nail every dance floor they are
projected onto.
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Sin Fang
“What’s Wrong
With Your Eyes”
Sing Fang’s latest album is his best
one yet. The first song has a glitzy
electronic rhythm with endless layers
of interwoven sounds and melodies.
Sindri’s fragile voice still manages to
cut through it all, providing an anchor
for the abundance of ideas that the
song harbours.
Music
It Wouldn’t Be
A Grapevine Party Without….
Some Music Of Course!
It’s been ten years since the first copy of Grapevine saw the Icelandic midnight sun and
that certainly calls for an all caps PARTY. For that occasion Straum.is has compiled a list of
10 party hearty songs, one from each year in the last decade (plus we couldn’t resist one
from this year too). Without further ado:
Straum.is has been active since
last summer, with writers Óli
Dóri and Davið Roach docu-
menting the local music scene
and helping people discover the
best new music. It is associated
with the radio show Straumur on
X977, which airs every Monday
evening at 23:00.