Reykjavík Grapevine - 07.06.2013, Síða 37

Reykjavík Grapevine - 07.06.2013, Síða 37
37 MADE IN ICELAND www.jswatch.com With his legendary concentration and 45 years of experience our Master Watchmaker ensures that we take our waterproofing rather seriously. Gilbert O. Gudjonsson, our Master Watchmaker and renowned craftsman, inspects every single timepiece before it leaves our workshop. Hafnarhús Tryggvagata 17, 101 Rvk. Open 10-17 Thursdays 10-20 Kjarvalsstaðir Flókagata, 105 Rvk. Open 10-17 Ásmundarsafn Sigtún, 105 Rvk. May-Sept.: Open 10-17 Okt.-Apr.: Open 13-17 One Ticket - Three Museums Open Daily Guided tour in English available every Friday at 11am. in June, July and August at Kjarvalsstaðir www.artmuseum.is Tel: (354) 590 1200 V is it Ic el an d´ s la rg es t ne tw or k of a rt m us eu m s in t hr ee u ni qu e bu ild in gs Reykjavík · Engjateigur 19 and Laugavegur 20b · Hafnarfjörður · Strandgata 34 · www.glo.is This is Solla Eiriksdottir, the winner of Best Gourmet Raw Chef and Best Simple Raw Chef in the 2011 and 2012 “Best of Raw” Awards. Come and try out one of her great dishes at her restaurant Gló. Samaris Hymnalaya Nico Muhly Stofnar Falla EP 2012 www.samaris.is More historical folk music for a dystopian future Hymns 2013 www.hymnalayamusic.com If you can climb past the piety, Hymnalaya have some winning tunes for you at the summit Drones And Viola 2012 www.nicomuhly.com Two outta three ain’t bad. On their second EP, young trio Samaris further develop their dys- topian folk sound. The palette is similar—clarinet, breathy vocals, dark Icelandic folk melodies with folkloric lyrics—all held together with electronic beats, bass and synths. It’s a move away from the dubstep leanings of their debut towards a more straightforward and minimal rhythm structure. I was not familiar with Samaris's previous EP when I first listened to Religion and "rock 'n' roll" are uneasy bedfellows. It seems fair to say that most Christian bands don't shout about their religion from the rooftops. From Low to Owl City to Belle & Sebastian, religion is often ‘Drones And Viola’ is the second of three releases in Muhly’s “Drones” series. It again features Bruce Brubaker on piano, this time accom- A lb um Review s this one. And, although sort of amaz- ing, ‘Stofnar Falla’ is not quite as captivating as their debut. I attribute this mostly to the programming and processing which conjured striking walls of haze in both "Hljóma þú" and "Góða tungl," but feels a bit more generic this time round. The best tracks here are "Vög- guDub,” (“CradleDub”) a spaced out track with lush pads and micro- scopic vocal snippets. The melody constantly winds around itself before introducing a beautiful har- mony. When the sub-bass drops and the clarinet bends a blue note you realise that this is essentially a 95bpm deep house track mas- querading as “folktronica” (Fuck, I promised not to use that word!). "Sólhvörf II" (“Solstice”) is also a highlight, its ruthless kick drum and tambourine adding the spunk sorely missing from “Sólhvörf I.” However, it’s entirely possible that the very best track is Submini- mal's remix of the title track. His lung-collapsing bass and finely trimmed DnB breaks (somewhat reminiscent of Photek's work in the '90s) complement the eerie atmo- sphere perfectly, only embellishing the rural sound with an urban dread and loneliness. - Atli Bollason panied by Nadia Sirota on Viola. It feels like a far more measured affair than its predecessor, ‘Drones And Piano,’ opening with the elegi- ac “Part I Material In D” and main- taining a similar feel throughout this EP. There are more aggressive moments, like the back and forth between Sirota’s urgent viola jabs, and exaggerated gasps for breath in “Part II Material In A Handsome Stack,” but in the main this EP feels more restrained. Nico Muhly describes this project as a method of developing harmonic ideas over a static structure. Thus far there seems to be a nice devel- opment across the EPs. Whereas ‘Drones And Piano’ felt somewhat like Nico was throwing all of the notes at the stave to experiment and see what stuck, on ‘Drones and Vio- la’ he seems to have settled on pre- dominantly using those that stuck. It is all the better for it. - Clyde Bradford a subtext, and it does seem like a valid concern that overt piety might be off-putting to a young, interna- tional, generally atheistic Western audience. Mumford & Sons keep their religion subtle in their lyrics, but still it comes up in every inter- view; The Arcade Fire "came out" in their music only after ‘Funeral’ had already propelled them to world- wide fame. Hymnalaya, for better or for worse, completely ignore such concerns, setting out their stall bravely from the band name onwards. "A Colt For a King" is the album's opening gambit—a gentle, peaced-out indie-folk hymn quite possibly written from the perspec- tive of Jesus's donkey—a parable set to music, in effect. If any non-believer-readers are feeling queasy right about now, there's good news too. Just as it's hard not to love hippies for their right-minded views on peace and love etc., this family of hippie-Chris- tians have produced a sweet-heart- ed album studded with memorable tunes. - John Rogers Music

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