Reykjavík Grapevine - 06.12.2013, Síða 29

RUB23 Aðalstræti 2 101 Reykjavík
Phone +354 553 5323 reykjavik@rub23.is
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Phone +354 462 2223 rub@rub23.is
www.rub23.is
Funky, fresh and full of flavor!
You must try it!
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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.
The holidays can be hard on the ears for most people with a modicum of
taste for decent music. It’s a well-known fact that most Icelandic Christmas
songs suck pretty hard, but of course there are always some exceptions.
We present to you some of those:
1. Alli Rúts – “Grýlupopp”
Alli Rúts was a car dealer who moonlighted as an entertainer in the ‘70s
and in 1972 he recorded a four-song Christmas album. It included a cover
of the electronic instrumental song “Popcorn” made famous by Hot Butter
that year. He replaces the synthesizer bleeps of the original with a bassoon
and melodica and sings some hilarious lyrics about Grýla and Leppalúði
buying some popcorn for Christmas.
2. Amaba Dama – “Yo La La”
There’s something wonderful about juxtaposing reggae music that is usu-
ally associated with sunny Caribbean beaches with the Disney idea of a
white Christmas. Amaba Dama, one of the stalwarts of the Icelandic reg-
gae scene, made this little gem of a Christmas song two years ago and we
like it so much that we started blasting it already in the middle of November.
3. Björk – “Jólakötturinn”
“Jólakötturinn” (“The Christmas Cat”) is a beast that, according to Icelan-
dic folklore, eats children who don't receive new clothes in time for Christ-
mas. The song is Björk's contribution to the ‘Hvit Er Í Borg og Bæ’ Christ-
mas compilation, issued on the Hljóðaklettur label in 1987. “Jólakötturinn” is
one of few real Icelandic Christmas songs in which the song and lyrics are
both performed and written by Icelanders. The lyrics were written by the
Icelandic poet Jóhannes úr Kötlum and the song is by Ingibjörg Þorbergs.
4. Bogomil Font – “Hinsegin Jólatré”
Bogomil Font is the crooner alter ego of Sigtryggur Baldursson, former
drummer of the Sugarcubes and a whole lot more. In 2006, he teamed up
with Stórsveit Reykjavíkur to record ‘Majones Jól,’ an album full of swing
jazz renditions of classic Christmas staples. Our favourite is “Hinsegin Jóla-
tré,” sung from the first person perspective of a gay Christmas tree dream-
ing of having a disco ball on its point instead of the star.
5. Haukur Morthens – “Aðfangadagskvöld”
“Aðfangadagskvöld” is the opening song of Iceland’s first Christmas LP—
‘Hátíð í bæ’ by the late great Haukur Morthens (the Frank Sinatra of Ice-
land). The album was recorded in Copenhagen with Danish musicians and
the Icelandic guitar player Ólafur Gaukur and released two months later in
December 1964 by Hljóðfæraverzlun Sigríðar Helgadóttur (HSH).
6. Stafrænn Hákon – “Glussasnjór”
The Icelandic musician Ólafur Jósephsson (Stafrænn Hákon) loves Glussi
(Hydraulic fluid) so much that, shortly before Christmas in 2010, he re-
leased a Christmas themed album called ‘Glussajól.’ “Glussasnjór” is
Stafrænn Hákon’s take on the Christmas classic “Let It Snow.” He makes
the song his own with a beautiful arrangement and very funny lyrics about
hydraulic fluid snow, Tony Danza’s chin and many other Christmas-related
topics.
We put these songs into a Youtube playlist for you.
Find them at our Youtube page, www.youtube.com/
user/reykjavikgrapevine.
By Óli Dóri and Davíð Roach
Six Icelandic
Christmas Songs That
Don’t Suck
Straum.is has been active since last
summer, with writers Óli Dóri and
Davíð Roach documenting the local
music scene and helping people dis-
cover the best new music. It is asso-
ciated with the radio show Straumur
on X977, which airs every Monday
evening at 23:00.
29 Xmas