Reykjavík Grapevine - 14.03.2014, Page 19

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Step into
the Viking Age
Experience Viking-Age Reykjavík at the
new Settlement Exhibition. The focus of the
exhibition is an excavated longhouse site which
dates from the 10th century ad. It includes
relics of human habitation from about 871, the
oldest such site found in Iceland.

Multimedia techniques bring Reykjavík’s
past to life, providing visitors with insights
into how people lived in the Viking Age, and
what the Reykjavík environment looked like
to the first settlers.
The exhibition and
museum shop are open
daily 10–17
Aðalstræti 16
101 Reykjavík / Iceland
Phone +(354) 411 6370
www.reykjavikmuseum.is
19 Music
Just Another Snake Cult
Kjurr
‘Cupid Makes A Fool Of Me’
2013
An avant-garde opus
that transcends its many
influences
Brak
2013
Decent effort but as always,
room for improvement
Just Another Snake Cult's
‘Cupid Makes A Fool Of Me’
could be described as a
concept album on the theme of
love. But if the very idea of such a thing
is enough to make you run for the hills,
stop and think twice, because it's also
something of an opus.
For anyone interested in psych, lo-fi,
prog-rock and acid-pop, this album has a
lot to offer. If you're into Joe Meek, Phil
Spector and Syd Barrett or more recent
revivalists and trailblazers like Ariel Pink,
Future Islands, John Maus or Bradford
Cox, ‘Cupid Makes A Fool Of Me’ is like
a musical selection box. From the trippy,
backwards introduction to its hypnotic
final track, it traces a lovelorn path
through some varied sonic territory via a
series of weird, wonky, memorable songs
that transcend their many influences.
The palette and production bear
many ‘70s and ‘80s hallmarks, including a
tight echo on the vocals, drum machines
with reverb, atonal zither and some
chunky-sounding guitars. It's a mixed bag
of sounds that arrive with a crisp clarity,
avoiding the common pitfall of obscuring
the tunes behind a fog of effects.
Another key element is the delivery
of the lead vocal: an arresting mannered
drawl that manages to be both theatrical
and heartfelt. On the album's wonderful
closer, a cover of Woody Guthrie & Billy
Bragg's "Way Over Yonder in the Minor
Key," it's easy to imagine the protagonist
as a mournful Disney hippo roaming the
forest in a melancholy haze, hollering his
heartbreak. This album's rich internal
landscape bears being wandered at
length by the listener.
Despite its intrinsic oddness,
‘Cupid Makes A Fool Of Me’ is a
compelling record that feels ready-made
for America's booming leftfield indie
audience. Let's hope it finds its way into
plenty of record collections.
In retrospect, it seems that
Músíktilraunir 2013 turned
out to be decent in acting as a
springboard for new music acts. You have
electronica fauns Vök (AKA Samaris v2.1),
ADD metal weasels In The Company Of
Men and cartoon shit rockers Kaleo. But
what about those other acts that graced
the stage? Well, we now have the band
Kjurr stepping up to the plate with ‘Brak,’
a six-song effort that, while rough and
unrealised in areas, does contain several
glimmers of promise.
With the hushed intro of “Feed”
before launching into the clanging stomp
of “You,” the songs in ‘Brak’ seem to be
going for a mix of early-era Radiohead
atmospherics on a budget with tense,
edgy post-punk. It’s all stop/start swinging
rhythms, heavy rimshot action alongside
the occasional reverb-heavy background
vocals, low slung fuzzbass and brittle guitar
lines. No one song delivers a knockout
punch but there are moments when it
all clicks, such as the interplay between
the bass/guitar on “Upside Down” which
fizzes with mystery and intention, and the
first half of “Awake” which contains some
decidedly cold sparse electronic beats.
Kjurr do, however, let themselves
down in other areas. The production is
incredibly flat (which I put down to budget/
time constraints) and that smothers the
energy they seem to be trying to build in
their songs. Also, the vocals don’t have
one iota of presence, which is something
I think really needs looking at. But yeah, it
will be interesting to see/hear what they’ll
do next.
Words
John Rogers
Words
Bob Cluness
Album Reviews
Issue 3 — 2014