Reykjavík Grapevine - 20.06.2014, Blaðsíða 34

34 The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 08 — 2014MUSIC
Kaldi, Icelandic
microbrewery
Stella Artois
White- and red wine
Sparkling wine
Cocktail of the day
NEW BAR MENU
Bergstaðastræti 37
Tel: 552 5700
www.galleryrestaurant.is
gallery@holt.is
Selected drinks
at half price
Ever Ending
Never
In other news, GusGus released their
new album, ‘Mexico,’ last weekend
and we’re very fond of it. The band
has mastered the formula of melodic
techno with slightly cold and distant
vocals, often with piles of echo. A
certain satanic entity dwells in the
details. For example, listen to how the
bass synth on the title song “Mexico”
keeps mutating and subtly shifting
throughout the song, how the melody
and rhythm merge into an unstoppable
and unpredictable sonic beast. And
listen to the fading synth in the chorus
of opener “Obnoxiously Sexual,” as the
staccato notes pan from speaker to
speaker like a broken radio signal. The
string arrangements throughout are
also superb. Vocalist Daníel Ágúst has
particularly outstanding performances
in “Crossfade” and “Sustain” and former
member Urður Hákonardóttir shows up
and sings the shit out of “Another Life.”
The album may not be quite as good as
their last one, ‘Arabian Horse,’ but it’s
one of the best to come out of Iceland
this year and guaranteed to move feet
in the thousands in the coming months.
Meanwhile, there’s a lot happening
with the one-man M-band. On June
24, he is releasing an EP through the
website raftonar.is called ‘All Is Love.’
The day after there will be a release
show at Húrra with Tonik and Nolo
playing as well. This will be a busy night
for Hörður Bjarnason (aka M-band), as
he is also a member of Tonik and Nolo.
And that's not all. On July 9, M-band is
dropping his debut LP called ‘Haust.’
We have been listening to that record
with tremendous joy and we have been
digging the song “Ever Ending Never”
that brings to mind GusGus at their
best with haunting vocal build around
a repetitive bouncing synth line.
Straumur has been active since last
summer, with writers Óli Dóri and
Davíð Roach documenting the lo-
cal music scene and helping people
discover new music at straum.is. It
is associated with the radio show
Straumur on X977, which airs every
Monday evening at 23:00.
We still can’t shake the smile off our faces after seeing a fantastic Pixies concert
at Laugardalshöll on June 11. They were great 10 years ago, and even better this
time around. The band was a lot tighter after a long reunion tour and the new bass
player seemed to have sparked a newfound joy in the band’s performance, though
we missed dear old Kim Deal.
Words
Óli Dóri & Davíð Roach
Photo
Matthew Eisman
www.straum.isThe Straumur radio show airs on
X977 Monday evenings at 23:00Straumur