Reykjavík Grapevine - 18.07.2014, Qupperneq 34

34 The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 10 — 2014MUSIC
Best Of
Music
It’s that time of year…
Best album:
GusGus’s ‘Mexico’
The greats of Icelandic dance mu-
sic, GusGus, have yet to slip up in
their almost two decade long career
and they certainly don’t do so on
their latest album, ‘Mexico.’ They
continue to explore the sonic terrain
of their last album, ‘Arabian Horse,’
a sound that is not in any way mini-
mal, but extremely economical.
But that would be for nothing if it
weren’t for the melodies and sing-
ers. Vocalist Daníel Ágúst has par-
ticularly outstanding performances
in “Crossfade” and “Sustain” and
former member Urður Hákonardóttir
shines on standout track, “Another
Life.” But they also hark back to the
sounds of their grittier “Forever” pe-
riod on the instrumental title track
whose monstrous bass synth mu-
tates throughout the song, merging
melody and rhythm into an unstop-
pable sonic beast. In “God Appli-
cation” they also experiment with
modern R&B textures with impres-
sive results. Still got it.
Funniest lyrics:
Prins Póló’s “Hamstra Sjarma”
Nobody in Iceland writes lyrics quite
like Prins Póló. Their song “Hams-
tra Sjarma” (“Hoarding Charm”) is
a witty blend combining stream of
consciousness with food and surre-
al humour. In this gem of a song he
asks the listener whether it’s possi-
ble to hoard charm, and if it’s some-
thing you can put into a schwarma.
It’s impossible to listen without a
grin on your face and at least a little
bit chuckling. We laughed hard.
Best song from
“another” decade:
Boogie Trouble’s “Steinunn”
Every second of “Steinunn” is drip-
ping with the sounds of late ‘70s
disco, from the rollicking bass line
and chicken scratch wah-wah gui-
tars to the velvety soft keyboards.
The cheerful trading of lines be-
tween male and female vocals on
the chorus make Boogie Trouble
the rightful heir to famed Icelandic
disco band Þú og Ég.
Best summer jam:
Grísalappalísa’s “ABC”
The first single from Grísalappalísa’s
sophomore album started our sum-
mer with a bang. It’s a short romp
boasting an up-tempo beat with
layers of saxophones and buckets
of bounce that reminds us quite a
bit of English ska band Madness.
It has tons of sunshine and parties
crammed into its 2:22 runtime and
the chorus asks the listener to join
in on the good times.
Most foreign sounding song:
Myndra’s “Distant Lover”
When you hear the beginning of
“Distant Lover” from the three-
piece indie band Myndra you get
the felling you’re listening to a
brand new song from indie veterans
The Decemberists. Led by the Ice-
landic singer-songwriter and gui-
tarist Linus Orri, Myndra is a band
with a universal sound and a fan-
tastic album out called ‘Songs From
Your Collarbone.’
Best electronic song:
M-band’s “Ever Ending Never”
“Ever Ending Never” from M-band
is from the brilliant ‘Haust’ album.
It sounds like a cross between Jon
Hopkins and GusGus at their best.
With a haunting vocal build around
a repetitive bouncing synth line, the
song takes you to a world of its own.
A perfect tune to get your weekend
started.
Words
Óli Dóri & Davíð Roach
Kaldi, Icelandic
microbrewery
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