Reykjavík Grapevine - 01.08.2014, Qupperneq 40

40 The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 11 — 2014MUSIC
Following a tremendously successful All Tomorrow’s Parties festival (ATP), the or-
ganisers have announced the headliner for next year’s fest, indie stalwarts Belle and
Sebastian. We were lucky enough to see them the last time they visited Iceland, when
they rocked the packed NASA venue in 2006, and can’t wait to see them again in the
unique setting at Ásbrú. ATP is one of the best new phenomena to grace our musical
horizon in quite some time. The abandoned military base is a perfectly outlandish set-
ting for a festival that focuses on diverse alternative music. The execution of the festival
was also outstanding, with every act starting on time with exceptional sound quality
and lighting. Portishead, Interpol, Fuck Buttons, Sin Fang and Singapore Sling
blew hearts and minds and the overall atmosphere was friendly and relaxed. Early bird
tickets for next year’s festival are already on sale and we’re looking forward to it.
Photo
Still from "Þau Svæfa" by Mammút
Words
Óli Dóri and Davíð Roach
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 Hörður Már Bjarnason’s solo album ‘Haust’ (or “Autumn”),
under his band name M-Band, at times
seems to emulate the styles of more
seasoned electronic musicians a little
too closely, but ends up offering plenty
of fresh sounds as well. GusGus is an
obvious similarity here, along with some
of Björk’s more house-inspired tracks of
the 1990’s and also the dreamy vocals of
Antony. (Side note: a 23-year-old Hörður
stated in an interview that he would love
to meet Antony one day, and knowing
the networks that Icelandic musicians
work in, you might as well expect an
upcoming collaboration.)
There is still a helping of dance
music tricks of the trade on this album,
for those who like the standard fare
of long filter sweeps, nearly wordless
singing, and vocoded lyrics. Countless
musicians have done better the digitized
voices like those that open the epic ten-
minute jam “Psalms of the Mushroom
War.” The tracks without as much vocal
processing really show off M-Band’s
use of complex vocal lines and abstract
melodies. Surprisingly, “Psalms” saves
itself from cliché by completely shifting
its tone to a thrilling, uneven bass/drums
pulse, and even electric guitar jamming.
M-Band succeeds in breaking out
of the shadows of his role models and
into newer territory. Many of Hörður’s
chord progressions move with a
composer’s touch, following pleasantly
unusual patterns. The opening and
closing of the album, along with “When
the Night Falls,” are beautiful collages,
seemingly drawn from bird sounds,
piano tones, fragmented voices and
scraping sheets of metal. I am most
drawn to the titular song ‘Haust,’ which
begins with quirky uneven handclaps
and acoustic guitar, and then explodes
into a swirl of electronics, synths and the
strangest, most alluring dub improv. The
piece ends as if a pipe organ is merging
with some Skrillex songs and it, like the
album as a whole, is really captivating.
- NATHAN HALL
Hot on the heels of his latest album, the
great Prins Póló released a brand new
song last Friday called “Paris Of The
North.” The song is a stand-alone single
and is featured in a film of the same
name that will premiere in September.
“Paris Of The North” is a bass driven,
catchy as hell, in your face pop song.
With a simple, steady electronic beat,
it’s decorated with distorted guitars and
a hilarious first person narrative about
a boozy fisherman coming home to his
messed up life and family. It’s a strong
contender for our best song of the year.
Stefnir Gunnarsson from the
noughties slacker-rocker band Lada
Sport just put out his second solo album
under the name Japanese Super
Shift (the third if you include the album
he made with the Future Band back
in 2012). The album title is ‘47’ and it
contains 11 introspective songs that are
greatly influenced by ‘90s era American
indie rock mixed with modern synth pop.
The highlights are the opening song
“Just As Lost” and “Son Of Younger
Than Minus R.” The album is presently
streaming on Japanese Super Shift’s
Bandcamp page and can be yours for
about 4 USD.
Last, but not least, we recommend
two very good, but different, music videos
released in the last week. Mammút
made their music video debut with the
dark, unnerving and extremely physical
interpretation of “Þau Svæfa,” (“They
Put to Sleep”) taken from their award
winning album ‘Komdu Til Mín Svarta
Systir,’ released last year. The video was
directed by Sunneva Ása Weisshappel
and Katrína Mogensen, the group’s
singer. The other video is for the song
“Hrísgrjón,” (“Rice”) from newcomer
rapper MC Bjór. It’s a delicately lo-fi
affair that includes a car ride in space,
a rice-eating monk, basketball and
skateboarding, all saturated in goofball
humour and unrestrained joy.
Straumur has been active since last
summer, with writers Óli Dóri and
Davíð Roach documenting the local
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.
Album
Reviews
M-Band
Haust
2014
m-bandmusic.com
‘Haust’ gives GusGus a
run for their krónur
www.straum.isThe Straumur radio show airs on
X977 Monday evenings at 23:00Straumur
Parties Of
The North