Reykjavík Grapevine - 03.07.2015, Blaðsíða 27

MUSIC27The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 9 — 2015
* Klambratún Park, Reykjavík (five minutes walking from Hallgrímskirkja Church) *
* Knowledge of Icelandic unnecessary to enjoy the shows *
* Ticketsales are on www.midi.is and by the tent *
* Ticketbooth phone number: 6593388 *
* www.sirkusislands.is *
* Children show *
Sunday
* Family show *
Thursday through Sunday
* Adult show (18+) *
Friday and Saturday
Best summer jam:
Jón Þór’s “Stelpur”
“Stelpur” (“Girls”) is an up-tempo guitar-
driven number about being wasted in
Reykjavík, searching for some love at the
bar. It’s part Supergrass, part Weezer, part
Mac DeMarco, and 100% pure Icelandic
summer hookup jam. It’s bound to be a
theme song for bright nights, feelings of
anxiety and intoxicated bliss. The jangly
guitar riff sets the mood and the chorus,
with its oh-so-sweet “Ohh la la la” female
backing vocals, cinches it as an ultimate
summer anthem.
Best Berlin techno club
in Iceland:
Hel at Secret Solstice
Hel is an old Icelandic word for Hell and
it’s a well-known fact that Satan is bound
to be a better after-party host than the
bearded guy upstairs. At the Secret Sol-
stice festival, the Icelandic ice skating rink
(sans ice) was turned into a pitch-black
vortex with a single neon light halo hov-
ering over the DJ. It was a place where
every bass drum sucked you deeper and
deeper into a black hole of trance-induc-
ing tribal ceremonies of the ancient past,
where the rift between body and soul
faded away, where people surrendered
to the beat in the comfort of darkness,
where nobody was judged and indul-
gence was a virtue.
Best 80s revival EP:
Buspin Jieber’s ‘We Came
As We Left’
In March, the Icelandic electronic-loving
label Raftónar put out a tremendous EP
from local producer Buspin Jieber called
‘We Came As We Left’. Buspin Jieber is
Iceland’s answer to the American pro-
ducer Com Truise, sharing his love for the
80s and a take on a celebrity name. Our
favourite tracks are the opener “Joyrides
and Girls” and closer “The Dream.”
Best outdoor concert:
FKA twigs at Secret Solstice
Everything about FKA twigs that evening
was a work of art—from her light purple
one-piece to her modern dance moves to
her incredible force of a voice. The band
played ultra-current beats and melodies
on custom-made instruments in a lively
way that’s seldom seen in electronic mu-
sic. FKA twigs is the empress of musical
modernity and has sound and vision in
abundance.
Best electronic album:
Tonik Ensemble’s ‘Snapshots’
Local electronic wizard Anton Kaldal re-
leased his first album as Tonik Ensemble
(formerly Tonik) on February 10. The al-
bum, ‘Snapshots’, is a colourful blend
of electronic beats, live and electronic
instruments and beautiful vocals with a
brilliant underwater techno feel. It’s our
favourite Icelandic electronic album of
the year so far.
Best r’n’b slow jam:
Vagina Boys’ “Elskan af því bara”
“Elskan af því bara” (“Baby, just be-
cause”) is a wonderfully bittersweet r’n’b
jam painted with 80s-sounding drum ma-
chines and warm synth pads. The icing on
the cake is the vocals, which have layers
upon layers of autotune and vocoder ef-
fects tweaked in all sorts of unexpected
ways. Smack in the middle of irony and
sincerity, it’s tailor-made for an after-party
of two.
Best concert we’re ashamed
to admit we liked:
Skrillex at Sónar
Skrillex is worshipped by the Spring
Break-hungry youth and loathed by bit-
ter old chin-stroking self-proclaimed ex-
perts like ourselves. However, we thought
Skrillex’s show at Sónar was a carpet-
bombing on the senses and the explosive
energy and joy was undeniable. Bass
drops, graphics, lasers and smoke were
pumped in your face every split second
so you couldn’t analyse a thing before a
new stimulus was heading your way. He
even threw Björk, the 'Star Wars' theme
and the Icelandic flag into his set for good
measure while he jumped around and on
top of his gadget table. We were too old
for this shit, but liked it nonetheless.
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.
For our contribution to the Grapevine's annual Best of Reyk-
javík issue, we reflect on the best of the Icelandic music
scene in 2015, so far...
The Best Of 2015,
So Far!
Words Óli Dóri & Davíð Roach Gunnarsson
Photos From Grapevine archives and Facebook pages
Straumur radio show airs
Mondays on X977 at 23:00
Straumur www.straum.is
STRAUMUR