Reykjavík Grapevine - 31.07.2015, Page 51

The Nordic House Reykjavík is a vibrant Nordic cultural
institution with exhibitions, a library, shop and one
of the best restaurants in Reykjavík, Aalto Bistro.
The building is designed by the internationally
acclaimed finnish architect Alvar Aalto.
Open everyday from 10–17
Visit www.nordichouse.is for more information.

Book a table: www.aalto.is
Sundays – wednsdays 11–17
Thursdays – saturdays 11–21
The Nordic House
Sturlugata 5, 101 Reykjavík
Tel: 5517030, www.nordichouse.is
Enjoy food
Enjoy books
Enjoy culture
Enjoy the
Nordic House
Norræna húsið
The Nordic House
THE HOUSE AT EYRARBAKKI

Opening hours: May 1st - September 30th daily 11.00-18.00 or by an agreement
Tel: +354 483 1504 & +354 483 1082 | husid@husid.com | www.husid.com
Árnessýsla folk museum is located in Húsið,
the House, historical home of the Danish
merchants built in 1765. Húsið is one of the
oldest houses in Iceland and a beautiful
monument of Eyrarbakki´s time as the
biggest trading place on the south coast.
Today one can enjoy exhibitions about the
story and culture of the region, famous piano,
shawl made out of human hair and the kings
pot, are among items. Húsið prides itself with
warm and homelike atmosphere.
The House at Eyrarbakki
This year's edition of the LungA Arts Fes-
tival marked its fifteenth anniversary, and
brought out an impressive and diverse
bunch of Icelandic talent to celebrate.
Even though Iceland's music legacy
abroad has been dominated by Björk and
Sigur Rós, the artists showcased at LungA
present a new breed of local musicians,
constantly innovating whether the rest of
the world cares to catch up or not.
Here’s my brief rundown of what I ob-
served that night.
Underwhelmed, then
infected
Admittedly, Sturla Atlas was an under-
whelming opener. The young group of
rappers and singers that accompanied
hip-hop hopeful Sturla Atlas on stage rep-
resent the tepid intersections of brag rap
and top-20 pop. Yet, the energy was pal-
pable, and as a warm-up act the collective
certainly whipped parts of the crowd into
a frenzy. Perhaps given a less impressive
group of artists to open for, Sturla Atlas
would have left a deeper impression.
Within seconds of her off-kilter,
child-like, kaleidoscopic re-imagining
of dance music, dj. flugvél og geimskip
completely transformed the lonely har-
bour’s air. Eventually after trying to wrap
my head around her unique use of Indian
scales, Casiotone percussion, and oddball
melodies, I just accepted that she resides
on a different plane than the rest of us. On
paper, everything about her music should
terrify audiences, but somehow dj. flugvél
og geimskip synthesized her schizo-elec-
tronic glee into a dizzying mass of infec-
tious grooves.
Truck dissonance
Taking a cue from atmospheric R&B art-
ists such as FKA twigs and How To Dress
Well, Gangly provided a slow-burning
pause to the evening. The group's LungA
performance was its first, and a promis-
ing start for a band that has only released
one single (the enchanting “Fuck With
Someone Else”). Throughout their set,
vague and understated vocals floated over
a dense mass of hazy guitars, airy drums,
and glacial synthesizers. Like the band it-
self, Gangly's future plans remain mysteri-
ous. However, if their fully fleshed out set
is any indication of what's to come, we can
expect a proper LP from the enigmatic
trio soon enough.
Not even a minute after Gangly's
set came to a close, a roar of dissonance
poured from a nearby truck. Æla wasn't
on the roster for the night, but the post-
punk quartet's sudden appearance was a
welcome surprise. Fans responded with
lightning-speed intensity and started
throwing people around in tandem with
Æla's thundering set. The group fused bits
of hardcore punk, twisted time signatures,
and jangly rock into a dizzying, beautiful
mess.
A feminist hip-hop
Voltron
Hip-hop has taken many forms, but a
fiercely feminist 21-woman collective has
not been one—until now. Reykjavíkurd-
ætur, “The Daughters of Reykjavík,”
brought twelve of its “fem-cees” out to
LungA, and none of them were content to
serve as background wallpaper.
The beats were varied, delving into
trap-styled influences and sparse melo-
dies centred around pulsing, tribal drums.
However, it was the Daughters' rhymes
that stood out the most. To an outsider,
the prospect of finding a rhyme scheme
among Icelandic's tongue-annihilating
syllables seems impossible, but every
verse was fluid and well executed. Any
of these women would be a force on their
own, but their combined presence into a
feminist hip-hop Voltron is unlike any-
thing I've ever witnessed—Reykjavíkurd-
ætur are undoubtedly one of Iceland's
most underrated gems.
Glitter, glam and sugary
grooves
Grísalappalísa is a hurricane of glitter,
glam, and gnarled post-punk. Enigmatic
frontman Gunnar Ragnarsson has all of
David Bowie's androgynous sex appeal,
with a ferocity to match any punk idol.
His arresting energy was only a footnote's
to the group's overall ability to concoct
unwieldy song structures that teeter be-
tween anxious funk and cerebral art rock.
Grísalappalísa's sound gave echoes of
Talking Heads, The Pop Group, and Gang
of Four, but any comparison fails at cap-
turing the raucous seven-piece's unfet-
tered energy.
The aptly titled electro-powerhouse
Sykur closed out LungA with a consis-
tently danceable set of sugary grooves
that persisted, despite lingering sound is-
sues. In a night already packed with stage-
stealing frontmen and women, Sykur's
Agnes Björt Andradóttir presided over
her rabid fanbase like some sort of dance
rock priestess. Glitches in the sound inter-
rupted halfway through the set, but after a
momentary pause the band picked up the
dance party with professional grace.
For complete outsiders and devoted
locals alike, the LungA Arts Festival pro-
vided an eclectic and arresting display of
Iceland's perpetually inventive talent.
OUTSIDE
FESTIVAL
Scenes From The LungA Arts Festival
Blowout Concert
An outsider's rundown
www.secretsolstice.is
The harbour-side artistic cluster of Seyðisfjörður feels simultaneously alien and cosy
to me. Like many who descend on Iceland in July, my real home is a few thousand ki-
lometres away—5,732 to be exact. Seyðisfjörður's towering mountains and punishing
winds contrast with the sweltering humidity and sprawling suburbia in my hometown
of Atlanta, Georgia. But thankfully, I arrive on the last day of the LungA Arts Festival,
where a week's worth of workshops reach a deafening climax of late-night concerts and
a devoted throng of fans come ready to dance against the punishing winds until the
sun rises again. At some point while I was fighting for air among the sweaty mass of
bodies, Seyðisfjörður and Atlanta didn't seem so different.
Words Paul DeMerritt
Photo Magnús Elvar Jónsson
7
July 12-19 Seyðisfjörður www.lunga.isLungA