Reykjavík Grapevine - 16.06.2016, Page 26

Earlier this month, electric trio Samaris
released the song “Black Lights” from their
upcoming album of the same name. ‘Black
Lights’, Samaris’ third full-length, will be
released June 10. The band will be touring
in June, starting in England and ending in
Iceland June 29 at Húrra.
The song is a laid-back electronical feast
for the ears and a bit more poppy than
“Wanted to Say,” which was the first track
off of ‘Black Lights’ to be released.
Samaris – “Black Lights” TRACK OF THE ISSUE
STRAUMUR
Download it for free! at gpv.is/t8
For the first time in the history of this
column, the Straumur editorial board
went outside of Iceland to mine for ma-
terial, and we did it just for you, dear
reader. We travelled to Barcelona for the
gigantic and well-respected Primavera
Sound festival. We saw the French syn-
thesizer perverts in Air, the crazy ecstatic
confetti atom bomb of joy that some peo-
ple call Tame Impala, and the infamous
LCD Soundsystem reunion, which
proved that it is not possible to die from
an overdose of cowbell. Other highlights
included Brian Wilson’s ‘Pet Sounds’,
the freshest indie rock we’ve heard in a
long time from Car Seat Headrest, and
the macho antics of Pusha T (whose
name is indeed his name).
But you come to us for Icelandic
music and there were two very differ-
ent Icelandic bands playing Primavera:
alternative giants Sigur Rós and up-
and-coming techno outfit Kiasmos.
Sigur Rós played on the biggest stage in
a time slot allocated to acts like Radio-
head, LCD Soundsystem and PJ Harvey.
It was the first concert of their tour,
their first since 2013 and their first
concert as a stripped-down trio since
the departure of keyboardist Kjartan
Sveinsson. But they showed no signs of
hesitation and started with a new song,
“Óveður,” rocking their hearts and guts
all over the 50,000-plus audience. They
than proceeded to play “Starálfur,” an
old favorite of ours from their breakout
album ‘Ágætis Byrjun’, one they haven’t
played in years, to much applause. They
had no string or brass section but that
didn’t matter since the sound from the
three-piece was massive as fuck and
the lighting and visuals were bitchin’
on all counts.
We expected Sigur Rós to have a
big fan base but the huge and enthu-
siastic crowd at the Kiasmos concert
surprised us. When they walked onto
one of the three biggest stages at 1:30
on Friday night, there was a crowd of
probably 25,000 people euphorically
dancing to their pulsating techno with
a neo-classical edge. It can get tire-
some to watch techno guys hunched
over laptops and controllers, but Óla-
fur Arnalds and Janus Ramsmussen’s
energy and unbridled joy in doing what
they do was more contagious than the
common cold. With every knob twist
came a head nod or a dance move and
the crowd seemed to know the build-up
to many of their songs—you could hear
cheers and whistles at the start of their
singles. If Kiasmos keep on doing their
thang like this, they could be Iceland’s
hottest dance music export since Gus-
Gus. Primavera was an amazing festival
on all fronts and we will definitely be
back.
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Words
ÓLI DÓRI &
DAVID ROACH
Photo
ART BICNICK
The queen of
Icelandic music is
at it again: Björk
announced she’ll
be releasing the
world’s first virtual reality
album. The album is a virtual
reality production of last year’s
acclaimed ‘Vulnicura’. This is
just the latest in groundbreaking
musical endeavours from Björk,
following her multimedia album
‘Biophilia’, which was released
in 2011 alongside a series of
interactive apps.
Reykjavík’s own bearded New
Wave pop icon, Berndsen, has
announced he will be releasing a
new album this fall. The album,
called ‘Alter Ego’, can be pre-
ordered from his new website,
which will also be launched
soon. This is Berndsen’s first
album since ‘Planet Earth’ was
released to acclaim in 2013.
Lovers of Techno rejoice, Nina
Kraviz' Trip / трип record label
hosts it's second cave party on
July 1. The last one, headlined
by Nina and Blawan, was
probably the most talked about
party of last year, and this year
should be no different. Tickets
at Lucky Records and Tix.is
Iceland Airwaves has announced
more artists for their 2016
lineup. The additions shine
a spotlight on Reykjavík’s
growing hip-hop community,
with Glacier Mafia and Kött
Grá Pje joining the who’s-who
of Reykjavík’s rap scene. Other
additions to the lineup include
Gangly, Júníus Meyvant and
Vaginaboys. Airwaves 2016 will
take place November 2-6.
MUSIC
NEWS IN
BRIEF
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“25.000 People
Euphorically
Dancing”