Reykjavík Grapevine - 15.07.2016, Side 28

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.
Júníus Meyvant
– “Floating Harmonies”
TRACK OF
THE ISSUE
STRAUMUR
TRACK OF THE ISSUE
Listen at gpv.is/t10
Sadly, what would have been Iceland’s
fourth annual All Tomorrow’s Parties
festival, set to take place in the first week
of July, was cancelled, apparently because
of disorganisation and general fuck-ups
by festival creator and manager Barry
Hogan. It was not terribly surprising, as
ATP-affiliated festivals have been can-
celled quite frequently for the past few
years, sometimes with only a day’s no-
tice. But at least a couple of ATP bands
came to Iceland anyway and had concerts
at Húrra over the weekend.
The Syrian casio wedding virtuoso
Omar Souleyman rocked the packed
Húrra on Friday night with barrels of
charisma and a whole lot of hand clap-
ping. But the Californian psychedelic
garage rockers in The Oh Sees smashed
the place the night after. Backed by two
drum kits and as many world-class
drummers, frontman John Dwyer is the
coolest guitar-playing surfer dude you
can ask for. He holds his guitar high up
on his chest like he’s holding a rifle, and
regularly shoots out machine gun rounds
of relentless feedback, pedal workout py-
rotechnics and off-kilter solos. He also
had the dirty but charming habit of spit-
ting on the floor a lot. The mostly foreign
crowd who had already booked a flight to
Iceland because of the now-cancelled fes-
tival ate it up and so did we, standing a
mere metre from the band on the really
low and intimate stage at Húrra.
On the domestic music front, the most
overlooked release of the past weeks is
from Icelandic electronic musician Hexa-
gon Eye, who just put out his first EP on
the delightful progressive label Möller
Records. The record is called ‘Virtual’ and
consists of six dreamy repetitive ambi-
ent soundscapes, reminiscent of artists
like The Field, Oneohtrix Point Never and
Boards of Canada. It contains beautiful
slow-burning melodies, hazy synthesizer
sounds and hiccoughing beats that con-
jure up visions of vast oceans and pink/
purple clouds. Listen to and/or buy at the
appropriate Bandcamp site, you won’t be
disappointed.
SHARE & LISTEN: gpv.is/str1
Júníus Meyvant’s much-anticipated al-
bum ‘Floating Harmonies’ has finally
been released. The record features five
previously released tracks as well as
seven new songs. The title track, “Float-
ing Harmonies” is a beautiful dreamy
slow song. While listening to it, you can
imagine yourself floating in Iceland’s
night skies—it’s an indicator of the
wonders Júníus Meyvant has in store for
us. Júníus has already picked up the im-
pressive Best Newcomer accolade at the
Icelandic Music Awards, and we predict
he’ll proceed to collect more awards in
the future. With his songwriting skills,
the sky's the limit.
Words
DAVÍÐ ROACH
& ÓLI DÓRI
Photo
ART BICNICK
Straumur,
Iceland's premier
indie music radio
show, airs on X977,
Mon. at 23:00.
Daily music news
in Icelandic at
straum.is
Icelandic techno legend
EXOS has released
new material on Thule
Records, after twelve
years of waiting by fans. The EP,
‘Downgarden’, features four new
tracks, and mixes dub influences into
the DJ’s well-honed techno sound.
Neoclassical composer ÓLAFUR
ARNALDS is in the middle of a
seven-week project called ‘Island
Songs’, in which the internationally
renowned musician is travelling
around Iceland and recording a new
song in a new location each week.
So far, Ólafur has recorded songs in
Hvammstangi, Önundarfjörður and
Selvogur.
The second installment of this
season’s GRAPEVINE GRASS-
ROOTS concert series is set to go
down at Húrra on July 24, and will
feature another diverse selection of
the most exciting up-and-coming
Reykjavík bands. The first installment
of the concert series since its revival
was held in front of a packed crowd
in June.
Icelandic artists were on
display at the Roskilde music
festival in Denmark this month.
Reykjavíkurdætur, MILKYWHALE
and JÚNÍUS MEYVANT played
alongside names such as GRIMES,
TAME IMPALA and JAMES BLAKE.
MUSIC
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ATP Leftovers &
Hazy Shades Of
Ambient Clouds