Reykjavík Grapevine - 07.10.2016, Síða 25

The Third Annual
Icelandic
Design Awards
The electro-pop trio aYia have been
honing their craft for the past year,
playing their first shows at Secret Sol-
stice and LungA this summer. They
have finally released their first song
into the world (meaning: internet),
a thick slice of trip-hop with a twist,
titled “Water Plant.” This gem starts
with a sultry female voice that’s half-
way between a whisper and a hiss
over string-like synth chords, before
a massive beat hits you in the head.
The track ebbs and flows with epic
drops and marvellous rises across its
2:20 running time, with sonic bravado
that’s rarely heard in a band’s first re-
lease. The soundscape is liquid, like
the title, and the song has a sense of
drifting—but drifting with an elegant
confidence in the clear direction of a
pre-planned goal. “Water Plant” was
mixed and mastered by Valgeir Sig-
urðsson and is being released by Hv-
alreki, a new sub label of Bedroom
Community. Having heard the band’s
material at their live shows, we are
thoroughly psyched about future re-
leases. aYia will be playing at the up-
coming Iceland Airwaves festival, No-
vember 2-6.
Reykjavík musicians/artists Hall-
dór Ragnarsson and Sindri Már Sig-
fússon (Sin Fang), previously together
in the band Seabear, have a brand new
song out with their new musical proj-
ect Spítali (“Hospital”) called “Schaff-
hausen.” The pair released their first
song “You” under that name in March,
and like that song “Schaffhausen” was
mastered by electronic producer Ocu-
lus, and mixed by him and the band.
Both songs will be on a four-track vi-
nyl record that is scheduled to come
out next year. “Schaffhausen” is an
upbeat indie rock-influenced house
song built around a voice sample (that
sounds like Sindri repeating the letter
E?) with a little guitar work from Hall-
dór in the mix. Spítali also released a
video for the song, directed by Máni
M. Sigfússon. Head over to YouTube
for a highly recommended viewing.
Terrordisco has been a staple in
Icelandic dance music culture for well
over a decade as a DJ and a remixer, but
recently released his first EP of music
that is entirely his own, appropriately
titled ‘Fyrst’ (“First”). The album cov-
ers a lot of ground in its five songs,
from afro to techno to ambient, but
always with a thumping bass drum on
every beat. Now there is a video out for
the opening song, “Terragon Sunset,”
a mechanical Berghain-esque techno
banger that is sure to make your feet
move and heart beat faster.
As a society, we are driven toward bal-
ance. Take the axioms “first as tragedy,
then as farce” or “illness is the doorway
to health” for example. Chinese phi-
losophy calls it yin and yang. Here in
Reykjavík we are witness to one of the
most magnificent natural displays of
the dance between darkness and light.
For every winter of of darkness is a
summer of 24-hour sun. Similarly, the
more we hear about war and crisis, the
harder we strive for peace.
This month The University of Ice-
land and the City of Reykjavík launch
the Höfði Reykjavík Peace Centre. The
centre is named after the historic
Höfði House on Borgartún, where
in 1986 Ronald Reagan and Mikhail
Gorbachev famously met and shook
hands, helping to bring about the end
of the Cold War. The new peace cen-
tre, to be opened at the University of
Iceland, will help support Reykjavík to
become a “city of peace,” and to advise
on how Reykjavík can promote peace
and abroad. It will be host to regular
conferences, panel discussions, and
act as a research and education facility
for the promotion of peace.
Ambitious is an understatement,
but the Centre has already shown its
dedication to concrete involvement
and community engagement with its
opening ceremony program. Opening
remarks will be made by the president
of Iceland, Mr. Guðni Th. Jóhannesson,
followed by addresses by key members
of the University, the Ministry of For-
eign Affairs, and the mayor of Reykja-
vík, Dagur B. Eggertsson.
A panel discussion will be held in
conjunction with the Reykjavík Inter-
national Film Festival, which asks:
“Can films, non-state actors and dia-
logue contribute to peace in the 21st
century?” Panel guests include Ameri-
can director Darren Aronofsky, produc-
er Kristín Ólafsdóttir, director Hrund
Gunnsteinsdóttir and Daniel Shapiro,
the Director of Harvard International
Negotiation Program. The ceremony
takes place October 7 at 13:00 in the Cer-
emony Hall at the University of Iceland.
As Yoda once eloquently spoke it:
“In a dark place we find ourselves, and
a little more knowledge lights our way.”
The Höfði Centre is an attempt at light.
It’s an opportunity to maintain the bal-
ance, and a push for peace. Because
that yin-yang symbol is more than just
a lame back tattoo. And throwing V-
fingers in the air is more than just a
signature for Japanese tourists.
Words
DAVÍÐ
ROACH &
ÓLI DÓRI
Photo
MAGNUS
ANDERSON
Straumur,
Iceland's premier
indie music
radio show, airs
on X977, Mon.
at 23:00. Daily
music news in
Icelandic at
straum.is
Words
PARKER
YAMASAKI
Photo
KRISTINN
INGVARSSON
Flashback: 1982, the
dark synth-punk outfit
Q4U releases their first
and only album, ‘Q1’.
Shortly after they are featured in the
seminal scene film of the time, ‘Rokk
í Reykjavík’. Flash forward: October
2016, Q4U is back on the scene with
a new ten album featuring all-new
material, their first release in twenty
years. The band originally began as
an archetypal four-piece punk band,
but by the time ‘Q1’ was originally re-
leased, their spirited furor had been
honed into a “sharpened synth-punk
machine” (Aquarius Records). On
October 8, Q4U will play a release
show at Húrra, performing all of their
new material along with a selection
of songs from their 2013 re-release
of ‘Q1’.
Almost exactly one year ago one of
our music journalists, Davíð Roach,
sat down for an interview with
Auðunn Lúthersson, aka Auður—an
electronic music artist with no stage
presence, no media presence, not
even a single released song. It was
what we’d call a faith-based
maneuver. They hype was real. It was
recently announced that Auður has
signed with independent publisher
Imagem Music, a group responsible
for names like Daft Punk, M.I.A. and
Ludacris to name a few. During the
month of October, Auður will attend
Red Bull Music Academy in Montreal
(the first Icelander to do so) and has
promised new material before
coming back to Reykjavík for his
second appearance on the Iceland
Airwaves roster.
In January of this year, Karl Tor-
sten Ställborn (Muck/Fufanu) and
Guðlaugur Halldór Einarsson (Fu-
fanu/russian.girls) joined forces as
Skrattar and released four tracks
of rockish popish lo-fi. In June their
second four-tracker, ‘Hellraiser II’,
came out and carried us through
the psychedelic surf season of
summer. At the end of September
a compilation album assembled by
the record label Hið Myrka Man
featured a previously unreleased
Skrattar track called “Never Gonna
Slow Down.” We hope you don’t,
Skrattar, keep it coming.
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25
Drifting Through
The House
STRAUMUR
Two Fingers In The Air
(No, Not Those Two…)
Höfði Reykjavík Peace Centre Opens
CULTURE NEWS