Reykjavík Grapevine - 11.11.2016, Blaðsíða 25

The Third Annual
Icelandic
Design Awards
Mugison, at first an indie darling,
then the whole nation’s, just released
his first album in five years. On ‘En-
joy!’ he sings in English again and,
in a departure from his last album,
is a bit more sonically adventurous.
There is gentle strumming, playful
brass stabs, and some manipulating
of the vocals. Mugison switches ef-
fortlessly between ballads, funk hits
and cray-cray vocal outbursts without
missing a beat. “I’m a little tipsy, I’m
a little broken,” he sings with fragil-
ity on “Tipzy King,” and you can feel
the weakness in his voice. Right after
that comes the aptly titled “Hangover”
with the ever so classic/cliché line “I’ll
never drink again/a single drop of
gin.” It’s sort of a return to the roots
of his grandiose ‘Mugimama Is This
Monkeymusic?’, and we at Straumur
welcome the gesture.
Jón Þór, a stalwart of the Icelandic
indie rock scene, just released a stel-
lar EP called ‘Frúin í Hamborg’ (“The
Lady from Hamburg”) and comprised
of four songs of braingluing hooks,
thrilling riffs and lyrics that will stick
with you for seasons on out. Opener
“Stelpur” (“Girls”) is an up-tempo gui-
tar driven-number about being wast-
ed in downtown Reykjavík, search-
ing for some love at the bar. It’s part
Supergrass, part Weezer, part Mac
DeMarco, and 100% pure Icelandic
hookup jam. Jón Þór’s vocals reek of
longing for the other sex that sounds
desperate, yet not sad.
Below Bankastræti, at the intersection
where cars idle waiting to turn onto
Lækjargata, is a public restroom known
as “the zero.” At least, that’s what it was
known as in its heyday, for reasons we’ll
leave to the imagination. The restroom
was opened on June 17, 1930, “a big year
for Iceland,” Reykjavík’s go-to music
scholar, Dr. Gunni, notes. “It was the
1,000 year anniversary of Alþingi—a
big celebration. So they open public
restrooms. Hótel Borg opened, and the
national radio began…” On November 2,
2016, the restroom door opened again,
onto a different side of Reykjavík histo-
ry: Behold, the Icelandic Punk Museum.
As Reykjavík’s de facto music man,
Dr. Gunni has written three books
chronicling the history of Icelandic
rock. Having collected and assembled
the photos for these books himself, he’s
got a sweeping knowledge of what’s
available. So when Finni (of Dr. Spock)
acquired the restrooms a year ago and
came up with the idea of the Punk Mu-
seum, Gunni was an easy go-to.
Through a quilted outreach effort,
Dr. Gunni has stitched together photos,
posters, videos and, of course, lots of
music. “I was in a secondhand shop
and some guy was working there and
he said, ‘I took some pictures back in
the 70s and the 80s,’ and those turned
out to be really good, unseen pictures
from the Stranglers concert in ’78,” the
good doctor tells us. “On the same trip I
found a can of glue which was the drug
of choice back in the day. So it was a
good trip to that junk store.”
The content will focus on the pe-
riod between 1978-1992—beginning
with the first Icelandic punk group
Fræbbblarnir (“The Staaamens”),
which began as a joke at Kópavogur
College, and ending with the disband-
ing of The Sugarcubes. On December
1 the Museum will stage a concert
at the newly re-opened Hard Rock
Café with Taugadeildin, Jonee Jonee,
Fræbbblarnir and Q4U. Welcome to
below the block, Pönksafnið Íslands.
Words
DAVÍÐ
ROACH &
ÓLI DÓRI
Photo
ALBUM
COVER
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
BRYAN
RIEBEEK
Music videos have come
a long way since MTV’s
first broadcast in 1980,
“Video Killed the Radio
Star.” The medium has had its highs
and lows over the decades; many
thought that the advent of YouTube
would override any previous authori-
ties, like MTV and VH1, and wipe the
matter out for good. And while in the
late 00s people seemed to care less
about the music video than they did
about the day’s public service an-
nouncement, music videos are making
a comeback. In a bold way. From Björk
Digital and Beyonce’s 'Lemonade', to
the surreal dancing dead kids in Flying
Lotus’s “Never Catch Me” and Vince
Staples’s 10-minute album promo
"Prima Donna," artists and filmmakers
are bringing the fusion of sound and
sight into a new paradigm.
In November we saw a flurry of new
video releases thrown into the swirl-
ing Airwaves wind. Below are some
of the more recent releases. Turns out
the Buggles didn’t have it quite right.
Milkywhale embody the title of
"pop" music. They are known for
must-dance melodies and the perky,
bouncing energy that they bring to
their performances. Their latest video
release for “Rhubarb Girl” starts out
with a single long shot of lead singer
Melkorka dancing alone in a ware-
house. The empty space highlights
her quirky dance moves, but feels out
of place knowing their party-party
presence. But then we reach the hook:
“into the darkness, into the dark-
ness…” and she disappears from view
into… well, the darkness. From there
on out it’s rhubarb coloured lights,
strobes, and the party that we all
expect of Milkywhale.
Vil brings a softer vibe with their lat-
est video for “Vinduet.” It’s a slow-
building six-minute roadtrip with an
unlikely duo of deaf friends, making
their way along the coast of Iceland
and signing to each other in a warm
MUSIC
NEWS
Find today's events
in Iceland!
Download our free
listings app - APPENING
on the Apple and
Android stores
25
Tipzy Kings
STRAUMUR
Keep It Underground
The Icelandic Punk Museum Opens
CULTURE NEWS