Reykjavík Grapevine - 12.12.2016, Qupperneq 22

The R
eykjavík G
rapevine
Iceland A
irw
aves Special 20
16
22
This year, no less than 50 bands
are making their Iceland Air-
waves debut. Some of these
faces have been on
the scene for decades,
while others only ap-
peared last month. We
sifted through each
and every one with
equal attention to bring
you this A-Z guide to the
freshest sounds of Ice-
land AIrwaves 2016.
$igmund
It’s easy to get attention
by yelling, but some rap-
pers know that the best
way to kill (the game) is
to chill. $igmund is the
face of laid-back flow
in the Icelandic hip-
hop scene. Earlier this
sum mer Sig mundur
Páll Freysteinsson and
his crew released their
debut LP ‘Glópagull’—a
lyrical collection of hard
work and heartbreak in
101 Reykjavík. For ev-
ery “Bring Da Ruckas”,
there’s a “Moment of
Truth,” and for every
Waka Flocka, a Slick
Rick. For all the Gísli
Pálmis around here—we
give you $igmund.
Alexander Jarl
Lasting power isn’t just
about knowing where
you’re going, it’s about
knowing where you came
from. Since their first
meeting, the core duo of
Jarl $quad—Alexander
Jarl and Helgi Ársæll—
have evolved their sound
from boom-bap golden
era beats to a more recent
trap style sound.
Amber
Amber’s energy is more "acous-
tic blue" than amber.
Aron Can
Yeah, he can. Have you ever
chewed spearmint gum in the
middle of winter and inhaled
super deeply? That’s how fresh
this kid is. Cool on the scene at
only sixteen, Aron’s contribu-
tions to Reykjavík rap are get-
ting attention around the world.
A good place to get to know the
guy is through the purple-hazed
lens of his double-feature video
for “Enginn Mórall”/“Grunaður.”
Breathe in/breathe out…
asdfhg.
Musical advocates of the "less
is more" lifestyle. This duo lays
part-singsong and part-spoken-
word lyricism over house-made
minimal electronic tracks.
Auðn
Auðn are a black metal band, but
members of Iceland’s black met-
al community, might find this
statement contentious. Auðn
are recognisable for their slow
and melodic sound that runs
counter to the fast & furious
fervor that the genre is known
for. Still, they hold tight to the
“do whatever the fuck you want”
ideology. But if you’re running
counter to the counter, where
does that lead you? Answer:
Gaukurinn, on Wednesday night.
aYia
aYia’s debut single “Water Plant”
dropped on September 27 as part
of Bedroom Community’s Hval-
reki series. This series is a set
of digital releases which “strip
away visual design, packaging,
and manufacturing”—opting
for purity over packaging. This
Reykjavík three-piece keep true
to the aesthetic of non-aesthetic.
Haunting, hollow, pure.
Bára Gísladóttir
Bára isn’t here to make things
easy—she’s here to make them
interesting. Live, she hides be-
hind her double bass, growling,
wrestling with, and, of course,
playing her instrument. Bára
pushes music to new heights—
literally. Her debut album is
called ‘Different Rooftops’.
BLKPRTY
Enigmatic Icelandic produc-
er fleet with a rap sheet that's
concrete present new beats from
the... computer.
Bróðir BIG
Old-school rhymes in Icelan-
dic over old-school beats from
America, mostly instrumentals
from the likes of MF Doom.
Crystal Breaks
Crystal Breaks original-
ly came together in 2009
from a variety of musical
backgrounds—from folk
to metal to pop—and
are unafraid to dip into
them all. Their Airwaves
performance comes as a
preclude to the release
of their first album, set
to be released early next
year.
Cryptochrome
Cry ptochrome are to
pop what the Tyrkisk
Peber are to candy—if
you go into it assuming
it will be sweet, you’ll
probably end up chok-
ing. It might not be the
sweet, off-the-shelf pop
music we’re accustomed
to, but we’ll take flavour
over familiarity.
Cyber
Word is that Salka Valsdóttir
and Jóhanna Rakel—the rap duo
known as Cyber—named them-
selves after a lipstick color that
they both owned as sixteen-year-
old BFFs. They keep that pretty
girl pout going while spilling
raps from the tabletops of Prik-
ið, or in the 20-woman rap group
Reykjavíkurdætur. Pucker up.
Gangly
Two years ago, Grapevine re-
ceived an anonymous email with
a video titled “Fuck With Some-
one Else.” A joke? A threat? A cap-
tivating liquid-metal alterworld
where a haunting voice rings
out over a dark, bassy void? The
last one. This year the secretive
supergroup released a new song,
“ħøłɏ ǥɍøᵾnđs,” praised every-
where from Billboard to i-D to
your dear RVK Grapevine.
50 Airwaves Debutantes
Who’s who and what’s new at Iceland Airwaves
Words Parker Yamasaki
Photos Hörður Sveinsson
Alexander Jarl
Auðn
$igmund