Reykjavík Grapevine - 12.12.2016, Qupperneq 24

The R
eykjavík G
rapevine
Iceland A
irw
aves Special 20
16
24 Glacier Mafia
Rap star Gísli Palmi plays this
year under the name of his crew:
Glacier Mafia. We don’t quite
know what to expect. Other than
a massive rage.
GlerAkur
GlerAkur glides clean-
ly through post-rock,
ambient and drone—
his first ever radio play
got him picked up by
Prophecy Productions.
Glowie
Glowie’s that girl you
sing along to without
realising that you knew
the ly rics—probably
because her debut sin-
gle “No More” was an
instant hit on FM-95.7.
She started singing
when she was nine years
old and has navigated
her way through the
past decade with that
“born to perform” men-
tality—and it’s starting
to pay off.
Högni
It might be strange to
see Högni Egilsson’s
name on a “debutantes”
list. As a member of
Hjaltalín he’s an award
w inner, and he’s in
the prolif ic and ev-
er-changing pop-dance
collective GusGus. In
2014 Högni premiered
HE, his first solo proj-
ect, at Sónar Reykjavík.
He’s a choir boy and
a frontman, he’s folk,
house, rock and pop.
He’s Heraclitus’s pro-
verbial river—always
there, never the same.
Hatari
There is something demanding
about Hatari. The singer’s gravel
voice has the same appeal as a
deep-tissue massage—it hurts,
but feels amazing. Thumping
rhythms drag the dark lyrics
along, forcing listeners to, as
Hatari say: “dance or die.”
Helgi Jóns
This one might go far: expect to
find him on your Spotify Dis-
cover page under Snug and Easy
Rock.
Hinemoa
Hinemoa drifted onto the scene
in 2014 with their soft and
dreamy single “Í Rökkuro.” In
2015 they released their singles
“Running Amongst the Stars”
and “Bye Bye Birdie,” which
floated up the charts of the na-
tional radio Rás 2, and hovered
there for the next six weeks.
Hórmónar
The five members of HórMónar
(“Whoremoans”) didn’t have a
blueprint for their band when
they met up in a garage in
Garðabær—in fact, they didn’t
have much musical experience
at all. Working with the belief
that creating music shouldn’t be
a process exclusive to those with
the technical skill, they entered
Músiktilraunur earlier this year,
and won first prize.
Hugar
When you start racking up the
‘k’s on your SoundCloud counts,
you’re doing something right.
For Hugar, that something
might be working with Björk,
Sigur Rós, Ólafur Árnalds and
Jóhann Jóhansson, or their
well-crafted arrangements, or
build-ups that go from subtle to
blissful to powerful. Maybe “it”
is luck. We’re not sure what it
is—but it’s working.
IamHelgi
IamHelgi is an experienced 101
producer who’s worked in Reyk-
javík’s hip-hop and pop scene
for years as a beatmaker, and as
half of hip-hop duo Úlfur Úlfur.
Now it’s time for his first Air-
waves solo set. Also: we forgive
you, Helgi, for remixing Justin
Bieber.
JFDR
If you’ve listened to Icelandic
music in recent years, Jófríður
should need no introduction.
Even Björk mentioned Jófríður
as one of her inspirations in
a recent Guardian interview.
She’s the electrifying vocalist of
Samaris, half of the enchanting
duo Pascal Pinon, and a member
of Gangly. And as a solo artist,
she’s nothing short of magic.
Konsulat
This duo create some intrigu-
ingly light and lo-fi spaghetti
western-inflected sounds with
drum machine, slide guitar
and organ. Everything sounds
slightly out of tune and held
together with tape, in the best
possible way.
Kosmodod
Þórður—aka Doddi, aka Kosmo-
dod—is the producer of electron-
ic trio Samaris, and co-founder
of Berlin/Reykjavík label Sweaty
Records. Solo, he goes by Kos-
modod, cranking out spacey
bangers one after another.
Kórus
Kórus is a supergroup/choir/col-
lective of musicians and artists
from around Reykjavík that get
together and sing every week. On
a given night you might hear new
material from Valgeir Sigurðs-
son or an electric collaboration
with Kira Kira. Kórus combine
all the best things to make some-
thing even better.
Krakk & Spaghettí
Six years ago some kids called
Earl Sweatshirt, Tyler
the Creator and Domo
Genesis took to the LA
streets donning buck-
et hats and rapping
about hating Barbra
Streisand. At first it
was hard to take them
seriously, but by virtue
of their really not giv-
ing a fuck, people did.
Krakk og Spaghettí have
a similar aesthetic (mi-
nus the extreme crime).
The trio began by writ-
ing raps “mostly to be
funny on Twitter… we
discovered you don’t ac-
tually have to be cool to
rap,” they say. As those
bucket hats showed
us, maybe it’s better if
you’re not.
Kreld
Kristján Eldjárn is a member
of electro-pop band Sykur, but
now he’s exploring darker paths
as Kreld. “Way Low” is his first
song—a bass-heavy dive into the
depths, with gasps of vocals by
himself and Jófríður. Promising.
Kristin Thora
Kristin Thora is a classically
trained violist and compos-
er. While living in LA she was
encouraged to produce a solo
acoustic album, released with
VDSQ Records earlier this year.
The album is a fusion of her ex-
perimental compositions, field
recordings, and acoustic guitar.
Landaboi$
Landaboi$ started as a group
of five school friends making
an “industrial” trap sound that
makes you feel like you’re bounc-
asdfhg.
aYia
Glowie