Reykjavík Grapevine - 12.12.2016, Qupperneq 26

The R
eykjavík G
rapevine
Iceland A
irw
aves Special 20
16
26 ing on your heels in a warehouse
somewhere, even if you’re just
sitting in Te og Kaffi.
Ljóðfæri
Þórarinn and Halldór Eldjárn are
a father-son duo who compose
musical-poetry performances,
using Þórarinn’s poems and
found sounds: typewriters, tele-
phones, and keyboards. Their
setup is more reminis-
cent of a late-90s cubicle
job than a DJ station.
Major Pink
This sextet combine to
create a lot of energy.
The title track to their
recent EP, ‘Take The
Abuse’, is a good sam-
ple: it starts off calm
and synthy and gradu-
ally builds to a crescen-
do.
Magnús Jóhann
Jazz music is kind of like
a quilt. A good jazz mu-
sician stitches together
disparate patches of
rhy thm and cadence
into one smooth mate-
rial. Magnús plays with
metal, funk and pop
bands, sewing his in-
fluences into an eclectic
jazz sound.
Moji & The
Midnight Suns
A chance encounter
under the midnight
sun drew Moji, Bjarni,
and Frosti Jón—Moji &
The Midnight Suns—
together on summer
vacation a year ago.
Though they’ve released
just two singles togeth-
er, their debut album
is set for release a fort-
night before Airwaves.
Mælginn
There are a LOT of rap-
pers on the scene this year. Mal-
gænn stands out by working
with collaborators from all over
the scene—from Amabadama to
Útidúr—for the beats and music.
One Week Wonder
You know a band is spacebound
when they cite Pink Floyd, Air
and Ennio Morricone as influ-
ences. This trio met in 2014,
churning out tracks using vin-
tage instruments and a 24-track
tape recorder. Their songs are
high, timeless and sometimes
ephemeral.
Puffin Island
Puffin Island are a Beatles-lov-
ing band who carry the 60s pop
torch into 2016.
Rímnaríki
Area codes are a big display in
American hip-hop. Ask Ludac-
ris. Ask Warren G, Nate Dogg,
and Snoop. Ask Dre (still got love
for the streets, reppin’ 213…).
Last year Rímnaríki dropped
their breakout tune and car-vid-
eo “111,” which pays homage to
their main ground Breiðholt
(and also to municipal number-
ing systems). But you can see
them in 101 this Airwaves.
Rósa Guðrún Sveinsdóttir
Rósa is a soothing, jazzy Icelan-
dic songwriter and saxophonist
who credits J Dilla for her R&B
influence.
RuGl
Ragnheiður Benediktsdóttir
and Guðlaug Helgadóttir start-
ed RuGl together when they
were just fourteen years old.
Earlier this year. The two school
friends formed to compete
in this year’s Músíktilraunir,
where they were applauded for
their compositions and vocal
arrangements. To say they’re
fresh faces on the scene would
be an understatement.
Sigga Soffía & Jónas Sen
Sigga Soffía is a dancer and
choreographer from Reykjavík,
known for her combination
of first-rate dancers and fire-
works. Jónas Sen has toured as
Björk’s keyboardist, and collab-
orated on the production of ‘Bio-
philia’. Witness the combustion
as these two stars collide.
SiGRÚN
In August, SiGRÚN released
‘Hringsjá’, an experimental elec-
tronic album made by combin-
ing everyday sounds in ways that
turn out (mostly) musical. Con-
versely, as a singer she’s toured
with Sigur rós and the American
group Florence + The Machine…
an interesting mixture.
Skrattar
Skrattar combines the tricks
and talents of Muck frontman
Karl Torsten and Fufanu/rus-
sian.girls’ Guðlaugur. As an-
glophile duo Skrattar, they’ve
released two short albums and
were on the goth-punk-hip-
hop-and-more compilation,
‘Myrkramakt II’.
Steinar
Steinar has a real feel-good
flow. And he should feel good—
in 2013, at 18 years old, his debut
single topped his homeland’s
singles chart. His recent singles
are songs you want to have at
your beach party, where they’re
handing out free coca-cola in
glass bottles.
sxsxsx
Close contact is a cat-
alyst for collaboration
in Reykjavík. Helgi and
Björn of Úlfur Úlfur
spent so much time
making beats togeth-
er, they decided the
collaboration needed a
name: sxsxsx was born.
It’s hip-hop influenced,
but they’ve also worked
with dance-pop group
Milkywhale.
Tófa
This five-member fe-
ma le-f ronted pu n k
band started last year,
soon releasing their
first LP, ‘Fleetwood
Max’. Consistent with
their identity of jux-
taposition, it features
songs with titles like
“Coastlines” immedi-
ately following “Skreem 4 me
RVK.” Do your hair and kick
some ass.
Tómas Jónsson
Thirty years ago, the year 2000
was the subject of sci-fi movies
like 'Blade Runner', 'Brazil' and
'Back to the Future'. Today, those
movies have a nostalgic vision
of what was to come—past fu-
tures. Tómas’ work brings this to
mind, using a retro palette for a
futuristic sound.
Valby Bræður
Fast-paced Icelandic rap revolv-
ing around the popular themes
of drug use and car-videos. The
twist: these guys name-check
Hafnarfjörður, home of the Vi-
king House.
Þriðja Hæðin
Big aggressive rap 1993 style.
Think Onyx at Olís filling their
Capris with candies.
Hórmónar
RuGl
Krakk & Spaghettí