Reykjavík Grapevine - 09.09.2016, Síða 38

Music Celestial Jukebox38The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 14 — 2016
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“Can I send you more than 500
words? There’s so much to say…”
Lord Pusswhip asks me in a Face-
book message. I empathize, but
that’s exactly why we asked him to
share. With one hand on the scene
and one hand on the decks at all
times, Pusswhip knows what’s
good in Reykjavík music. His
SoundCloud page is littered with
old school samples and new school
collaborations, and his own tracks
occupy that strange brainspace
that makes you feel more chopped
& screwed than the beat itself. We
asked him for the inspirations be-
hind his sound syntheses.
Þeyr - ‘Þagað í hel’
In my opinion, Þeyr is the most in-
teresting band to have ever emerged
from Iceland. They had an experi-
mental outlook towards music-mak-
ing and an esoteric ideology, steeped
in pagan occultism and conspirato-
rial thought, thanks to the band’s
art director Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson,
now the chief goði of the Pagan Soci-
ety. ‘Þagað í hel’ is extremely diverse,
gliding between disco, poppy rock
and apocalyptic new wave.
Vonbrigði - ‘Kakófónía’
The band Vonbrigði are best known
for “Ó Reykjavík,” the explosive
opening song of the classic 80s
punk documentary ‘Rokk í Reykja-
vík’. However, their hard-to-find
debut album from 1983 stands out
as one of the hidden gems of the
era. It’s very low-down, gritty and
grimy death punk, bringing to mind
darker anarcho-punk pioneers like
Rudimentary Peni. The cover sports
a poison-green color scheme with a
still from the video nasty ‘The In-
credible Melting Man’ or a photo of
a Nagasaki survivor—I can’t really
tell. Either way, very fitting for this
sort of music.
Q4U - ‘Q2’
Another group of heavyweights from
the punk era, Q4U was the hardest
female-fronted band at the time.
Their music instantly brings to
mind Siouxsie & The Banshees, with
a more disheveled feel and synthy
edge. The singer Ellý was notorious
for challenging the conservative sex-
ual mores of the time—she would
perform topless and even boasted
about her stripping career in an in-
terview in 1990, evoking a kind of
Cosey Fanni Tutti-esque transgres-
siveness. ‘Q1’ was their only official
album, released in 1982—however I
went with the compilation ‘Q2’ since
it’s easier to find and includes the
band’s entire catalogue.
Evil Madness - ‘Demon
Jukebox’
Evil Madness was a progressive
supergroup comprised of Jóhann
Jóhannsson, DJ Musician, BJ Nilsen
and famed experimentalists Curver &
Stilluppsteypa. Their music is a psy-
chedelic synth homage to the won-
derful horror and cult soundtracks
of the 70s, an introduction of sorts
into the creepy and wonderful world
of giallo and horror music. They get
kudos for being ahead of their time
when it comes to the re-emergence
of retro horror movie music in the
mainstream.
Singapore Sling - ‘Life
is Killing My Rock ’n’
Roll’
I’ve heard this band aptly described
as “cigarette” rock or “sunglasses”
rock. A good friend of mine said once:
“Instead of listening to Sling you can
just listen to Jesus & Mary Chain—
same effect.” I definitely know what
he means—this was the Icelandic
answer to noisey, drug-addled rock
like Spacemen 3 and it COULD be
construed as generic. However, the
band’s songwriting has always been
spectacular—they really are up there
as one of the best neo-psychedelia
bands of the decade.

Words PARKER YAMASAKI Photo STEFFI MEISL
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