Reykjavík Grapevine - 06.01.2017, Page 2

P:06 CHRISTMAS
IS A LIE
+ The Grapevine Prophecies 2017
+ Man Of The Year 2016
+ A Bunch Of Numbers
P:17 THE REYKJAVÍK
GRAPEVINE MUSIC
AWARDS
+ The Stars of Star Wars Wars
P:50 THE REMOTE
NORTH-EAST
+ Sorcery In Strandir
+ Buggy Racing In A River
+ 2016's Best Travel Pieces
NEWS
CULTURE
TRAVEL
In the Western world, asceticism was
underpinned by Christianity and its
attitudes towards the body and its
needs. And before that, by the odd an-
cient Greek mystery cult. At the outset
of Christianity, prior to—and early
on in—the development of monastic
rules, hermits would take up extreme
ascetic lifestyles, abstaining from al-
most anything sans their most basic
needs to survive. One such hermit was
Saint Simeon the Stylite, who, in the
5th century AD, spent 47 years stand-
ing on a pillar near Aleppo in Syria.
Although such extremities were the
exception, asceticism with regards to
diet, e.g. avoiding red meat and some-
times all animal products, that is Lent
a.k.a vegetarianism (and not to men-
tion ascetic values with regard to sex-
uality and the body), was a part of the
Church’s doctrine.
Modernity killed religion. Yet
in the 21st century, asceticism
lives on. Exit Lent. Enter
Veganuary. Each January
in Iceland, social media
comes alive with people
who are using the first
month of the year to ei-
ther try out veganism, or
to celebrate their long-
standing animal product
abstention by sharing recipes, stories,
tips, health information, and grim
facts about factory farming and the
dairy industry. Restaurants all around
town put on special vegan menus, and
there are all kinds of meat-free meet-
ups for people to discuss the merits of
kale, buckwheat, almond milk and ta-
hini. And seitanists. Seitanists every-
where, publically hailing seitan.
Here in the West, modernity also
killed famine. Yet, we’re not happy.
Maybe we are all tired of modern
abundance and actually, deep inside,
resent living in urban environments
that provide endless eating options
and discourage exercise. Through go-
ing vegan, even though it’s only for a
month, we might also feel we can at-
tempt to fight the worldwide meat in-
dustry—one of the world’s largest con-
tributors to deforestation and globally
shrinking biodiversity, and a leading
producer of greenhouse gases, right
up there with fossil fuels. All this, and
we’ve a climate change denier getting
ready to move into the White House.
If only we could stick to it for a
month or longer. Maybe, yet again, in
order to do that we need the help of an
all-seeing deity and its enforcers on
earth. JR & JTS
Intro: The
Music Awards
Two months on from the yearly music
scene state-of-the-union that is the Ice-
land Airwaves festival, and after the De-
cember barrage of end-of-year round-
ups, we at the Grapevine like to take a
look back at all the glorious shit that
went down over the last twelve months
in Iceland’s ever-expanding, often eclec-
tic, sometimes apoplectic music scene.
So with that in mind: welcome to our
fifth annual Grapevine Music Awards
issue.
In these pages, you’ll find the choices
made by our three expert judges, care-
fully selected by virtue of being the
biggest tinnitus-having, bar-propping,
venue-hopping music nerds we know.
Whether it’s identifying the game-
changing artist who defined the musi-
cal zeitgeist of 2016, or picking out the
little-known band that were before their
time and never quite got the attention
they deserved, this is the issue where
we give a shout-out to the bands who
moved the goalposts, set the tone and
loudened up the lives of the people who
call this mid-Atlantic rock home.
We also give 2016 a general side-eye.
On page 10, there’s a flick through the
top news stories of the year (remem-
ber that time we had an election, but
didn’t get a government?). And after all
the top bands, tracks and albums of the
year (p. 21-28), you can see which unex-
pected travel stories almost exploded
our server (p. 56). And all that’s without
mentioning the bonus content, includ-
ing lamb hearts (p. 52) and krakens (p.
62). Happy new year, guys! JR. JR
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The Reykjavík Grapevine
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COVER PHOTO BY
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In This Issue
Abstinence
THE GRAPEVINE PLAYLIST
The Colorist & Emili-
ana Torrini - Gun
Originally appearing
on the debut album
by her former band
GusGus, "Gun" is one
of eleven tracks that
Emiliana reworks
with The Colorist,
a Moondog-influ-
enced eight-piece
ensemble led by
percussionists
Aarich Jespers and
Kobe Proesmans.
This trip-hop classic
gets a fresh lease on
life. SHP
Bang Gang - We Will
Never Get Along
A song you can listen
to while you watch
old home videos of
you and your ex. It’s a
nostalgic heartbreak
that reminds you with
a beating piano just
how broken every-
thing is. As it builds and
builds you reach for
resolution only to find
out there is none. The
moment has passed
and you’re sitting
there watching a VHS.
Where did you even
find that thing? PY
Gangly - Blow Out
Gangly, we have loved
you from the start. Bit
by bit they open up
their molten electric
world that exists
somewhere between
the realms of human
and machine. It’s a
dark place, but they
give us just enough of
a glimmer to tempt us
in, again and again. PY
Melting Session ft.
Kira Kira - SKINN
The ever-intriguing
Kira Kira has been
making experimen-
tal music for over a
decade, and in recent
times, she’s gone from
strength to strength
with a series of killer
collaborations. Her
newest offering
“SKINN” is a warm
ambient sprawl that
came out at the turn of
the year, with a suit-
ably ambiguous video
to match. JR
Retro Stefson -
Scandinavian Pain
Oh Retro Stefson,
we hardly knew thee.
Actually, we knew
you pretty well by the
end. But you kept on
changing. From the
shy indie-pop teens
of 2008 to a stadium-
sized pop-rap-metal-
disco party band
mashup of 2016, you
leave us with this—
four down-tempo
pop songs, snuck out
on Christmas Day.
Thanks, Retro Stef-
son! Later! JR
Listen & watch:
GPV.IS/PLAY
Words:
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