Reykjavík Grapevine - 10.03.2017, Síða 27

Another month, another collabora-
tion from Sin Fang, múm’s Örvar
Smárason, and their Morr labelmate
Sóley. After January’s “Random Haiku
Generator,” they released a new track,
“Love Will Leave You Cold,” at the end
of last month. It’s a beautiful piano-
driven song, equally melancholic and
hopeful, perfect for the cold winter
nights of March in Iceland (particu-
larly for those suffering from a heart-
ache).
Dark-wave electro trio aYia floored
us last September with their first of-
ficial release, “Water Plant.” Since
then they’ve been declared “Band To
Watch” by this prestigious publica-
tion, and their most recent song sure
has us watching. You might even say
we’re staring with our ears. aYia’s
“Ruins” starts with low drum thump
gradually upping tempo and volume
until the first vocal line, and then the
bass drops. Not a drop in the Skril-
lex way—more of a subdued, darkly
menacing bassline of the kind that
the likes of Trentemöller have been
know to produce. Then ghostly whis-
pering vocals are layered atop of the
beat; the ethereality is palpable as the
song builds to a twist where the vo-
cals are taken to a satanic extreme:
“You dye your hair in hiding colours
child. Bone liquid. Been all day, been
all day,” the scrambled voice sings,
before everything returns to a 4/4
thump and clattering percussion and
atmospheric synth stabs rise and fall
for the remainder of the song. It’s
Scandinavian electronic dark-wave
with an extra twist that you can’t
quite put your finger on—but its pres-
ence is unmistakable.
Hermigervill has long been one of
the mainstays of the Icelandic elec-
tronic scene and his latest venture,
the song “Solitaire,” is the most joy-
ful thing we’ve heard this year. The
synths are bright and sparkly and the
melodies hop around from brain cell
to brain cell screaming at the mus-
cles in your face to smile. The beat
is micro and skittering and some of
the synths sound liquid enough for
your eardrums to swim in. The pres-
tigious Belgian label Eskimo Record-
ings is putting out the song, alongside
a roster including space disco mae-
stros Lindstrøm & Prins Thomas, and
Aeroplane.
The Marshall
House Opens!
GRANDAGARÐUR 20 IS A STUNNING BUILDING. On sunny days it stands
stark against the blue sky, four stories of chipped paint and glass. On overcast
days its white shades and translucent windows blend into the clouds. The build-
ing was originally used as a fish meal factory and is owned by HB Grandi. The
ceilings are high to fit the old fish processing silos, and the windows are wide
in case of explosion. When the latest round of construction started almost ex-
actly one year ago, they had to dig up the flooring to get rid of the fish smell.
Just before the floors came up, a bit over
a year ago, Ási Sturluson and Steinþór
Kárason of the architectural firm Kurt
og Pí acquired a lease to the Marshall
House from the City of Reykjavík, who
have been renting it from HB Grandi
since its disuse. The name comes from
the Marshall Plan, a post-World War II
economic recovery package from which
Iceland received generous develop-
ment funds, used to build the factory.
Two downtown architectural icons,
Hallgrímskirkja and Harpa, can be
seen clearly from one side of the Mar-
shall House. In fact, the designer of
Harpa’s glittering facade, Ólafur Elías-
son, will be soon be able to stare down
at his brainchild from a personal stu-
dio and showroom on the fourth floor.
Beneath Ólafur is the Kling & Bang
Gallery—this issue’s cover stars. Kling
& Bang was established by ten artists
back in 2003, and will spend its four-
teenth year on the third floor of the
Marshall House. This is the gallery’s
third space in Reykjavík, having left
behind their former place on Hverfis-
gata in 2015.
The second floor will be occupied by
the Living Art Museum. Also known as
Nýlistasafn or Nýlo, for short, the Liv-
ing Art Museum has been a presence in
Reykjavík’s grassroots art scene since
1978. It lost its last downtown space,
on Skúlagata, around the same time
as Kling & Bang. Nýló moved to the
easterly neighbourhood of Breiðholt,
and has been looking for a more central
base ever since.
Both of these galleries have played
important roles in shaping Iceland’s
contemporary arts scene, and will con-
tinue to act independently within the
shared space. On the ground floor, a
restaurant and bar will serve drinks,
seafood, coffee and cakes to visitors.
Architects and artists have a suc-
cessful history of converting dilapi-
dated buildings into exciting new art
spaces, from WWII bunkers in Ber-
lin, to a slaughterhouse in Spain, to
MoMA’s famous PS1, a former New
York City public school. With the
opening of the Marshall House, on
March 18, Reykjavík joins the party.
Words
Óli Dóri &
Davíð Roach
Straumur,
Iceland's
premier indie
music radio
show, airs on
X977, Mon. at
23:00. Daily
music news
in Icelandic at
straum.is
Words
Parker
Yamasaki
Photo
Timothée
Lambrecq
Happening 27
Joyful Dark Love
Straumur
CULTURE
NEWS
Terror In The Chest
Skelkur í Bringu, asdfhg. & B'CHU
March 14, 20:00, Húrra, 1000 ISK
This is a must-attend concert for
fans of bands with weird punc-
tuation in their names. “B’CHU”
might sound like a sneeze, but it’s
actually the name of the three-
person drone music collaboration
that’ll open the night. “asdfhg.”
looks like it resulted from some
frustrated key bashing, but it’s
actually a lo-fi electronic pop proj-
ect. Headliners Skelkur í Bringu,
which translates roughly as “ter-
ror in the chest,” are the surf-rock
project of DJ flugvél og geimskip.
Bring it on. JR
Do You Know Your
Squanches From Your
Schmeckles?
‘Rick And Morty’ Pub Quiz
March 15, 20:00, Húrra
Grab your portal gun, plumbus
and costume and prepare to get
schwifty because Húrra is run-
ning a ‘Rick and Morty’ pub
quiz. Belch and dribble your way
through questions about the world
created by Justin Roiland and Dan
Harmon. No meeseeks boxes al-
lowed. If none of this makes sense,
you are going to lose and should
just stay at home and watch ‘Ball
Fondlers’ with Jerry. JS
Freshness Is The Goal
Stage Dive Festival 2
March 11, 21:00, Húrra, 1.000 ISK
Even if you don’t know BNGR BOY,
aka Marteinn, you’ve certainly
heard his songs. He produced the
new GKR album, as well as pieces
for Reykjavíkurdætur, Trinidad
James, and OG Maco. Joining him
are a host of up-and-coming hip-
hop acts: 101 Savage, Geisha Cartel,
Black Pox, and Birnir. So if you’ve
been jammin’ to “Tala Um” for the
last few months, well, this is what
you need to Tala Um now. HJC