Reykjavík Grapevine - 14.07.2017, Blaðsíða 29

Daði Freyr, who rocked the nation’s
and our world with “Hvað með það,”
his attempted Eurovision entry, and
rocked our world again with his Se-
cret Solstice performance, just put
out a brand new song, “Næsta skref”
(“The next step”). It’s a slow jam of
sorts, with heartfelt lyrics and a ca-
sual “drop” in the middle that no-
body expected. It’s a very logical
“next step” in his career, and certi-
fies that he’s no one-hit wonder.
GusGus recently put out a new
song and video, the first new thing
we’ve heard from them since their ex-
cellent 2014 LP, ‘Mexico’. Since then,
singer Högni has left the band, which
is now a duo consisting of producer
Biggi Veira and singer Daníel Ágúst.
GusGus have such a strong signa-
ture sound, and it’s strongly present
here, in a song that is, as its title says,
“Featherlight.” It starts with airy ar-
peggios and gradually gains momen-
tum with a thrusting bass drum and
rhythmic flourishes before Daníel’s
detached baritone enters the mix.
The song is so well-built it doesn’t
even need a chorus; Daníel just ut-
ters the title and a moody minor
chord synth line follows. Anything
more would be overdoing it and Gus-
Gus have the self-editorial sense to
not go there. That’s just what GusGus
are about: pure economics in melody
and sound design, no fat needed. The
video was made by an organisation
called The Icelandic Love Company,
and looks like a discotheque in a Da-
vid Cronenberg film. It’s the first
single from the upcoming LP ‘Lies
Are More Flexible’, and sure makes
us eager to hear the whole thing.
Joey Christ, a member of Sturla
Atlas who a couple of weeks ago put
out “Joey Cipher,” an awesome song
with a hilarious video recorded in the
newly opened Costco, just put out his
LP, titled ‘Joey’. It’s an impeccably pro-
duced album with a lot of great guest
appearances, and also funny as hell.
In our last column, we told you
about the first single off the kef
LAVÍK EP ‘Lög um að ríða og/eða no-
tað fíkniefni’ (“Songs about fucking
and/or using drugs”), and the rest
of the album does not disappoint.
It starts with an A-bomb of sorts: “I
wrote a song about killing you, and
then fucked you afterwards, like it
was a piece of cake.” The juxtapos-
tion of love and hate in their previ-
ous material has shifted toward pure
hatred and contempt, with lines like
“I heard you fell off the wagon this
spring/I hope the drugs will kill
you and I want it to feel painful.”  
Breathing
New Life
The Reykjavík Classics
concert series sets the
tone for a summer of great
acoustic magnitude by
breathing new life into
Harpa’s splendid halls
It’s not every day that one can afford
the luxury of listening to a classical
concert performed in one of the most
breathtaking man-made venues in
the world. Or at least that was the
case until last year, when Icelandic
pianist Nína Margrét Grímsdóttir
had an idea that has been revolution-
ising the way we experience Harpa
Concert Hall and classical music it-
self.
Reykjavík Classics is Nína’s cre-
ative child—a series of thirty-min-
ute concerts where artists of the
highest calibre perform twice a day
every day for the entire summer in
the fiery setting of Eldborg, the larg-
est concert hall in Harpa.
Setting the stage
Until last year, tourists who came to
visit Harpa could only walk around
the building, appreciate the ever-
changing f lickering lights of the
windows and quickly step into the
dark concert halls. With the lights
turned off and their stages empty,
devoid of everything that gives them
meaning, the halls were neither un-
derstood nor experienced as they
were supposed to be.
“The idea was to give both tourists
and locals the possibility to experi-
ence Eldborg exactly as it was intend-
ed: as a concert hall,” Nína explains.
As the artistic director, she oversees
the choice of themes and materials,
keeping it as diverse as possible. Ev-
ery week the material changes, and
it’s not just a matter of looking at
classical music through different
perspectives. “The point of changing
so regularly is to make sure people
feel and hear the full potential of the
hall and its flexibility when it comes
to acoustics,” Nína affirms.
A natural logic
Nína’s effort widens the angle of cul-
tural tourism in Iceland. While the
artists do not perform Icelandic mu-
sic, these classical masterpieces are
executed by some of the best musi-
cians in the country. It’s almost em-
barrassing to think that no one had
come up with this idea before Nína,
considering how natural its logic
sounds. Hopefully, it will breathe ex-
tra life into a national gem that has
been silent too often.
Words:
Óli Dóri &
Davíð Roach
Share:
gpv.is/
straumur
Straumur,
Iceland's
premier indie
music radio
show, airs on
X977, Mon. at
23:00. Daily
music news
in Icelandic at
straum.is
Words:
Alice Demurtas
Photos:
Courtesy of
Nína Margrét
Grímsdóttir
29
The next step
Straumur
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“You can’t just
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about some-
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body will under-
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Full culture coverage
Cool, and the gang
Adult Art Summer Camp
LungA Festival
July 16-23, Seyðisfjörður
LungA is a festival unlike any
other. Music is only one of its el-
ements, which also include art
workshops, exhibitions, poetry
readings, talks, and spontane-
ous happenings. The whole town
of Seyðisfjörður comes alive with
creativity during LungA—you
might find yourself at an im-
promptu concert in an abandoned
house, watching a piece of improv
theatre in a school hall, or rowing
out into the fjord as part of a mys-
terious art ritual. JR
Dave Chappelle's In RVK
KEXPort
July 14-15, Kex Hostel, 14:00, Free!
KEXPort is the !BLOCK PARTY!
you never knew you needed. Fea-
turing the best and brightest of
Icelandic musicians playing in
a frenzied marathaon that this
year—happily—lasts two rather
than one day, it is the perfect place
to catch up on what you might
have missed this year in tuneage.
This years killer lineup features
acts like Une Misére, Kuldaboli,
siGRÚN, Daði Freyr, Elli Grill, Vök,
and HRNNR & Smjörvi. Don't wor-
ry though, there are many more.
Party! HJC
9/10 Will Climax Here
TZMP & Friends
July 19, 21:00, Húrra, 1.000 ISK
TZMP (The Zuckakis Mondeyano
Project) will be serving up some
80s electric rap that will hit you
just as fast as Suge's orchestrated
bullet did Tupac. Ok, that was a
joke, it's obvious to everyone at
the Grapevine that Diddy was be-
hind it. Oh wait, just got a phone
call, he's in Síðúmúli. Did you hear
that? Tupac is in Síðumúli!!!! He's
alive!!! HJC