Reykjavík Grapevine - jan. 2019, Blaðsíða 32

Music

Hatari announced at the end
of 2018 that the band would
call it quits, having failed to
bring down capitalism. A final concert
was also announced for December
28th. However, they are also slated to
play at January’s Eurosonic festival—
a top music industry networking
event, and a hive of capitalism as
such, according to the ostensible
world view of Hatari. At the time of
writing, what the future holds for the
award-winning band is unclear, but
it seems very likely there are further
plot twists to come. In related news,
Eurosonic is Iceland-rich this year,
with Kælan Mikla, Bríet, Hildur, Hugar,
RVKDTR and Une Misère also featured
on the lineup. JR

Sónar Reykjavík has announced the
second wave of artists for 2019. The
biggest name is 90s all-purpose
dance music duo Orbital, alongside
Little Dragon and Kero Kero Bonito.
Resident Advisor will host the base-
ment car park stage, bringing techno
artists Avalon Emerson, Benjamin
Damage and upsammy, alongside
their Icelandic contemporaries such
as EXOS and Árni. Icelandic artists also
joining the bill include FM Belfast,
Auður, dj. flugvél og geimskip, Prins
Póló, Halldor Eldjarn, Hekla and Hildur.
Tickets are on sale now. JR
Ascension MMXIX , which unexpect-
edly rose from the ashes of Studio
Emissary’s late Oration festival, finally
released their long-awaited lineup
in early December. As promised, the
Ascension festival will feature a more
diverse soundscape than that of the
purely black metal Oration. Interna-
tional titans Keep Dude, MGLA , and
Tribulation will take the stage with,
surprisingly, Sólstafir, as well as local
black metal stalwarts Svartiðauði,
Zhrine, Misþyrming, and many more.
The festival will be held from June
13th to 15th at Hlégarður in Mosfells-
bær. HJC
MUSIC
NEWS
Hip, Hip, Húrra
A metaphorical fist-pump NYE with
Jon Hopkins and Kiasmos
Words: Grayson Del Faro Photos: Réza Kalfane

John Hopkins & Kiasmos
NYE show at Húrra - Review
British electronic superstar Jon
Hopkins teamed up with Iceland’s
most prominent DJ duo Kiasmos
to throw a sold-out party at Húrra
on New Year’s Eve. Jon Hopkins has
been rising to fame amongst the
electro-intelligentsia from his be-
ginnings as a keyboardist for Imo-
gen Heap, to a Grammy nomination
for his 2018 album ‘Singularity,’ and
his work with Brian Eno, Bonobo,
and many others along the way. Ki-
asmos, comprising Icelandic com-
poser Ólafur Árnalds and Faroese
producer Janus Rasmussen, have
become one of Iceland’s most pop-
ular music exports in recent years,
selling out their soft-edged techno
shows all over the world.
Hot and cold
With credits like these, it’s no won-
der that the event sold out more
than a month in advance, even in a
country where no one is capable of
planning past their next meal. Tick-
ets were so sought after that many
desperate posts were made in the
event page on Facebook pleading for
passes . One ticket was even posted
for sale for 10.000 ISK on the day of
the event (original ticket price was
3.500 ISK).
This may have been one of the
hottest events of the year, but the
theme was all about the cold. Húrra’s
dance floor was redecorated entire-
ly with white, hanging streamers
and blue lights in glass cases filled
with reflective material across the
ceiling. This created the icy, wintry
feeling that has been missing from
this unusually warm winter, or, in
the band’s own words: “Elsa from
Frozen's ecstasy dream!”
Fast and slow
Jon Hopkins was up first. Most of his
tracks start slow and build up with
great nuance and artistry, but this
being a DJ set instead of a concert
(and New Year’s Eve, no less), there
wasn’t much time for nuance. He
came out hard with beats bumpin’
and fists pumpin’ (metaphorical-
ly), and the audience was ready. The
people scattered around the venue
were magnetized toward the front,
as more and more flooded into the
venue. Unlike a typical weekend at
Húrra, the crowd that night were
there to dance first and drink sec-
ond, so there was no time wasted.
By the time Kiasmos took the
stage, Húrra was truly at its abso-
lute best. Everything from the look
to the sound to the audience was in
perfect harmony. Kiasmos oscillated
from pounding beats to their more
ethereal moments, with the crowd
following along, alternately frenzied
and blissed out.
Out and in
By the end, nearly every single per-
son was on the dance floor, leaving
the bar section of the venue eerily
empty. After Húrra received a lot
of criticism during Airwaves for
overcrowding, which seriously de-
tracted from some of the perfor-
mances, they might have slightly
overcorrected the attendance here.
Or, maybe, many ticket holders just
overdid it and missed out. Whatever
the case, less is more. It made for
a respectful crowd of music lovers,
dancing with all the space they need
in lieu of drunken festival zombies
shoving each other.
That is exactly the kind of har-
binger we need for Reykjavík this
year. For those who were left out-
side in the actual cold, begging
to get in: don’t fret. Kiasmos an-
nounced on New Year’s Day that
the event will become a series. 2019
might just be your year after all.
gpv.is/music
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Jon Hopkins & Óli Arnalds surrounded by traditional Icelandic TP decorations
Rock Jocks
Nerds
Pervs events venue
bar &
Tryggvagata 22, 101 Reykjavík
EVERY
TUESDAY
EVERY
MONDAY
KARAOKE PARTY
21.00 / FREE ENTRY
STANDUP COMEDY
IN ENGLISH / 21.00 / FREE ENTRY
4/1
5/1
11/1
12/1
17/1
18/1
19/1
24/1
25/1
27/1
AAIIEENN (ALBUM RELEASE )
ALSO: XGADDAVÍRX, AMFJ, TROUBLE
NORN, MORONIC, HC LAXNESS, GAMLI
DRAG-SÚGUR (QUEER VARIETY SHOW)
“DÚM”: DYNFARI, ÚLFÚÐ, MORPHOLITH
MORII + SUPPORT
THE RETRO MUTANTS + SUPPORT
“HELGARHALD”: CELESTINE, QUEST,
OTTOMAN, ARI ÁRELÍUS, VOLCANOVA
DRAG-SÚGUR: DRAG LAB
EXPERIMENTAL DRAG SHOW
KÆLAN MIKLA (ALBUM RELEASE)
ALSO: SOME EMBER (US)
SINGER/SONGWRITER NIGHT