Reykjavík Grapevine - 01.02.2019, Page 31

Music 31The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 02— 2019
Drexler and Pu$$whip in the bright lights
“We had some
whacked-out ideas
like trying to
recreate a recording
of a real party with
just us two.”
TRACK BY TRACK
‘Psychoplasmics’
By Psychoplasmics
Dark boom-bap meets dolphins in
one psycho release
Words: Lord Pu$$whip & Hannah Jane Cohen
Photo: Magnus Andersen
Psychoplasmics is the collabora-
tive project of Lord Pu$$whip and
Alfreð Drexler. Their first song, ‘101
Reykjavík,’ came out in in 2014, and
they’ve finally followed it up with a
long-awaited eponymous debut al-
bum. Here, the two take us through
the album track by track.

107 RVK
This one is definitely one of the
strongest songs on the album. It’s a
sort of sequel to our first song, ‘101
Reykjavík’, which is very personal as
101 and 107 are our postal codes in
Reykjavík. We made this completely
off our tits in Alfreð’s apartment and
it was literally willed into being. We
also had some whacked-out ideas
like trying to recreate a recording of
a real party with just us two, inspired
by the intro of Marvin Gaye’s ‘What’s
Going On’.
Miranda
The samples in ‘Miranda’ are from
all over the place—bits from the
soundtracks of an old Czech film, an
old British horror film, the Icelandic
rapper Gísli Pálmi, and a lot more ele-
ments. It’s probably the most soni-
cally maximal track on the album. It’s
a good taste of our style.

De Pijp/Erdbeermund
We made these in hazy sessions
on vacation in Amsterdam with
our friend BNGRBOY, arguably the
biggest producer in the country,
who’s worked with everyone from
Icelandic rappers to Ólafur Arnalds.
He really shows his talents on these
two tracks, especially ‘De Pijp.’
Wavy Friday
This was the last song we made for
the album. It was a late Berlin night,
and we chopped up an ill Japanese
pop sample, recorded acoustic gui-
tar on top of it and added a bunch
of stuff. It’s a good example of the
nostalgic, bittersweet vibe our beats
often have.
Dolphin’s Delight
On this song, we wanted to go all
out in saccharine smoothness, with
psychedelic yacht rock vibes. We got
our friend Indriði to shred electric
guitar while Nnamdi Umez plays
electric bass. Dolphin’s Delight is a
type of truffle in Amsterdam and the
cheezy idyllic picture of dolphins
jumping in the ocean on the canister
fit the vibe perfectly. We also used
some recordings from an echo
chamber in the abandoned radio
tower Teufelsberg in Berlin.
Interlude ft. Jon Riverjoy
Here, Pusswhip’s dad, legendary
Icelandic television personality
Jón Ársæll, does an introduction to
‘Side B’ of the album. It’s supposed
to add to the immersive vibe of the
album, ending in a field recording of
a car ride, which hints to the type of
fleeting cinematic trip we want the
album to sound like.
Kriminelt
‘Kriminelt’ has a dark boom-bap
beat with cult Icelandic rapper TY of
Geimfarar, which was an older group
of similarly-minded guys who pre-
ceded our generation of forward-
thinking hip-hop in Iceland. The beat
is a tribute to the ‘90s, with samples
from Stretch & Bobbito’s old radio
show and sounds from the L.A. Riots,
while TY raps absurdist & sardonic
rhymes in Icelandic.
Gullhamar
One of the hottest young Icelandic
rap stars, Birnir, mixes classic bad
boy bully rap with seductive lines
for the ladies over a Nintendo-esque
beat. It’s our futuristic twist on clas-
sic ‘90s R&B.
Berlin Nights
‘Berlin Nights’ was our take on ’90s
house from Chicago and Detroit,
mixing an eerie, down-pitched piano
sample with sounds from broken
toys and 808s, as well as a funky
bass-line on a down-pitched electric
guitar.
THE HOME
OF ICELANDIC
SEAFOOD
AND LAMB
APOTEK Kitchen+Bar is a casual-smart
restaurant located in one of Reykjavíks
most historical buildings.
We specialize in fresh seafood
and local ingredients
prepared with a modern twist.
APOTEK KITCHEN+BAR Austurstræti 16 101 Reykjavík apotek.is