Reykjavík Grapevine - 13.09.2019, Blaðsíða 32

Music
One of the biggest icons
of electronic music,
Tangerine Dream, has
painted stadium-sized soundscapes
for no less than half a century and
now they’re bringing their art to the
ExtremeChill festival. The festival’s
10th edition will be taking place in
Reykjavík from September 13th to
15th. Other bands on the lineup in-
clude Marcus Fischer, Eraldo Bernoc-
chi, Kristín Anna, Christopher Chaplin
and Hoshiko Yamane. VG
Iceland Airwaves revealed their full
line up a few days ago. Local favourite
Hjaltalín returns to the festival after
a five-year hiatus, with a brand new
upbeat sound. German house music
heroes Booka Shade also appear, re-
mixing their favourite music, forcing
everybody in a five-kilometre radius
to dance. Some countries, including
Indonesia and Palestine, are sending
artists for the first time. Indie duo
Stars and Rabbit hail from Indonesia
and will bring chill vibes. Meanwhile,
Bashar Murad, who collaborated with
Hatari, will also join the lineup. VG/SPO

Icelandic icon Björk Guðmundsdóttir
and Swedish artists Fever Ray and The
Knife remixed each other’s songs.
The outcome is experimental as to
be expected. Both Fever Ray (Karin
Dreijer) and The Knife (Karin and Olof
Dreijer) decided to put a new spin on
Björk’s “Features Creatures” from her
2017 LP “Utopia”. They kept the original
lyrics—the poetics of the song there-
fore remain but it’s transformed by
upgraded beats. Karin sings on both
remixes. VG/Lea
MUSIC
NEWS
Melody-Minded
Chapters
The visual classical world of Gabríel Ólafs
Words: Rex Beckett Photo: Art Bicknik
Concert
Gabríel Ólafs’ debut album ‘Absent
Minded’ is out now on One Little
Indian, available on all streaming
platforms and in stores on vinyl.
As Icelandic artists continue to
establish themselves in the world
of modern classical music, a new
generation of musicians is begin-
ning to follow in the same vein.
One such artist is the bright young
pianist Gabríel Ólafs, who is mak-
ing melodic, romantic yet minimal
music fit for a movie score. He has
just released his first album, ‘Ab-
sent Minded’, after being picked
up by One Little Indian records
right at the inception of his career.
Jazz teen
The 20-year old Reykjavík native
began playing piano at age five and
headed to the FÍH music school in
his teens to study jazz. From there,
he began composing quite young. “I
wrote the main melody of the album
when I was 14,” he says. “I always had
this melody in mind. It has differ-
ent chapters that were written later
and then I sort of put it together.”
This piece became the title track
of his album, which he composed,
arranged and recorded himself
over 2018. These songs with many
chapters recall older classical piec-
es of the Romantic era that flow
gracefully from one section to an-
other, without necessarily repeat-
ing. “Some think it’s unnecessary
to have too many movements in a
track but liked it like that,” he says;
“to have obvious chapters and strong
melodies and different flavours.”
Obsessed with
film scores
He actively composed as he recorded,
each song creating visually evoca-
tive worlds. Gabríel finds much of
his inspiration and influences in
movie scores, and he approaches his
songwriting with film in mind. “I’ve
been obsessed with film scores since
I was 7-years old, when I was watch-
ing Pixar movies,” he says. “It just
blew my mind how writing a theme
or having specific instruments for
the score, it sort of transports you to
the place or the vibe of the movie.”
“I definitely do this system, where
they have certain themes to each
song,” he continues. “I didn’t have
characters or a plot, but I wrote
these melodies with themes. Even
though I like to keep the story of
the album with the listener, this
is definitely how I approached
it. I am always imagining a mu-
sic video while I’m composing.”
Little bit of electronic
Gabríel is now on the cusp of playing
at Iceland Airwaves for the second
time, and is feeling far more confi-
dent and ready to put his best foot
forward this year. “I was really happy
back then because I hadn’t released
the album and still a lot of people
were there,” he says. “I had eight
players with me last year, which is
a bit much, so maybe I’ll do some-
thing a little different this time.
Minimise it a little bit. Maybe have
a bit of electronics. I think I’ll be
playing work-in-progress songs.”
In the meantime, he is already
composing and recording for a sec-
ond album, where he finds that his
process has changed but the goal
is still the same. “I think I’ve re-
tained the sound I’m kind of cre-
ating for myself, with strong mel-
odies and obvious chapters,” he
says. “I’m really looking forward
to the future, knowing what I’ve
learned on this album. This album
will always be close to my heart.”
"All around me are familiar faces...."
LIVE MUSIC & EV
EN
T
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events venuebar &
Tryggvagata 22, 101 Reykjavík
EVERY
TUESDAY
EVERY
MONDAY
KARAOKE PARTY
21.00 / FREE ENTRY
SOULFLOW COMEDY
WOMEN & QUEER
OPEN MIC STANDUP
IN ENGLISH / 21.00 / FREE ENTRY
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25/9
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13-14/9 EXTREME CHILL FESTIVAL 2019
“FEMME IN-UNITY” DRAG SHOW
IN SUPPORT OF STÍGAMÓT
SPÜNK, KVELJA, VELVET VILLAIN
BURLESQUE SHOW
BY TROUPE “LADIES & A GENTLEMAN”
SINGER/SONGWRITER NIGHT
SUNNA FRIDJONS + BAND,
CHRYPTOCHROME
DRAG-SÚGUR DRAG LAB
MONTHLY EXPERIMENTAL DRAG SHOW
UNDER THE CHURCH (SWE), URÐUN,
NARTHRAAL
AARU, HOLLOW FRONT (US)