Reykjavík Grapevine - ágú. 2020, Blaðsíða 24

Sigur Rós has announced
that they’ll be producing
their own brand of CBD
tinctures in collaboration
with Icelandic CBD company, Vona. The
two types on offer are entitled SLEEP and
WAKE. The first is meant for relaxation,
the latter for improved concentration.
Each are 1,000 mg and, as their official
statement explains, made from craft
organic hemp and grown from hand-
picked seeds. While the legality of CBD
has been a source for much recent
discussion here, there is no explicit ban
on the chemical (though cannabis itself
is illegal.) “As the world spins ever faster,
our collective hope is for a better life:
healthier, less stressful, more benevo-
lent and inspiring, for others and our-
selves,” the statement concludes. Good
guy Sigur Rós: doing their part to make
2020 a bit chiller. Cue the didgeridoos.

Rejoice! Ya boi Ólafur Arnalds has been
nominated for an Emmy Award in the
‘Outstanding Original Main Title Theme
Music’ category for his work on the
Apple TV+ show Defending Jacob. Ólafur
has long been a Grapevine favourite, so
you could say we’ve known what’s up for
a long time. In fact, he was named the
‘Artist Of The Year’ at the 2019 Grapevine
Music Awards, which is arguably just as
important as the Emmys. The composer
is known for his experimental/minimalist
piano tunes, and if you’ve somehow gone
your entire life without listening to Óli, go
stream his newest album ‘re:member’
right now. Right. Now. The awards will be
presented on September 20th. Fingers
crossed.
Put the CBD down. Production duo
Ra:tio—winner of the ‘One To Watch’
award at the 2020 Grapevine Music
Awards—have dropped their first solo
album ‘DANS’. Composed of Bjarki
Sigur"arson and Teitur Helgi Skúlason,
the duo burst onto the scene in 2018
with their debut production release,
GDRN’s ‘Hva" ef,’ later collaborating with
ClubDub, una schram and more. ‘DANS’
serves up seven songs with features
from Birnir, Lil Binni, Bríet, Logi Pedro,
GDRN, krassasig, una schram and Young
Karin. The final song on the album, “Dans
Vi" Mig,” even sees Bjarki and Teitur
making their own singing debut. Ra:tio,
please remember us when y’all are
famous. HJC
MUSIC
NEWS
The Core Of The
Winter
Turn off the li!hts and !et claustrophobic for Bára
Gísladóttir’s newest release
Words: Hannah Jane Cohen Photo: Art Bicnick
Album
'H%BER’ will be released on Sept. 4th.
“The funny thing is that I wasn’t
even planning on releasing this al-
bum,” Bára Gísladóttir says, a wide,
animated smile taking over her face.
The composer and double bassist
is only weeks away from releasing
her newest solo album, ‘H#BER,’ a
piece in eight movements for dou-
ble bass and electronics. “I’ve been
working on it for three years so it’s
been a lot of time just thinking and
digesting rather than actually work-
ing,” she admits. “The musical part
is just the tip of the iceberg, which
is always the case [for us all], but
it’s even more so than usual here.”
In person, Bára’s somewhat of a
contradiction. Musically, her works
tread the line between discomfort
and beauty. Harsh, unrelenting and
at times even uncomfortable, Bára’s
tonal creations require active, fo-
cused listening in the most primal
sense. Before meeting her, based
solely on her art, I expect to find an
intense, sullen Edgar Allen Poe-es-
que character. Instead, I’m treated
to a vivacious, expressive woman
whose prose and reflections on her
works—and music
in general—embody
the word thoughtful.
Not to mention, she’s
pretty funny too.
Words before
music
“‘H#BER’ is a an ex-
ploration of texture
and darkness, where
core serves as a com-
mon thread. The title
itself is a word stem
referring to h$bernus,
meaning wintry, or of pertaining
to winter or suitable for getting
through winter,” Bára explains. “I
wanted ‘H#BER’ to boast the idea of
winter lasting longer than a semes-
ter. ‘H#BER’ also refers to hiberna-
tion, portraying both the process
and the content of the album itself.”
And this entomological research,
Bára emphasises, goes much deeper
than you’d expect. “In fact, a lot of
these pieces had titles before they
were even written,” she reveals.
For instance, the fifth move-
ment—an affecting, almost apoth-
eotic polar track—is entitled “tvíhir-
ta.” “The word ‘tvíhirta’ may sound
Icelandic, but it is sort of a made-up
word. Tví meaning ‘two of some-
thing’ and hirta [is reminiscent]
of ‘hjarta’ (heart). Somehow I also
relate hirta to ‘flétta’ (braid), which
does not really make much sense at
all, but is important to understand
the content of the movement itself,”
she explains. “’Tvíhirta’ deals with
the concept of an organism having
two hearts, but perhaps not nat-
urally. Tvíhirta is spun out of the
thoughts on a body being—even un-
willingly—given an extra heart with
a somewhat horrific transplant.”
Playing physical
The bass might be—to those unaf-
filiated with contemporary compo-
sition—an unusual choice for a solo
instrument. But for Bára, though, it’s
the most fitting one for her nature.
“The bass invites you to dig deep,
both literally and figuratively. It has
the most intense and also the most
diverse soundscape of the string in-
struments,” she says, before laugh-
ing and joking that she hopes her
violinist friends
don’t get angry at
her boldness. “I
also think I’m a bit
physical in what I
do. I just feel that
I can merge with
my instrument
and I don’t know
if I could feel that
way with, say, a
t r u mpet.” She
smiles. “Then of
course I know a
lot of fantastic
trumpet players!
People find what works for them.”
But, while listening to Bára’s
works, it’s clear she has an affin-
ity for the droning instrument,
and the album—mixed by her
long-time collaborator Skúli Sver-
risson—is the epitome of this.
So how should one prepare to
experience ‘H#BER’? “I’d personally
want to be in a small, dark room with
huge speakers and listen to it really
loud,” she says. “Then sit and close
your eyes.” And enter hibernation.
“The bass invites
you to dig deep,
both literally and
figuratively. It has
the most intense
and also the most
diverse sound-
scape of the string
instruments.”
Bára in her natural habitat
Music
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