Reykjavík Grapevine - May 2021, Page 19

Documentin! A Delicate Present
Minningar showcases climate change through the sounds of the glaciers
Words: Hannah Jane Cohen Photo: Art Bicnick & Daniele Girolamo
Album
Check out ‘From the Ocean/To the
Ocean (Memories of Snæfellsjökull)’
by Minningar on Bandcamp. See
them live at Mengi on May 25th.
The thought experiment “If a tree
falls in a forest and no one is around
to hear it, does it make a sound?”
is one that challenges unperceived
existence. It asks but one question:
How do things act when humans are
not there to experience them?
But take that experiment and
move it one step deeper: What of
things that are, even when left
alone, constantly bombarded and
affected by the choices of humanity?
How do we perceive the existence of
an object that cannot exist separate
from the one hearing it? Such is the
fate of many natural phenomena
worldwide, such as the glaciers,
which are, at all times, being slow-
ly destroyed due to global climate
change caused by humans.
Composed of Eyrún Engilberts-
dóttir, Úlfur Hansson, Magnús
Bergsson and Daniele Girolamo,
Minningar is a new musical project
that seeks to document the exist-
ence of such objects. They recently
released their debut album ‘From
the Ocean/To the Ocean (Memories
of Snæfellsjökull)’, which is based
on field recordings taken from the
Snæfellsjökull glacier last summer,
in the midst of the pandemic. The
album features a few of these re-
cordings laid bare, along with two
that the group has improvised intri-
cate and impassioned soundscapes
over. The end result is a documen-
tation of a moment in glacial time
that already, only months later,
seems lost in the ether.
The leviathan
Minningar began with Eyrún and
Daniele. Together, the duo set out
to do a musical project to bring at-
tention to climate change. Daniele
subsequently pulled legendary field
recorder Magnús Bergsson into the
mix and, later still, a chance meet-
ing brought Úlfur into the fold,
along with his newest custom built
synthesiser, the Orichalcum.
“We decided on Snæfellsjökull
because it is disappearing,” Daniele
explains. “I was there two years ago
and there’s so much less now. But
it’s a magic place that you can even
read about in the Eddas, such as
with Bár!ur the giant who slept in
Sönghellir, the singing cave.” So in-
spired by the tale, the group decided
to record one song there, which fea-
tures improvised kalimba by Eyrún.
Entitled “Sönghellir”, it’s a wistful
track, underlined at all times by the
expansive echo of the cave and silky
sounds of rushing water.
“There’s something in the air out
there. You almost feel like you are
standing next to a leviathan. The
glacier has a presence,” Úlfur says.
“And, of course, it is the entrance to
the centre of the Earth.”
Fragile beauty
Poignantly, it was the COVID-19
pandemic—which, as many experts
say, has its roots in the zoological
and sociological disruptions caused
by climate change—that allowed
them to make the record.
“Due to COVID, there were no
tourists so we could get really good
field recordings,” Daniele smiles.
“So we were lucky. Maybe it’s the
only good thing COVID brought.”
That said, the three cannot help
but fixate on the tragic remnants
of climate change wherever they
go. And even in Iceland, which has
remained relatively unscathed by
the wildfires, hurricanes, and other
natural wreckage caused by climate
change, the threat of global warm-
ing is uncomfortably close.
“Ok is officially gone, which is
crazy,” Úlfur says, referring to the
former Okjökull glacier near Langk-
jökull, which was the first Icelandic
glacier to disappear due to climate
change. “We have all this expan-
sive beauty to take in whenever we
want, but it can all go away. It’s very
fragile. We need to preserve those
things,” he continues mournfully.
Eyrún nods. “There are not that
many places you can drive half an
hour and see a volcano,” she adds.
“That’s the sad part. There’s a good-
bye feeling in [this album] as well.”
“I cry when I think that the next
generation could never see what
we have seen,” Daniele concludes,
softly. “And this is, together, [Min-
ningar’s] goal. It depends on us. We
can’t do everything but we can leave
a small sign of right now.”
19The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 05— 2021
Event Picks
NOVEMBER 3rd TO NOVEMBER
6th. ICELAND AIRWAVES 2021.
GET READY! Yes, our favourite
fall festival just announced thirty
more acts that’ll join their lineup this
year and we couldn’t be more excited.
Leading is Brit Arlo Parks whose debut,
“Collapsed in Sunbeams”, you need to
listen to right now! Other internation-
als who will be flying over include
Sad Night Dynamite, KeiyaA, Bartees
Strange, Black Pumas and Crack Cloud.
On the Icelandic front, you’ve got
Laufey, Eydís Evensen, Ouse, Power
Paladin, Kælan Mikla, Axel Flóvent, Vök,
Countess Malaise, Holdgervlar, Inspec-
tor Spacetime, Bríet, Da"i Freyr and
many, many, many more, of course. HJC
Da"i Freyr—who by the time you are
reading this, might have won Eurovi-
sion 2021—has had a busy year. In
preparation for Eurovision, he, along
with his trusty sidekicks in Gagnamag-
ni", dropped a special mobile game
called “Think About Aliens”, which,
according to the artist, is the sequel to
“Think About Things” and the prequel to
this year’s Eurovision entry “10 Years”,
detailing how Gagnamagni! become
monster-fighting superheroes. He’s
also released a special-edition beer
entitled 10 Beers with Borg Brugghús
and, if that’s not enough, his previous
Eurovision effort, “Think About Things”,
just went silver in the U.K., meaning
it has sold more than 200,000 copies.
Oh! And of course, Strætó’s legendary
Gagnavagn is back, too. HJC
“Húsavík” did not win the Best Original
Song at the 2021 Oscars, despite a
massive social media campaign by the
residents of the tiny Northern fishing
village. Viewers, though, were treated
to a special performance of the song
direct from Húsavík by Molly Sandén,
who provided the vocals for Rachel
McAdams’ character in the film. Filmed
in the harbour, surrounded by sail-
boats, backlit by the northern lights
and accompanied by the lopapeysa-
clad Húsavík children’s choir, it was
potentially the cheesiest Icelandic
event to ever occur and we could not
have loved it more. Unfortunately no
whales made an appearance, though,
as we know from the song, whales can
live there ‘cause they’re gentle people.
Oscar winning lyrics, people. HJC
MUSIC
NEWS

Ash Walker & Laville
May 7th - 21:00 - Men"i - 2,500 ISK
"Relentlessly killer "rooves." ...and
so spoke respected tastemaker
Gilles Peterson on the jazzy tunes of
Ash Walker. Need we say more? (BTW:
This is quite possibly one of the first
times an international musician
has performed in Iceland for more
than a year now. So savour it. Arrive
early.) HJC

KARAOKE!!
Tuesdays - 20:00 - Gaukurinn - Free!
GAUKURINN’S FAMED KARAOKE IS BACK,
BABY!!! KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS? You
can finally have that perfect meet-
cute moment where you and your
secret crush perform “Rewrite The
Stars” from The Greatest Showman
together and it’s all very magical.
Not that that’s a fantasy of ours, btw.
Just kidding, we love you Zac. HJC
Músíktilraunir 2021
May 22nd, 23rd, 24th, 25th & 29th - 19:30 - Harpa -
1,500-2,000 ISK
What do Of Monsters
And Men, Mammút,
Vök and Jónsi all have
in common? Other
than having been
on the cover of the
Reykjavík Grapevine,
that is. The answer
is that long before
hitting the big time,
they all participated in
Músíktilraunir (‘Music
Experiments’). The
annual competition
is a beloved event
on Iceland’s social
calendar and has always
been a magnet for
Iceland's best and most
promising music talents
before they become
world famous. Although
the evening is filled with
unpolished gems, it’s
also a great place to see
what the youngsters are
thinking about music-
wise. So if you want to
discover the next Sigur
Rós, this is the place to
be. For couch potatoes,
it’ll be broadcast live on
RÚV. VG
On Tuesday, you best believe we'll be at karaoke... It's the start of somethin" new.
Music
gpv.is/music
Share this + ArchivesAnalogue photos taken by Daniele Girolamo while recording the album
No one told Minningar there'd be a wind machine!