Atlantica - 01.07.2004, Page 77

Music stores:
12 Tónar
You have two choices when it comes to music
stores in Reykjavík. One is the corporate giant
owned by the largest media company in Iceland. 12
Tónar is the other choice. They have two floors on
Skólavördustigur, with classical type stuff on the
top floor and a couple of classy guys selling it, and,
on the lower floor, two slightly less classy looking
guys selling slight less classy music. They’re all
veterans of the Reykjavík underground, so you’ll be
in good hands if you’re looking for the latest in
Iceland’s cutting edge music scene. They also run
quite a happening label out of the store, releasing
the likes of Faroese singer Eivör Pálsdóttir and
camp-electronica act Trabant.
Skífan
Ah, the smell of money. Skífan is the closest thing
that you’ll find to an HMV in Iceland. They own
many of the distribution deals for foreign labels in
this country in true monopolistic style, so if they
aren’t stocking it, you might not be able to find it.
That said, it should be possible to find any Icelandic
release here that might not be stocked at 12 Tónar.
The chain has several locations around the city
including on Laugavegur and in the two biggest
shopping malls Kringlan and Smáralind.
Valdi’s Used CDs
For a more hit and miss shopping experience, you
might want to check out Valdi’s Used CDs on
Vitastigur. As the name suggests, these are used
CDs, so you’re probably only going to be able to find
a thin cross-section of the releases you’re looking
for. Then again, you may save half the price of the
disc. There’s also plenty of vinyl in the back for
the audiophiles where you might find some of the
more traditional Icelandic music dating from a
time when Iceland was just another
Scandinavian backwater with its share of Rat
Pack wannabes.
Live venues:
Gaukur á Stöng
Shellac played here a few years back when it
was still a stuffy little shoebox frequented by
drunks during the day and indie groupies by
night. Since then, Gaukur has expanded the
building and torn down several walls to enlarge
the stage, so now it’s one of the best places to
play in the city’s growing rock scene. They have
a regular series of concerts called “Jack Live”,
the title of which name-drops the sponsor (Jack
Daniels) who supplies the all-too-eager bands
with a bottle of Jack the size of an average three-
year-old.
Grand Rokk
This place is a chess club by day. Then around
eleven o’clock in the evening (usually from
Wednesday night through Saturday) there are a
whole range of shows going on all summer.
Summer is when the bands really get their ya-yas
out, which is to say that they play plenty of
shows. You can see at least one pretty good qual-
ity act there while you’re staying in Reykjavík,
provided that you look for it. The sound system is
one of the best for any of the clubs, but like most
clubs in town, the system only sounds as good as
the engineer is sober.
Bar 11
This third bar is just around the corner from the
other two. It’s a popular hangout for the harder
drinkers in the rock scene and most of the barmen
are musicians. They have concerts almost every
day of the later part of the week. The shows often
provide extremely close encounters between the
audience and the performers, so be prepared to
duck when the bass player swings his Precision
around and kicks mid-air, spilling multiple pints of
Thule over the already sticky bar floor where a
guy with green hair in a Buzzcocks t-shirt is
passed out because he recently played at a Jack
Live show at Gaukur á Stöng.
Nasa
Located in an old timber house smack in the town
centre, this place is normally a really cheesy dis-
cotheque. But on good nights and at Iceland
Airwaves it’s transformed into a great live venue
and has featured a host of international and local
rockers. Nasa, Austurvöllur,.101 Reykjavík
Bars:
Ölstofan:
If you can’t get enough of that second-hand ciga-
rette smoke, head to Ölstofan, the pub where
older than average MPs, TV news anchors, writ-
ers and filmmakers hang out, trying to hang on to
one last moment of youth. Despite the near-toxic
plume of smoke akin to a Bush-protected coal-
burning power plant, Ölstofan is one of the best
pubs to chat up members of the opposite sex.
Ölstofan, Vegamótastígur 4, 101 Reykjavík,
(+354) 552 4687
REYKJAVÍK SIGNPOST
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