Atlantica - 01.10.2006, Side 61

AT L A N T I CA 59
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1. Apparat Organ Quartet:
This quintet of four organists
and a drummer describe
their music as “machine
rock and roll” and have been
compared to pioneering elec-
tronic masters Kraftwerk and
experimental wunderkinds
Sigur Rós. AOQ is known to
use home organs and cheap
consumer pieces often mined
from garbage dumps that
they customize. myspace.
com/apparatorganquartet
2. Benni Hemm Hemm:
An eccentric big band led
by singer-guitarist Benedikt
H. Hermannsson (a.k.a.
Benni Hemm Hemm) earned
both Best Album and Best
Newcomer at last year’s
Icelandic Music Awards for
its self-titled debut. Some
of its sounds are vaguely
reminiscent of Scottish indie
band Belle & Sebastian.
bennihemmhemm.com
3. Eberg: Think acoustic bal-
lads meet ambient. This lo-fi
guy, who recently recorded a
live session for BBC Radio 1,
is ascending the ranks fast.
“I’m Moving To Wales,” the
first single from his second
album VoffVoff, went straight
to the BBC 6 music playlist
and directly to #31 on the
iTunes world chart. eberg.net
4. Mammút: Vocalist Katrína
Mogensen’s voice eerily
resembles that of Tori Amos,
and none of the five band
members are older than
eighteen. Their eponymous
debut album was released
this spring by Bad Taste,
the label founded by The
Sugarcubes, where Björk got
her legendary start.
myspace.com/mammut
5. Jakobínarína: These six
combustible guys, none older
than 19, are back for another
round at Airwaves and are by
far one of the year’s most an-
ticipated shows. After falling
in love with them at Airwaves
2005, Rolling Stone chose
this mouthful of a band as
one of the five best acts this
year at the famed SXSW mu-
sic festival in Austin, Texas.
Plumes of smoke might as
well fly from their fingers
when picking their guitars.
myspace.com/jakobinarina
OUR ICELANDIC PICKS
1. Brazilian Girls: Only one
of the four is female, and
zero of the four are Brazilian
(they actually hail from Italy,
Argentina, California and
Kansas). Frontwoman Sabina
Sciubba (a Roman who was
raised in Munich and Nice)
sings in five languages, and
their music, which incor-
porates dollops of reggae,
electronica, jazz, bossa nova,
and whatever else they feel
like, just keeps on getting
better, stronger, louder.
braziliangirls.info
2. Cold War Kids: Indie to
their very core, these four
guys started in a storage
room in downtown Fuller-
ton, California, with a guitar,
some hand claps, and an old
amp. They write songs about
human experience (some of
their track titles: “We Used
to Vacation,” “Red Wine,
Success” and “Don’t Let Your
Love Grow Away (from me)”)
and cite Dylan, U2, and Belle
& Sebastian as some of their
influences.
coldwarkids.com
3. Jenny Wilson: This
resourceful, red-lipsticked
songstress is starting to
hit it big outside her native
Sweden with her solo debut
album Love & Youth, which
earned her a Swedish
Grammy nomination for
“Best Pop Female” of the
year. Many of the tracks are
infused with the sounds of
a vibraphone and a Rhodes
piano she found in a small
recording space she rented.
jennywilson.net
4. Love is All: From the
shores of Gothenberg, Swe-
den, their love has spread
quickly: this quintet recently
landed on the cover of New
York-based Fader magazine.
Their indie pop is defined by
heavy sax, percussion, and,
well, very spirited lyrics. The
Love have plenty of heart
and noise.
myspace.com/loveisall8
5. Whomadewho: This
Copenhagen-based three-
some is an amalgamation
with roots in Scandinavian
garage rock, New York jazz,
and electronic disco records.
The result, well, depends.
Sometimes you get some
disco funk, other times en-
ergized rock, and sometimes
minimalist, stripped down
songs of folky acoustic.
whomadewho.dk
(FYI, their website rocks).
OUR INTERNATIONAL PICKS
WHOMADEWHO JAKOBÍNARÍNA
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