Iceland review - 2013, Side 10

8 ICELAND REVIEW
02 05
Culture Club
03
04
Bye-Bye GOOd
NiGhT’s sleep
i remember you
yrsa sigurðardóttir
hodder & stoughton
in i remember you (Ég man þig;
2010), icelandic crime author
yrsa sigurðardóttir throws logical
explanations out the window and
gives free rein to fantasy.
a young couple and their
recently-widowed friend go to an
abandoned village in the remote
West Fjords to renovate a house
in the dead of winter. soon,
strange and scary things start to
happen, and to their horror, they
cannot leave the village.
Meanwhile, a psychiatrist, who
has recently moved to the region
to escape haunting memories
of a son who disappeared and
a mentally-disturbed ex-wife,
discovers links between
vandalism at a local kindergarten
and old unsolved cases.
according to the independent,
yrsa’s writing is equal to that
of horror master stephen
King in creating a hair-raising
atmosphere. ESA
Third TiMe’s The ChArM
RetRo StefSon
retro stefson
Vertigo berlin/universal music
Known for their upbeat alternative music with afro-pop
influences, retro stefson is a seven-piece band of
friends who started playing together back in 2006. they
have a fun and adventurous approach to music that’s
really infectious and sort of makes you want to skip
work and dance on the sidewalk.
their anticipated third album, also called retro stefson, came out in october. overall,
it has an electronic feel and on some tracks, like ‘Qween’ and ‘time,’ there are these
80s elements. then there are slower tracks, like ‘solaris,’ but if you want something
unmistakably retro stefson, play ‘glow’ and ‘she said.’
the album was nominated for this year’s nordic Music prize and earned the band six
nominations at the icelandic Music awards. NÁ
GrAy MATTer
City State
Ólafur jóhannesson
entertainment one
released in october 2011, city state (borgríki) by director
ólafur Jóhannesson features a star league of artists, the
most famous of whom are British actors Jonathan pryce
and philip Jackson, appearing in supporting roles.
icelandic gangster gunnar (ingvar E. sigurðsson) must
fight off competition from serbian mechanic-turned-criminal
sergej (Zlatko Krickic), backed by the Balkan mafia. gunnar,
however, has the icelandic police on his side; officer Margeir
(sigurður sigurjónsson) likes to call in favors at gunnar’s brothel. Meanwhile, detective andrea
(Ágústa Eva Erlendsdóttir) starts a personal vendetta after the gangsters attack her lover.
the focus shifts between all four main characters and viewers discover that there is nothing
black and white about their stories. all are capable of doing both good and bad. ESA
TwiN sOuNd
twoSomeneSS
Pascal Pinon
morr music
named after the two-headed Mexican (1889-1929),
pascal pinon is a duo comprised of twin sisters Jófríður
and Ásthildur Ákadóttir, who recently released their
second album twosomeness.
the sound in the 12 intimate songs is unified, a
kind of twosomeness which is hard to describe. When
listening to it you find yourself in a realm where everything seems to fall into place.
My favorite track is ‘Þerney (one thing),’ where they sing: “i don’t need anything; i just
make something beautiful.” PS