Keeping a finger on the pulse

REVIEWS - page 4

The Franz Connection

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Words by Wim Van Hooste The review was originally printed in Reykjavík On Stage (Issue 1) Franz Gunnarsson has a long history in the Icelandic music scene. He played and plays guitar in bands as different as In Memoriam, Quicksand Jesus, Moody Company, Ensími and Dr. Spock. Kaflaskil (Watershed) is his first side/solo project, made with the helping hands and vocal chords of male/female friends, like Kristófer Jensson, Tinna Marína Jónsdóttir, Eyþór Ingi Gunnlaugsson (Todmobile since 2011), Erna Hrönn Ólafsdóttir , Stéfan Jakobsson, Bryndís Ásmundur, Magni Ásgeirsson (Á Móti Sól), and Dr. Spock buddy Guðfinnur Karlsson. The 12-track album opens with a tune that throws you back to the Icelandic sound of the 90s: ‘Einn Dag Í Einu’ (‘One Day At The Time’). ‘Afkvæmi’ (‘Offspring’) has a fantastic drive and vibe, pretty fly for a white guy, indeed. The first duet and duel, a clash of the sexes, is ‘Hugarhvarf’…

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Rokkað á Hvanneyri

(Pistillinn var skrifaður fyrir Tengivagninn á Rás1 og birtist þar, miðvikudaginn 14. ágúst 2019.) Falið í Borgarbyggð með tæplega 300

One SS Pylsur With Nothing For The Road To Nowhere

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Words by Wim Van Hooste The review was originally printed in Reykjavík On Stage (Issue 1) The ninth studio album since 2000 by the neo-psychedelic rock band Singapore Sling is a colourful cocktail of Henrik Björnsson’s typical atonal voice, dirty reverb-driven bass lines, a wall of feedback powered guitars and menacing drums. Business as usual? A new ingredient perhaps? (more…)

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Rokkað á Hvanneyri

(Pistillinn var skrifaður fyrir Tengivagninn á Rás1 og birtist þar, miðvikudaginn 14. ágúst 2019.) Falið í Borgarbyggð með tæplega 300

Lost And Found In The Wormhole

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Words by Wim Van Hooste The review was originally printed in Reykjavík On Stage (Issue 1) If you think about the Icelandic trip-hop scene, Worm Is Green is a name that comes immediately to mind. Hailing from Akranes and formed in 2002, Worm Is Green is still around in the ground. The band was responsible for Automagic (Thule, 2003), Push Play (Mikrolux, 2007), Glow (Kilk Records, 2012), To them we are only shadows (ata:digital, 2014), Loops, Cuts and Lost Clues Vol. 1 (ata:empire, 2016), and numerous EPs and singles in the past. Who needs a trip to Bristol, if you can drive to Akranes through the tunnel made by Worm Is Green?! Loop, Cuts and Lost Clues Vol. 2: One could say ‘more the best of the rest’. DVD lovers would call it “The Extras”. Anyhow, Worm Is Green offers a look inside the kitchen of quartet Árni, Bjarni, Steini…

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Rokkað á Hvanneyri

(Pistillinn var skrifaður fyrir Tengivagninn á Rás1 og birtist þar, miðvikudaginn 14. ágúst 2019.) Falið í Borgarbyggð með tæplega 300

East End Grrrls

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Words by Wim Van Hooste The review was originally printed in Reykjavík On Stage (Issue 4) One thing is clear about East Of My Youth: they have an impeccable literary taste. Their name comes from Jack Kerouac’s novel On The Road: I was halfway across America, at the dividing line between the East of my youth and the West of my future. The lyrics of ‘Lemonstars’ (a song unfortunately not featured on this début EP), were also inspired by a novel, Worldlight, by Halldór Laxness, Iceland’s Nobel Prize author. East of My Youth is a ladies’ duo consisting of lifelong friends Thelma Marín Jónsdóttir and Herdís Stefánsdóttir. Finding themselves in Berlin after both finishing the Icelandic Academy of Arts (IAA), the grrrls decided to make music together, for our great pleasure. Their eponymous EP features six electropop songs, mostly built on luscious lyrics driven by Thelma’s angelic vocals. The opening…

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Rokkað á Hvanneyri

(Pistillinn var skrifaður fyrir Tengivagninn á Rás1 og birtist þar, miðvikudaginn 14. ágúst 2019.) Falið í Borgarbyggð með tæplega 300

JFDR – Brazil

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Words by Bartek Wilk The review was originally printed in Reykjavík On Stage (Issue 4) I don’t know any other Icelandic artist who has been involved in so many different projects in the span of a year. Let’s see – first of all there was a new Samaris album. Although musically different from their previous releases and overtaken by Doddi, Black Lights couldn’t have been done without her lyrics and her very special voice (a voice that won her the 2016 Icelandic Music Award for best electronic album and best female singer). The trio is still one of the most important electronic bands of the younger generation of Icelandic music. There was also Sundur – a new Pascal Pinon album Jófríður recorded with her sister Ásthildur. This one was really digging to the roots of the Ákadóttir sisters’ music. So simple and honest in the folk-influenced singer-songwriter form, but deep…

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Rokkað á Hvanneyri

(Pistillinn var skrifaður fyrir Tengivagninn á Rás1 og birtist þar, miðvikudaginn 14. ágúst 2019.) Falið í Borgarbyggð með tæplega 300

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