Icelandic Soundscapes: Ghostigital.

GHOSTIGITAL

When I'd gone on holiday in Reykjavík, Iceland during Christmas of 2007, one of the aspects of Icelandic culture I was really looking forward to learning more about was the face of popular music up there in that beautiful northern island. After fantastically helpful trips to record stores such as the legendary 12 Tónar on Skolavor∂ustíg (the incredible employees actually sat me down on a comfy leather sofa and brought me a latté with a stack of CDs and a CD Walkman), I was hooked on what I heard. I ended up buying a nice stack of music that day (and a couple of other days after that), and frankly the music has always proved to be immensely interesting, challenging, fun, and inspirational in the time that has passed since that magical Arctic Christmas – meeting my wife while I was there was also pretty freaking great as well, come to think of it.

12 Tónar

I bring this up because I've had cause to go through my entire music library as I was packing my shit up in San Francisco for my move Down Under, and I had a chance to sift through my Iceland treasures (who have always lived in a separate shelf from my more standard selections), and I thought it would be fun over the next few days to highlight some of the more esoteric and atmospheric (and downright strange) music the kindly folk at 12 Tónar had shared with me on that cold and exciting afternoon over three years ago. I will never forget that shop; I think I still need to send them a nice letter one of these days, truth be told.

FIRST UP: Ghostigital. Their 2006 album In Cod We Trust leapt out at me for two reasons. One – I'd always wondered what Björk's right-hand man in Sugarcubes, Einar Örn Benediktsson, was up to. Second – The music was such an odd and ferociously in-your-face maelstrom of electronica, metal, hip-hop, jazz, cabaret, spoken word poetry, and ... well, frankly quite unclassifiable is how I'd describe it. Teaming up with one DJ/producer extraordinaire Curver, who performed with one of my favourite Icelandic confectionaries, Sometime, Örn has created a bewitchingly original and challenging piece of work with In Cod We Trust. Featuring guest appearances from such guests as Mark E. Smith, Mugison (who will be covered later), New York rapper Sensational, Steve Beresford, and Dalek, this album goes fucking everywhere, man. I can't begin to recommend it enough. From the everything-including-the-kitchen-sink jumbled chaos of "Sense of Reason," through to the alarmingly bizarre aggression of "Crackers," and to the distorted hip-hop paean to the Northern Lights entitled, strangely enough, "Northern Lights," this album, like I said, is quite a challenging listen. But it's rewarding! And there's a shitload of fun to be had once you get used to Örn's vocals, which I will lovingly compare to a psychotic Muppet. I always had him pegged as the more entertaining voice in Sugarcubes. Now: some music!

"Northern Lights"

"Crackers"

Saturday Fun And Memories With Sometime!

One thing I certainly appreciate about music is how firmly it entrenches itself into the spirals, loops, and overpasses of one's life. It's funny sometimes how, when you hear a song that reminds you of a certain moment in your life, it somehow transports you back to that time, for both good and ill. For instance, I can't help but start misting up whenever Phil Collins' "Against All Odds" makes an appearance around me - it not only reminds me of the massive 1989 earthquake and the perm I acquired from a friend who was training to be a hairdresser, but also my first major breakup!* All in the same day! (The perm, in case you're wondering, made me look a bit like Martin Gore.) But yeah, music is funny that way. But you didn't need me to tell you that. Everybody on the planet has a song hidden in their subconsciousness that reminds them of an important, life-altering moment in their existence. Most have many such songs. As Bryan Ferry sung on Roxy Music's "Oh Yeah,"

And so it came to be our song

And so on through

All summer long,

Day and night,

Drifting into love.

I'd like to take a moment today to share with you a song that means quite a lot to me. I remember having met my girlfriend for the third time in Paris (she'd come over from London on the Eurostar), and, having said goodbye at the Gare du Nord station, I'd come back to the flat and had put on the super-stellar Supercalfragalisticexpialidocious by the Icelandic electro band Sometime. This album is so freaking good on so many levels, it's ridiculous. That being said, when "Heart of Spades," probably my favorite track off of the album, came on, something clicked in my rather sad mind.

That internal clicking was me thinking, One day, I'm going to marry that woman. Fast forward two and a half years later, and that thought is quickly becoming reality. When Diva de la Rosa sang,

The future's undecided,

Just try to have faith.

You take your chance or you will

Never know,

I felt somehow that something good would come - I just needed to be patient. So I was, and here I am. So here, from their 2007 album Supercalafragalisticexpialidocious is the heart-warming and beautiful track "Heart of Spades." I've gotta say, the video is fantastic as well - I'm always a sucker for Alice in Wonderland references.

* By the way, it was only the breakup that made me tear up, whilst on that seat having peroxide (apple pectin, I believe) applied to my hair. The earthquake and the new hairstyle were actually quite fun, in a bizarre and strange kind of way. That hairdressing friend, by the way, goes by the name Isaac and works at a fabulous hair salon in Campbell, California called Faux. If you're in the area and wish to have your hair styled, why not give them a call and make an appointment? The number is (408)378-FAUX. Go for it!

Review: Supercalafragalisticexpialidocious.

You know the old saying, "The candle that burns twice as bright only burns half as long," don't you? In the classic film Blade Runner, the phrase is uttered to Roy Batty by his creator, Dr Eldon Tyrell, in answer to a query regarding a short life-span. "And you have burned very, very brightly," he says, before having his head crushed and eyes gouged out.

And so, in the drawer of extraordinarily bright candles, pop-music-wise, might I draw your attention to the cream of the crop in Iceland (where candles burn everywhere, by the way), a short-lived Reykjavik supergroup known as Sometime.

Formed in (I believe) early 2007 by veterans of the Reykjavik music scene, they released but one album and a handful of singles, played just a slew of local shows, and then, inexplicably, packed up their bags and went quietly into that good night. However, they quickly became legendary, and their music lives on even though the four of them went their separate ways. It's simple to see how they gained such notoreity during their brief life-span. First, they had Danni, a hyper-technical and disciplined drummer from the indie rock band Maus; DJ Dice, from Iceland's largest rap group Quarashi; a veritable super-producer, Curver, who also performed with Einor Orn (you may remember him as Bjork's sidekick in the Sugarcubes) in Ghostdigital (who I will be highlighting in a future entry); and the beautiful and talented jazz singer Diva de la Rosa, who's voice can alternate between sharp and soft with the deftness of an expertly wielded strop razor.

I am here today to tell you about their sole album, the challengingly named Supercalafragalisticexpialidocious (henceforth referred to as SCFXPD).

To put things into a rather simplistic spin, the first word that pops into my head when I think of SCFXPD is "fun." The opening track, "Getting Ready," does just that - it gets you ready for the hour-long aural ride you're about to take. Rolling along a bit like a freight train, its deceptively monotonous rhythm pulls you with it, introducing multi-layered tracks as it chugs along, with sampled string plucking, an energetic snare, otherworldly sound effects, some brilliant scratch-work by DJ Dice, and, floating over everything is de la Rosa's unearthly vocals - and she's scatting! Like I said, "fun."

And then we have as a follow-up the love song "Heart of Spades." "Do you want to follow me around?" asks de la Rosa. Yes, at this point we certainly do, and we follow along on this glorious paean to the undecided future of a love affair that has, decidedly, turned into something a bit deeper, a bit more serious. "You take your chance or you'll never know," she purrs. It's lovely, without being too mawkish, and the electronic soundscape swirls around you like a meteor shower.

Things turn a little mean and spooky with the dark and jangled "Catch Me If You Can." Documenting the mental goings-on of a lady who's fed up with an abusive relationship, it's certainly the most hard-edged track on SCFXPD, and you can hear it in de la Rosa's voice as she confronts the "big and tough" man: "You can beat me up, huh? Catch me if you can." At the end of the track, she intones, "Don't you worry about me, don't you worry about me. Look at yourself."

Other stand-out songs include the slow-building (and rightful heir to Malcolm McClaren's "Buffalo Gals"'s scratching glory) "Take A Ride," "Faeri Fjöllin," the only song on the album sung in Icelandic and meaning, I think, Fallen Fairy (which would make sense - the Icelandic people are very much in-tune with the Hidden Folk), and the French track "Samedi," in which the multi-lingual de la Rosa has, apparently, woken up and knows not where:

"Je me réveille ce matin

Mais je ne sais pas ou

Endormie dans un sofa

Hier."

There is also an excellent and quite dreamy cover of The Penguins' 1954 doo-wop track "Earth Angel." It really must be heard to be believed. If I ever end up getting married, I'd definitely consider playing this song for the first dance!

So there you have it. Supercalafragalisticexpialidocious is fun, infectious, dazzling, and as full of glittery moments as Times Square on New Year's Eve. True, Sometime didn't last too long; in fact, I'd go so far as to say they were around for a criminally short time. But they left us this, and I hereby say that it's an astounding feat of shimmery electronica. By all means, check it out.

UPDATE (24 January 2010): I have just received word from Danni himself that not only have Sometime NOT broken up, but they are currently in the studio RIGHT NOW, busy recording their second album. Don't know about you guys, but I'm SERIOUSLY looking forward to hearing it! I now return you to the blog in progress...

And here, for your enjoyment, is Sometime performing "Catch Me If You Can." Peace out.