Friday
Fuck Buttons:
First up and onto the Clash palette for a quick fizz was the improvised and layered electronic canvas of Fuck Buttons. Their set up was intriguing. One fucking huge trestle table crammed full of keyboards, pedals, laptops and melodica. Their building and tersely ambient sonic structures were a great aperitif with which to warm our cockles and prepare for two days of experimental investigation. Fuck Buttons present confrontational sound fields and symphonic distortion. With deep, jagged jaunts into a digital netherworld sparkling with live drums and live sampling galore its easy to see why each of their shows are a unique and one off event each. Apocalyptic electronica.
Lay Low:
Locally grown alt country act Lay Low were the next band to stumble into our ears. Playing in a church overlooking the lake in the centre of the city the acoustics were perfectly placed to deliver the obsessively plucked strings and soaring vocals of Lay Low. Distinctly Icelandic, Lay Low’s performance was elegant yet intriguing.
Sea Bear:
The size of Reykjavik makes venue hopping a dream so it was only minutes before we were subject to the all singing and dancing collective of Seabear; a kinda north Atlantic incarnation of Sufjan Stevens. With strings deeper and more dangerous than a lions gut their emotive and occasionally jaunty choral harmonies filled the city’s Art Gallery perfectly reinforcing why the incisive A&R of Thomas Morr quickly signed them to his delicious Morr Music imprint. Effortlessly immense.
XXX Rottweiler
More local talents were cranked out in contrast thanks to XXX Rottweiler, Iceland’s own Beastie Boys in waiting, as ever sporting cool attitude larger than this nations expansive skies. Dropping their vocal explosions over a dirty backdrop of electronic beats theirs is a raucous and in-ya-beard slamming cocktails of opinion and ass worrying bass. The Icelandic’s off hand way of dealing with their financial crisis was underlined here as they chopped up images of Gordon Brown – Iceland’s current (and probably only) worst enemy – to make our Prime Minister body pop and break dance his way through parody and pastiche. Culturally cutting and essential indigenous hip hop for heads.
White Denim
Two minutes back across the frozen square to Nasa and America’s White Denim were carving their names into the palpable hearts of the capacity crowd. Strict riffing and niggling distortion walked immediately into the arms of a nation that know how to rock out. With the debut LP in the running for one of the debutants of 2009; their near relentless touring has clearly instilled in them an ability to connect with any crowd.
The Motion Boys
Sticking in Nasa Clash was experiencing a local phenomenon: half the population trying to get into just one venue. When you are dealing with a nation this small its hard to keep a guest list yet Motion Boys fan base was more determined than your average blagger thanks to their love of dramatic and cabaret rock. Expansive songs filled the venue with a queue down the block as their anthem Night Tulip united lips together. Another key yet fun Icelandic band.
Ultra Mega Technobandid Stefan
A unique prospect, UMTS could only be famous in Iceland. And perhaps Latvia. Take some slightly homosexual boys, get them to remove their tops and apply their mother lip stick then have them belt out irrepressible turbo charged hardcore vocal trance to a livid crowd of teenagers and middle aged rockers. The mosh pit has never been so distinct in its variation. Between snogging each other on stage, smashing up the Clash camera man, playing their keyboards with their head, striking flabby Jesus poses and casting sexually deviant glances into the crowd, UMTS delivered probably the most insane dance party the evening saw. All wrought by teenagers. Only in Iceland.
