Rock in Iceland

[Otto Masson]

Many people here know Björk and Sigur Rós - as good as they are, they didn't come out of nowhere. I will be posting a few videos in this thread to introduce some internationally less well known bands and artists.

TRÚBROT

Let's start in the hippie era, with one of the supergroups in this country, and one of my all-time favorite Icelandic bands, Trúbrot. The musicianship is quite good, but I guess what most people will notice straight away is the hammond organ and the drums, played by Karl Sighvatsson and Gunnar Jökull respectively, both of whom are now dead, unfortunately. Kalli, as he was always called, was a true legend and an unforgettable stage presence - I will mention him again later. Gunnar's story was a tragic one - he moved away from Iceland for a long time; and he had problems. I never saw him live. The bass player, Rúnar Júlíusson, has also died. He was really a front man, and often sang lead vocals. He was sometimes referred to as herra Rokk - Mister Rock.

The first song is not complete for some reason, but it's a fantastic one, from their debut album (1969).

The singer there is an American, Shady Owens, who later sang backing vocals for The Police on one of their last tours I believe.

[Otto Masson]

Shady's pronunciation of Icelandic was never perfect, but had its charm. Later, when she was no longer in the band, somewhat ironically, they started writing lyrics in English - rather clumsily, it must be said. The music however, spoke for itself. They went on to make an album that is considered a classic in this country, Lifun. Here are a couple of songs from it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsB9WJpHOHc&feature=related

[Otto Masson]

Some pictures.

First the debut album.

And the lineup with Shady Owens:

Lifun - famed cover, the corners were actually cut away:

The lineup that recorded Lifun:

The band quit in 1973 or so, I discovered them in 1978 as a 13 year old.

[Otto Masson]

A little anecdote. Led Zeppelin came here in the summer of 1970 and played in a then recently constructed sports hall, Laugardalshöllin. They wanted to go somewhere to get drinks and hear some music. And they heard Trúbrot play, but weren't too impressed, because what they were playing when they entered was Baby I'm Gonna Leave You.

They did also note that the band's musicianship was really good, though. But what they couldn't have known was that the early rock scene here wasn't much of a concert scene at all - the places where bands could play back then were really dance halls! Really limiting, and it tended to force bands to do more covers than they otherwise would have done. Trúbrot were an ambitious band, and they organized a big concert in a cinema in 1971 where they played Lifun in its entirety - that was a very uncommon thing then.

[PlanetPage]

...Otto M, thank you for this great tribute to the musicians of that era from Iceland;

...glimpses like these bring the world little closer, and I sincerely respect those "unknown" musicians who made such immense contribution to music and culture in their country;

those dance halls, clubs remain ..... magical places....

[bouillon]

Mainly igneous, I'd guess.

[BIGDAN]

Mainly igneous, I'd guess.

Sedimentary my dear Bouillon, Sedimentary.

Kind Regards, Danny

Metamorphically Speaking that is.

[Otto Masson]

My idea was actually to add more recent bands and artists to the thread and thus gradually create a bit of an introduction to the Icelandic scene - I have seen a lot of these acts myself since about 1977 - but it seems pointless to go on, so I won't.

[Nicey]

My idea was actually to add more recent bands and artists to the thread and thus gradually create a bit of an introduction to the Icelandic scene - I have seen a lot of these acts myself since about 1977 - but it seems pointless to go on, so I won't.

I'm listening. If you'd like to post more.

[Electrophile]

This was very interesting, thanks for sharing it Otto. I love Bjork and Sigur Ros, and I admittedly didn't know much else about music coming out of Iceland. So I learned something. That's always a good thing.

[planted]

Thank you, Otto! Iceland has always piqued my interest. Plan to vacation there soon. Only 5 hrs from Boston.

[Otto Masson]

Okay, I'll continue this later, thanks for the responses.

In the meantime, to keep you entertained, here's a couple of old pics of Sigur Rós from the mid 1990's.

[Nicey]

Thank you, Otto! Iceland has always piqued my interest. Plan to vacation there soon. Only 5 hrs from Boston.

Us Americans is good at geogerphy.

Actually, I'd like to ask a stupid American question if I may. I've heard people (fellow Americans) say, "Iceland is green. Greenland is icy." Is that for true?

In the meantime, I'm going to go put some Sigur Rós in my brain, because I've honestly never heard their stuff.

[dazedcat]

A few years ago there was this television show here in the States where a "super group" made up of former members of Motely Crue, Mettalica and etc. auditioned for a singer. Super Nova was the name of this band.....(they sucked by the way). Anyway, there was this singer from Iceland who tried out, he got cut early and sent home. He wasn't bad either.

Does anyone know the name of this person? I don't watch these kind of reality "american idol" type of crap usually, but this one sucked me in. The woman singer who was originally from South Africa should have won, the kid they eventually picked to sing for them sucked the big one.

I can't remember the guy from Iceland though, he was pretty good.

[Strider]

Damn, look at Jónsi with long hair!

Hey Otto, don't give up...I was looking forward to more Iceland bands. Don't let BigDan discourage you.

In the meantime, I'm going to go put some Sigur Rós in my brain, because I've honestly never heard their stuff.

Well then Nicey, you are in for a treat, for their music is a feast for the ears and soul. They are one of the few bands around which left you saying "I've never heard anything like this before."

Imagine if Jimmy Page, instead of investigating heroin, had investigated his bowing technique further and how he could apply it to actual songs, as a basis for riffs and exploring the boundaries of sound.

Live, Sigur Rós were even better...they rocked a little harder in concert, and songs like Von and Haffsól smoke their studio versions.

To bad they're on hiatus...hopefully they'll get back together so you can see them in concert.

It was Sugarcubes, Björk, and Sigur Rós that led me to explore Icelandic music further...both the ancient folk music and the newer pop/rock bands. A few I've checked out and like:

Amiina

múm

Jóhann Jóhannsson

GusGus

But there's tons more I haven't heard, especially from the 60s and 70s, and that is why I was looking forward to more of your posts, Otto, to help fill the gap and provide historical context.

[Otto Masson]

All right - I suddenly remembered this thread! Let me first point out that the Youtube link in my first post is to a Trúbrot song that they actually got from elsewhere ... nobody here made any remarks about it at the time, but it's a Motown classic - by the Supremes, no less!

Trúbrot did credit Holland-dozier-Holland for the song. The song is a particularly good example of the playing of drummer Gunnar Jökull and Hammond organ player Karl Sighvatsson. Both were truly great musicians on a world scale. Notice all the subtlety there ... the song, as indeed so many of the old Motown classics, is great; and utterly transformed here.

Gunnar Jökull played with Syn in England - the band that later became Yes, and Karl or Kalli was he was always called later played with my all time favorite Icelandic band, Þursaflokkurinn, who I will talk about in a later post.

[Otto Masson]

A thread on Icelandic rock simply has to include Megas - artist name for Magnús Þór Jónsson. He started writing music in the late 1950's, I believe, but his first recorded album only came out in 1972. His lyrics, that have now been collected in a huge book, definitely rank among the best in Icelandic popular music, and he's a fabulous song writer. The example I give here is from 1987 and features Björk and her sister on backing vocals - as so many people here at least know Björk! The song comes from one of his best albums, in my opinion, and sees Megas working with musicians of a later generation, the one that initiated punk and new wave in this country. With Megas you do miss out when you don't understand the lyrics, but the man is a legend in these parts - very deservedly.

[Otto Masson]

Here's a band from the era of supergroups - which of course arrived late in Iceland! Óðmenn were a trio featuring Jói G on bass, Óli Garðars on drums and Finnur Torfi on guitar. As you can hear they had been listening to Cream! The song is from their 1970 double album.

[Janvier]

Apparently there's quite a tradition of American country music in Iceland, the movie Cold Fever features several scenes with Icelandic bands playing country music, even Icelandic people wearing cowboy hats. Here's a trailer of the movie which I found on youtube, it's about a Japanese who travels through the Icelandic countryside. Honestly I wish I could learn a lot more from Iceland and its culture, unfortunately the language barrier has prevented me from learning much, and very few of its films are translated let alone subtitled, from time to time I tune in to the Icelandic radio Internet stream, simple curiosity..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5l6MbXu6AQ

[kirchzep27]

I saw Bjork perform her song, declare independence, on palladia music channel recently. An electronic song, that builds up to an industrial beat, with some other industrial, ministry type sounds going on. She has a punk rock vocal, which fits the song well. The industrial side of the song doesn't get monotonous somehow, which is part of the vibe of industrial music. I think that the electronic riff has enough space in it and enough of a groove to keep it flowing. I guess it was from a fairly recent festival or something and one camera angle shows some of the crowd in a hypnotic state with this tune, its a powerful song. I checked online and was surprised to read it was from 08.

[Pagefan55]

Hi Otto Masson. Back in 2001 I spent two weeks in Iceland and had a great time. I know next to nothing about the Icelandic music scene, but when I was in Reykijavic I visited and hung-out in a bar where an Icelandic band--playing only American country music--was performing. They were good. The band members were each dressed for the part--two were wearing cowboy hats--and another guy standing near the stage was waving around a Confederate flag. It was great fun.