Björk - "Drawing Restraint 9"
"Screaming Masterpiece OST"
Sigur Rós - Pretty much everything, but mostly "Takk"
Apparat Organ Quartet - "Apparat Organ Quartet"
Björk - "Gling Glo"
KUKL - "The Eye"This years theme, in terms of the music making this Carpathian most eargasmic, has been Iceland.
To an extent that shouldn't be a surprise as I've always been a rather slavish fan of Björk since seeing the Sugercubes "Birthday" video on SNUBtv back when it first came out. She was small and her voice was huge, the Icelandic lyrics twisting and turning in my head until I was transfixed and nearly at the verge of tears. Occasionally, I get rendered speechless by something musical - this was such. Over the last few months I've returned to her and expanded outwards from there.
First came her soundtrack to the Matthew Barney film "Drawing Restraint 9", a two hour film devoid of dialogue or obvious narrative. Previously known for works like "The Cremaster Cycle" this film see's Björks most experimental works to date and a role for her within the film. Traditional Japanese instruments and vocal techniques including throat singing meet sparse, almost disjointed, arrangements. Even as a fan willing to lap up anything by her I was a little worried that she'd finally pushed herself beyond the elastic musical boundary she's always leant on. Though still very tough going I'm now, some months on, seeing that she's right on the money as ever. I'm listening to the the hyper-nightmare that is "Storm" as we speak - even that one track, the most Bjork-like, is enough to scramble brains as easily as eggs.
In November I saw that the film "Screaming Masterpiece" was being shown locally and decided to go to the opening night special showing. It was more than the director, Ari Alexander Ergis Magnussen, managed as while we were sat in the cinema waiting to hear his pre-film talk, he was in Iceland having had flights let him down.
The film drew a review on these very pages and sparked off a real push to hear more new music. I'd seen and heard bands like Sigur Rós, Múm, The Sugercubes and, of course, Björk but pretty much without exception the 87mins were filled back to back with stuff that caught my ear from the off. Rock, folk, prog, retro, pop, punk, avant garde - you name it. All there, all present and all very much correct.
One of these pleasant surprises were "Apparat Organ Quartet". Four guys, a mound (if that's the collective term) of old keyboards and a fifth guy acting as the live drummer providing them with a backbone. As a clue to their sound I'd say imagining Kraftwerk signing for Stereolabs label and dabbling with a mixture of dark excessive prog, CAN and the Glitterband. But only if it could be imagined taking place in Iceland. In the 80's. In an upbeat pop fashion.
Hmmm. Didn't really help, did it ? Try this:
Around the same end of the year Sigur Rós, the current darlings of crossover potential, released “Takk” (Icelandic for ‘thank you’) and at a point when the weather was turning for the colder and the world was falling in on itself (both naturally and man-made) along came the aural equivalent of a jumper that hugged you and gave you a toasty feeling like a comfort blanket. Importantly, though, it didn’t smother you with a cloying saccherine sweetness. This was music as at home in the sweaty rock venue as it was the gallery or MP3 player – a huge heartstring pulling sound that managed to be both unearthly and totally grounded in human emotion. Where “Von”, “Von brigði”, “Ágætis byrjun” and “( )” had beguiled, puzzled, and peeked above the parapet, “Takk” stood on it and waved a huge flag. Politely though, of course.
Bringing the year full circle was me heading back into puffin pixie land and finding a copy of "Gling Glo". It's credited, rather wonderfully, to Björk Gudmundsdottir & Trio Guomundar Ingolfssonar. This was a revelation to me as I'd heard about it but never actually got it until now. Back in 1990 she got together with a renowned jazz/swing trio and recording this - the first 14 tracks being in Icelandic with the final 2 in English. With the ever increasing range of styles she's currently exhibiting it's easy to forget that when she sings, especially in her native tongue, she really can knock out a tune and then some. This is just such. It's fun and the language barrier does nothing to stop pretty much anybody spinning this and grinning from ear to ear.
Going further back to 1984, back pre-Sugercubes, Björk (and later cohort, shouty trumpet mugger Einar Orn) were part of K.U.K.L., a shortlived two album band releasing on the now (in)famous Crass label. "The Eye" saw them falling somewhere between a Banshees/PIL swirl, an anarchic collective pulling in five directions at once and the later sound which the 'Cubes would discover. It's as far removed from Björks current music as the jazz workout but equally storming. If you're a Banshees fan that still holds a torch for that era (much against the rather revisionist public taste) then this is a stormer.
Finally, for this first part, a disclaimer: I'm a tiny fraction through this and it's obviously going to sprawl so I'm afraid I'm not going to put in links to everything. God knows that would take me longer than the text. You did get a few pictures so I hope that will suffice.
