Straumur: Cold Solstice

On the day this paper hits the streets, we’ll be heading over to the Secret Solstice Festival in Laugardalur to absorb as much music as humanly possible for its three-day duration. It’s the closest thing you can get to a festival like Roskilde or Primavera in Iceland and we will hopefully be basking in the much-publicised midnight sun, enjoying acts like Totally Enourmous Extinct Dinosaurs, FKA twigs, Wu Tang Clan, Moodyman, The Wailers and Nightmares on Wax, to name a few.

Earlier this month, we were fortunate enough to witness a new and upcoming band playing afrobeat, which is seldom heard in Icelandic venues. We saw them play an event at Bíó Paradís after the screening of a documentary about their sonic forefather, the legendary afrobeat innovator and musical revolutionary Fela Kuti. The band, The Bangoura Band, has eight members with two guitars for extra groove, a three-piece brass section and the obligatory percussion player. The band was unstoppable like a four-tonne heavy truck with no brakes and every member of the band glowed with infectious energy as they took turns on show-stopping solos. The band is currently working on their debut album and we are mighty psyched for it.

Last but not least, the new song from poetry punk band Kælan mikla, “Kalt” (“Cold”), has been on a repeat at our headquarters this week. The three-piece have expanded their sound with drummer Sólveig playing some dark synths, and the steady rhythm of a distorted drum machine loops through the song instead of drums. It’s more cold wave then ever, sounding like a perfect mix of Siouxsie And The Banshees and Joy Division. Catch the band at Secret Solstice this weekend.

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Óli Dóri and Davíð Roach document the local music scene and help people discover new music at straum.is. It is associated with the radio show Straumur on X977, which airs every Monday evening at 23:00.