Straumur: Sci-Fi Hits And Electronic Deserts

One of our favourite Icelandic bands, Just Another Snake Cult, just released the best Icelandic music video of 2015 so far, in our humble opinion, for their song “You Live You Die.” The clip features head Snake Þórir Bogason dancing in front of a digitized galactic background, surrounded by flying meteors atop a Tron-like grid. Directed by Þórir himself, the whole thing is is a treat to take in, awash with VHS textures and vibrant colours, channelling a blend of 60s psychedelia and 80s sci-fi aesthetics. You should go watch this video right now—the joyfully creative, entirely unabashed nostalgia will leave you with a smile on your face for the rest of today.

Talking about 80s sci-fi flicks, we have just learned that cult director/composer John Carpenter has agreed to perform his music on stage for the first time ever at next summer’s All Tomorrow’s Parties Iceland. The man has an incredible oeuvre, responsible for seminal sci-fi and horror masterworks like ‘Assault on Precinct 13’, ‘Halloween’, ‘Escape From New York’ and ‘They Live’. Aside from being enduring cult favourites, John Carpenter’s films are also widely celebrated for their soundtracks, which are almost always scored by the director himself.

His theme for ’Halloween’ is a classic touchstone in horror minimalism, while his brooding synth compositions for films like ‘Assault’, ‘Escape From NY’ and ‘Big Trouble In Little China’ firmly stand on their own, providing a rewarding listening when taken in without the visual accompaniments. Last year, John Carpenter released his first album of original music not intended for film, ‘Lost Themes’, which is every bit as creepy and intriguing as its more visual counterparts soundtracks. We definitely look forward seeing the old prince of darkness at ATP next summer.

Halldór Eldjárn, of electro pop group Sykur, has just announced on a solo project under the name H.dór. His first offering “Desert” is a delightful electronic instrumental, pairing a bouncy lead melody with a jittery beat, with a robotic vocal sample thrown in for good measure. Heed our advice: go seek out the tune on Soundcloud (or on Grapevine’s massive Airwaves compilation) and queue it on your iPod the next time you go for a walk. It is bound to make the Icelandic autumn infinitely more bearable.

Last but not least, Iceland Airwaves has just released the full festival schedule, and it’s looking gooood, with phenomenal international acts like Ariel Pink, Hot Chip, Mercury Rev and Future Brown nicely complementing all the great local acts that are playing. You should secure your ticket now, as they are bound to sell out—and soon!

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