Straumur Dispatch: Girls, EPs & Wu Tang Killa Bees

The Icelandic electronic-loving label Raftónar put out a tremendous EP called ‘We Came As We Left’ by local producer Buspin Jieber on March 25. Buspin Jieber is Iceland’s answer to the American producer Com Truise, sharing his love for the 80s and take on a name. The key tracks are the opener “Joyrides and Girls” and closer “The Dream,” wherein Buspin sounds a little bit like his Norwegian colleagues Todd Terje and Lindström.

That wasn’t the only electronic EP to wash up on our shores this month, with Möller Records releasing Gunnar Jónsson Collider’s ‘Apeshedder’. Gunnar Jónsson is a member of the folk band 1860 and psychedelic rock vehicle BOB, but under his own name he makes experimental electronica with IDM and ambient undertones. ‘Ape Shedder’ is five tracks of gorgeous thick synth timbres and playful drum programming, and the sound is generally warm and organic despite some harder elements scattered throughout the painfully short 18-minute running time. The whole album is laced with vibes of golden era Warp records and frequently lands somewhere smack in the middle between the more dark and aggressive half of Boards of Canada, and the smoother side of Aphex Twin.

The Reykjavík jangle pop rocker Jón Þór—of Isidor, Lada Sport and Dynamo Fog fame—just released a brand-new track that we are really digging at the moment. “Stelpur” (“Girls”) is an up-tempo guitar-driven number about being wasted in Reykjavík, searching for some love at the bar. Spring is upon us!

Indeed it is! Not long after news broke that Public Enemy will perform at ATP, we got news that another revolutionary hip hop act, Wu Tang Clan, will be bringing their motherfucking Ruckus to Secret Solstice, the other big summer festival. This unfuckable clan defined a generation of Icelandic hip-hop fans in the mid-90s so expectations are formidably high. The details of which members, what venue and so forth have yet to be released but we are thoroughly psyched and will be sure to protect our necks in June when the rap legion is due to arrive.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IBWbpJdRMQ

In other news, we’ve teamed up with Bíó Paradís to bring you monthly screenings of music-related films with the first one, ‘Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck’ showing on May 2 at 20:00. Hope to see you there!

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Straumur has been active since last summer, with writers Óli Dóri and Davíð Roach documenting the local music scene and helping 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.