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| Angels Of The Universe |
I picked it up on my trip to Iceland many years ago. I remembered this when I saw the sticker on the back of the Cd case. Hljomalind 8 Austurstraeti. That was the music store I visited in downtown Reykjavik and that was where I realized that cool things were going on musically in this sparsely populated country. Don't try going there--it's not open any more. I knew of Bjork of course, but I soon found out that there was more going on. It was a slow day apparently and the clerk in the store was very helpful, particularly since I bought pretty much everything local that he played for me. I got the Purrkur Pillnikk, a compilation F.I.R.E. (more about that in a future posting), some Doctor Gunni singles. They had the Sykurmolarnir aka "Sugarcubes" 2nd album in Icelandic. I mentioned something about the US released World Domination or Death Cd, and the clerk in the store said that he actually performed on it!! Small world, small country. I wish I could have spent more there, but I was on a tight budget--spent a lot of money at the hot dog wagon, stayed at the Salvation Army.
As I was chatting with the clerk, a bunch of teenagers burst in. Turned out they were in some band called Maus, and they had just put out their first album. They stopped by to see how it was selling. Of course I listened to it, thought it was pretty good noisy alternative rock and picked up a copy. It seems like they turned out okay, as they released numerous albums in Iceland, though I don't think they were ever distributed over here.
But Purkkur Pillnikk....It's obvious to me that I could not have known who these guys were. The clerk must have gave it a spin for me. There is absolutely no way I could not have bought this! Despite my ignorance of the Icelandic Language, except Takk, Brennivin, etc., this is pretty inspired stuff. I'm pretty surprised that this album is out of print on Smekkleysa also. I saw that a few were selling used on Amazon.Uk. on the British One Little Indian label. I guess I learned a lot about music on my journey to Iceland. Don't listen to what people say, listen with your own ears. I really was shocked at how good the music was (I should not have been, of course). And back then I would expect that in those pre-Sigur Ros days a country like Iceland was not on the radar for the musical cognoscenti.
The album is very much in the vein of hip bands of the era, like Wire, The Fall, Gang Of Four, Killing Joke, The Ruts. But that is an approximation, as they really have their own artsy Icelandic thing going, to my ears. Band members include Einar Orn (vocals and clarinet!) and Bragi Olafsson (bass) future members of the Sugarcubes, the band that broke Iceland. Asgeir R Bragason (drums), and Friðrik Erlingsson (guitar) round out the lineup. The music is played with a lot of enthusiasm and passion. Sharp jagged post-punk guitar, fervent vocals. Not understanding what Orn is singing, I find myself focused on the great bass work by Olafsson.
Overall, a pretty stellar album, very worthy of consideration. Definitely one of my favorite Icelandic albums. Purkkur Pillnikk was also featured in the excellent punk documentary Rokk I Reykjavik, directed by Friðrik þór Friðriksson, where they perform a couple tunes. The soundtrack is somewhat available, unlike the DVD, which is only out in Iceland to my knowledge. There is another collection of the band on Smekkleysa entitled I Augum Uti that is in print. I think that if you appreciate some of the bands listed above you will probably enjoy this album as much as I do.
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