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ELDING
WHALE WATCHING
from Reykjavik
Elding Whale Watching schedule – all year round
EL-01 / EL-02 / EL-03
Jan-Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov-Dec
9:00 9:00 9:00 9:00 9:00 9:00 9:00 9:00
10:00 10:00 10:00
13:00 13:00 13:00 13:00 13:00 13:00 13:00 13:00 13:00 13:00
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17:00* 17:00 17:00 17:00 17:00*
20:30** 20:30
* From 15 May to 15 September
** From 15 June to 31 July
Imagine Peace Tower tour
From 10th of October until 8th of December
Daily departure at 20:00
Different departures apply from 9th of December until 26th of March
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Agent Fresco
'Destrier'
www.agentfresco.is
Mostly hints at what could
have been, or for the optimists:
at better things to come.
There are some high-quality
moments on 'Destrier'—the
play with harmonics (and is
that a Tartini tone I hear?) for
the intro/outro; or from the 2:30 mark
onward on “Dark Water,” for instance. The
latter example highlights the technical
skill on the part of the keyboardist (as well
as in the vocals—Arnór Dan Arnarson
has knack for falsetto), features a clever
change in rhythm and a build-up to a full,
wide sound that, if anything, is cut off too
soon. It's the kind of post-hardcore, progadjacent
variation-via-bridge that suits
Agent Fresco.
In its weakest moments, 'Destrier'
flirts with a particularly egregious kind
of musical melodrama. You know:
the kind most often abused in gothicmetal,
that relies heavily on operatic,
reverb-generated pathos and decidedly
declarative compositional quality (a
kind of hammering conflated with
intensity)—along with weakly imagistic
lyrical stylings as a means to not so much
elicit as extort an emotional response.
Thankfully, Agent Fresco are too smart to
fall into this trap for the most part; they
understand that while accessibility and
emotional resonance are key, one doesn't
always have to make it easy, or force it
down our throats.
'Destrier' perhaps suffers from
problematic pacing. Its length isn't
particularly extravagant, but some
interesting ideas are dropped within a
matter of seconds, while tamer, more
expected compositions are given
significantly more space. This, combined
with such an oddly limited sound palette
(for a band that seems at least in theory
to want to flex their technical skill in the
realm of maximalism), leads to a certain
staleness as the album draws to a close.
The combined musical lineage of
all the influences on this album's sound,
and the precedent for experimentation
in those scenes, may lead you to hope
(as I did) for the album to go much
further than it does. And though there is
something to be said for a band that gives
you just enough to leave you wanting
more, 'Destrier' is far more a tease of the
band's full potential (spoiler alert: they've
got a lot) than a realisation.
- SAMUEL WRIGHT FAIRBANKS
NORTHERN
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Fræbbblarnir
'Í hnotskurn'
www.fraebbblarnir.com
Crazier than ever!
Formed in 1978, Fræbbblarnir
is considered one of Iceland’s
first punk rock bands,
paving the way for the great
punk wave of the early 80s. There’s a
memorable moment in ‘Rokk í Reykjavík’,
director Friðrik Þór’s fabled document
of the fledgling Reykjavík punk scene,
where Fræbblarnir shock the whole
nation by singing very graphically about
the act of fucking in a song called “Í nótt”
(“Tonight”—sample lyric: “Tonight, I’m
going to fuck you tonight...”). Fræbblarnir
called it quits in 1983, but reformed
in 1996 when Bad Taste released a
compilation of their early recordings to
great acclaim—and nineteen years later,
they’re still going strong.
Fræbblarnir’s newest LP is called ‘Í
hnotskurn’ (“In a nutshell”) and is their
ninth release (and fifth full-length). It
includes twelve original songs, some in
English and others in Icelandic. To the
unacquainted, Valli’s voice is the first
thing that stands out in Fræbblarnir’s
sound. At first listen, he sounds like a mix
of David Byrne and Joey Ramone, yet with
his own intonations and accents (that to
me often sounds like that of a mental
patient’s—I mean this in the best possible
way, as a huge compliment).
Through the essential girlie backing
vocals of one Iðunn, the overall sound
is rendered simultaneously softer—
and weirder. Fræbblarnir have always
possessed strong songwriting skills, and
this album bears the fact good witness,
with catchy choruses and harsh guitars
coming together in especially pleasant
combinations. My favorite song is the
wonderfully eccentric country-punk
rocker “Bugging Leo,” which reminds
me of one of my favorite Icelandic bands,
Texas Jesús.
- HEIÐA EIRÍKSDÓTTIR
Æla
‘Vettlingatök’
www.nordicaffect.com
The Æla plant blossoms
Æla was formed in a garage
somewhere on the Reykjanes
peninsula by four guys who
wanted to sound like Purrkur
Pillnikk (that legendary punk band fronted
by Sugarcube Einar Örn). They quickly
drew notice for their on-stage energy,
winning over many an audience with their
short, fun and surprising songs. They are
one of those bands that has way too few
releases to their name, considering their
incredible live shows and how generally
well-regarded they are. Their début fulllength,
‘Sýnið tillitssemi ég er frávik’ (“Be
Considerate, I Am A Divergence”), was
released in 2006—and it’s only just now
that we’re getting a second helping of
that wonderful Æla music on tape.
On the new album, ‘Vettlingatök’
(“Handle with kid gloves”), the
songwriting has grown more complex,
while retaining the element of surprise
and fun the band made its name on.
The first album had fifteen songs, most
of them around the two-minute mark,
but the new one has twelve, with half of
them over three minutes long. My current
favourite is “Fyrir þig” (“For you”)—at four
and a half minutes, it displays elements
of krautrock mixed in with the band’s
agressive, punky sound, never coming off
too raw or unrefined.
It sounds like Æla granted
themselves permission to let their songs
fully realize this time around. Perhaps the
songs on the first album were more like
seeds, and now the Æla-plant has fully
blossomed.