For my taste, at least in this song, Imandra Lake sound like a post-rock band getting produced by Phil Spector’s tidal wave of sound. A really impressive new band from Estonia who deserve a large audience.
Rock
[Music] Ólafur Arnalds feat. Arnór Dan – For Now I Am Winter
Arnór Dan, singer of Agent Fresco, is a new name for me, but Ólafur Arnalds has a long and sumptuous track record of producing gorgeous music.
[Music] Romowe Rikoito – El Desdichado
Russian/Prussian neofolk act Romowe Rikoito interpret a famous work by French poet Gérard de Nerval.
[Music] Alexei Aigui – Octo
Ensemble 4’33” leader and violinist Alexei Aigui collaborates with the Ad Libitum Orchestra on a new piece, performed at the Moscow Conservatory earlier this year.
[Music] Dúkkulísur – Pamela
As if Iceland didn’t have a wealth of great and well-known bands, here’s yet another to add to the collection. Dúkkulísur (Paper Dolls) were/are (?) a new wave band who seem to still be around. This track was from 1984. For a bit more info, read on or look at the video over at Youtube:
From their self-titled 1984 EP.
Grapevine:
Dúkkulísurnar (“The Paper Dolls”) from Egilsstaðir took their cue from Grýlurnar, an all-girl group that appeared in ‘Með allt á hreinu’ alongside Stuðmenn. However, Dúkkulísurnar never sounded like Grýlurnar and leaned more towards The Pretenders in style. In 1982, the first Músíktilraunir was organised, a “battle of the bands”-competition that still remains a springboard for young bands. The first band to win, DRON, faded away quickly, but for Dúkkulísurnar, who won in 1983, everything “happened very fast afterwards,” as guitarist and main songwriter Gréta would later remark. Dúkkulísurnar got signed to Skífan, at the time one of two big “major” labels in Iceland, and in the summer of 1984 the first six-track EP came out. It included ‘Pamela,’ a hit song about a pregnant 15-year old who sings: “This baby was an accident, in my stomach like flares, I wish I were Pamela in Dallas.”
Dúkkulísurnar’s LP came in 1986 (‘Í léttum leik’ (“A Light Game”)—the girls always hated the title) and included the band’s second hit, ‘Svarthvíta hetjan mín’ (“My Black And White Hero”). Being in an all-girl group was nothing to build one’s future on in 1986, so everybody “got serious” and enrolled into higher education. Dúkkulísurnar were laid to rest, but of course, like most other bands, the girls would play together again decades later.
[Music] The Rugbys – Wendenghal (The Warlocks)
Hot, heavy psych from The Rugbys, a group of whom I have absolutely no information, but must say I find amazing.
UPDATE: It looks like they were an American band from Louisville, Kentucky. What a shame that they didn’t release more music. They mastered psych and should rightly be considered proto-metal. As a bit of trivia, some groups from Peru like The (St. Thomas) Pepper Smelter and Belgium’s Climax covered their big hit, You, I.
[Music] Daniel Denis – Coeur De Boeuf
Daniel Denis of Univers Zero and Art Zoyd has quite an impressive resume as a solo artist. Here is a composition of his which translates into “Beef Heart” (one can guess who he is offering tribute to).
[Music] Yat-Kha – Karangailyg Kara Hovaa (Dyngyldai)
[Music] Family – Face In The Cloud
Family were a folk-prog band led by singer and guitarist Roger Chapman. This track features a touch of sitar and a gentle, hazy vibe to it.
[Music] Rational Diet – Pukhow
It’s a crying shame that Belarusian Rock-In-Opposition-influenced band Rational Diet is no more. For my taste, they had carried the torch first illumined by bands such as Art Zoyd, Univers Zero and Henry Cow.