Oct

05

Reykjavik Calling Reykjavik Calling

with Snorri Helgason, Lára Rúnars, Sykur & Petter Stakee (of Alberta Cross)

Sat October 5th, 2013

6:30PM

Main Space

Minimum Age: 18+

Doors Open: 6:00PM

Show Time: 6:30PM

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free for members
event description event description

Reykjavik Calling, a part of A Taste of Iceland New York, will feature three of the best emerging Icelandic musicians, collaborating with two New York acts for a night of unique musical performances.
 
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This is a general admission, standing event.

the artists the artists

1

Reykjavik Calling

Snorri Helgason

Snorri Helgason has a penchant for jumping, for letting go and moving on and embracing what’s next, for Kierkegaardian, gravity-defying leaps-of-faith.
 
A look at Snorri’s remarkable career reveals that the 29-year old singer-songwriter not only possesses a talent for precisely timed jumps, leaps and bounds; he has also thoroughly mastered the art of landing on his feet. His ongoing ventures continually bring him a few steps further along his quest—forever seeking that perfect harmony, an unbridled expression of humanity through a combination of words and music that would resonate through untold hearts and, ultimately, through the ages.
 
Snorri Helgason’s music is heartfelt and introspective, yet universal, a highly relatable exploration of his personal struggles and emotions. An avid student of pop history, Snorri keeps a firm foot in the past and a clear eye on the future, bringing forth a constant stream of timeless folk-tinged melodies and carefully constructed songs that are very much of the time.
 
Since taking that first consequential leap at age nineteen, when he stormed out from his job as a record store clerk determined to dedicate his life to music, Snorri has managed feats and received accolades that few musicians could ever hope for. This includes (but is not limited to) penning several chart-topping hits, leading a band to multi-platinum sales and world tours and collaborating with some of Iceland’s best-regarded musicians, celebrated artists such as Valgeir Sigurðsson, Sindri Már ‘Sin Fang’ Sigfússon and Sóley.
 
Read more at snorrihelgason.com
 
Snorri Helgason on Facebook
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Snorri Helgason on Bandcamp
Snorri Helgason on Soundcloud

Lára Rúnars

Born and raised in Reykjavík, Lára developed a love of music while growing up listening to her father playing and recording with legendary Icelandic band Grafík. Through him Lára was first introduced to artists such as Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits and Nick Cave.
 
Lára released her first album, Standing Still in Iceland in 2003 and the following year saw her collaborate with Damien Rice, both performing live and recording together. Lára was inspired by Stina Nordenstam and Cardigans for her second album Þögn (Silence) in 2006 performing her songs on that album in Icelandic.
 
The release of Lara’s third album Surprise in late 2009 gained significant radio play in Iceland and the beginnings of interest internationally. She played a special show for Q Magazine in London alongside Amy MacDonald and was selected for influential showcase festivals Spot, Eurosonic and The Great Escape.
 
Summer 2011 saw her last series of shows overseas before getting locking herself away to write and record he forth album ‘Moment’. The tour of Germany and Switzerland included a sell-out show in Berlin’s legendary Lido Club and culminated in an appearance at the Blue Balls festival in Lucerene where she played to 2,000 people.
 
The first single ‘Beast’ from her new album hints at a darker and edgier side of Lara. She has been greatly influenced by strong female artists such as PJ Harvey as well as acts such as John Grant, which shows though in her melodic, melancholic indiepop.
 
Lára Rúnars on Facebook
Lára Rúnars on YouTube
Lára Rúnars on Soundcloud
 
Photo credit: Kristín Pétursdóttir

Sykur

Consisting of Icelanders Agnes, Halldór, Stefán and Kristján, Sykur (translation: Sugar) began in 2009 and quickly established a reputation for packing out parties with girls and boys looking for good times. So much so that Dazed and Confused described Sykur as “plucked from the top drawer, a morsel of such rare succulence that it is sure to gain attention even beyond the cordoning velvet rope that sequesters the art world’s N.I.P (Nearly Important People)”. The band released their first album, Frábært eða Frábært in October 2009 to much critical acclaim and commercial success. The single Viltu Dick? From this album becoming one of the biggest radio hits in Iceland in 2009.
 
The band already play a pivotal role in the Reykjavik scene and have collaborated with the hottest local talent, as well as sharing stages with international acts such as Mt. Eden, Peaches, Familjen, Casiokids, Juvelen, Kleerup and Junior Boys.
 
Mesopotamia, released in Iceland on 12th October 2011, sees the band develop their much-loved electro sound. From the exquisite downtempo Battlestar, to the full-on party anthems of Messy Hair and Curling, Mesopotamia is the soundtrack of lost weekends and fun times. The first single from the album, Shed Those Tears, has gained them international recognition, with The Guardian describing as “laser-guided synth riffs, bubbling beats and brilliantly detached vocals” and a September 2011 London show described by Artrocker as “one of the most memorable performances of the year”.
 
Their most recent single Curling, remixed by Dan Le Sac and Database, has been picked up by influential blogs such as Kick Kick Snare and Audioporn as well Filter Magazine and Mixmag. It has also featured on BBC 6 Music, courtesy of Mark Jones and Sister Bliss on her Ministry of Sound Radio show, amongst others.
 
Sykur on Facebook
Sykur on Twitter
 
Photo credit: Tumi Árnason

Petter Stakee (of Alberta Cross)

Alberta Cross will release their exceptional second album, Songs of Patience, on Ark Recordings on September 3rd, 2012. The album’s anthemic opening track, Magnolia, previews the album as a single release on 7″/download on July 30th.
 
Alberta Cross are Petter Ericson Stakee (vocals/guitar) and Terry Wolfers (bass), a Swede and a Londoner with Brooklyn as their home. Having met in an East End pub seven years ago, when Wolfers saved a young and let’s say “over-confident” Ericson Stakee from some angered locals, they have since embarked on what Ericson Stakee calls “a long and wild road”. The success of their acclaimed 2009 debut, Broken Side Of Time, saw the band tour the world, criss-crossing America more times than they’d care to count, playing headline shows and festivals like Sasquatch and Bonnaroo, and earning the patronage of bands like Them Crooked Vultures, Oasis and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, with whom they toured.
 
The title of Songs of Patience is, though, in many ways, literal. Once touring for their debut was done, the band had headed to an old, abandoned house in the middle of nowhere near Woodstock, NY. There, they braved the freezing winter and embraced a sense of the building’s haunted past to start working on ideas for a new record. But this record was to take a much longer, more winding road, as Petter Ericson Stakee explains:
 
“In the three years since the last album we relocated to Los Angeles, moved back to New York, returned to being a band with just two permanent members and have had at least five producers’ hands on the album. I loved LA, but the combination of relocating and hitting the studio straight away made me spiral out of control. I reached a very dark place. I partied too hard, blew my newly-earned money and went home to Sweden. Once I hit rock bottom and plummeted back to the planet, I knew what I had to do. I moved back to Brooklyn and reformed my home there. And that’s what Alberta Cross is, me and Terry, my cockney brother.”
 
Now pared down to its original incarnation as a two-piece, Alberta Cross were able to look at what they’d created so far, open up their creativity, pen additional tracks and re-mix/re-track a few songs from the L.A. sessions in New York. They laid down new songs, rounding out the original songs to be an expansive, thoughtful portrait of their experiences. The result is one of the finest, most visceral rock albums of 2012.
 
Ultimately, Songs of Patience is both a throwback to Alberta Cross’ roots and a progression forward. It’s a record that is as soulful as it is driven, each song more visceral than the next. The album veers from the melodic sprawl of “Magnolia” to the pensive provocation of “Lay Down,” a song bolstered by crashing guitars and one of the record’s most thrilling choruses. “Wasteland” is a hook-laden, no-holds-barred rocker showcasing Ericson Stakee’s voice at its finest, while “Crate of Gold” explores the motivations of the Occupy movement in all of its fuzzed-out, bass-driven glory. Indeed, Songs of Patience is the sum of three years’ worth of parts – a struggle that concluded in one hell of an album, and a brilliant new chapter in the musical journey of Alberta Cross.

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