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Quarashi
Blast's through San Francisco |
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Iceland's Quarashi sounds like one part Beastie Boy's
and part industrial-strength hard Rock, making its U.S. debut with their CD
Jinx. Following the release of two gold albums in its homeland, Reykjavik, a
small city in the North Atlantic. Quarashi was originally formed by Sölvi
and Hössi in 1996. After playing together in a local punk rock band called
2001 they both felt a need for greater experimentation and developed a
preference for studio production over band rehearsal-style songwriting.
Sölvi produced a demo track, Hössi laid down the rhymes, and the
pair's first single, "Switchstance," sold out all 500 copies in a
week. Their full-length debut CD was recorded in October of 1997 and sold over
6,000 copies, going on to be certified as gold in Iceland. That same year
Quarashi opened for both the Fugees and the Prodigy. One of the last songs on
their Jinx is "Dive In," a techno ballad where Quarashi displays even
more stylistic versatility. To a mellow ethereal backing track spiced up by
scratching and keyboards. The quartet-Blöndal (the set's producer), Stoney
Fjelsted, Hössi Olafsson, and Ómar Swarez-is well poised for
similar success here. Lead single "Stick 'Em Up," a powerful
stadium-sized anthem finds guitars, drums, and turntable wizardry wickedly
cavorting in the course of a three-minute-plus track. On "Tarfur,"
the band proudly displays its '70s-shaded funk roots, while "Mr.
Jinx" spotlights the group's hip-hop sensibilities, with band members
trading verses over a tweaked old-school beat. Certainly not a one-note act,
Quarashi showcases a smoother side on tracks like the mellow "Malone
lives" and the lush "Copycat" and "Dive In. On Jinx the
beats range from straight-up hip-hop to murky industrial, sometimes provided by
a drum machine, other times by a live drummer. Turntable scratches give way to
fat bass lines and screeching guitars. Background vocals blend with the flows
of two or three rappers at a time. Horns, voices, and piano rolls are sampled
and distorted. The state of the art production is as impressive as anything
coming from either side of the Atlantic acts like Quarashi should be able to
easily create their own niche.
By Randy Cohen
........This is the Official Rock Publication Web Site
All photos and written material courtesy of Rock Publication
.Copyright © 2002
E-mail at
Rockpub@aol.com
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Quarashi band
are
Hössi (huh´-see) Olafsson - Lead Vocals
Steini (stain´-ee) Fjelsted
(fyel´-stead) - Rapper
Omar Swarez -
Rapper
Sölvi (sewl´-vee) -
Drums
Solvi - drums
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...........1/2002
