Trabant

Trabant are a genuine oddity. Based around the core duo of Vidar Hákon Gíslason (b. Reykjavík, Iceland) and Thorvaldur H. Gröndal (b. Reykjavík, Iceland), they merge the baroque rock of Super Furry Animals, the acutely fashionable Scandinavian pop of Röyksopp and the future-retro electronica of Plone. This seemingly instinctive juxtaposition of wildly disparate influences produces music that is both absurd ("Bluesbreaker") and poignant ("Superman"). On the former, Trabant wonder "Have you ever been in a car, on a 100 MPH, when the wheels fall off? Then the doors fall off. You try to fix it but your arms fall off." The latter, finds homoeroticism in a red-panted cartoon superhero who submerges his identity beneath the guise of a news reporter: "Superman, Superman rescue me/You're so brave and strong and really care for me," sings guest vocalist Ragnar Kjartansson, touchingly, "In the end, sure, I'll be your loverman."

Featuring breakbeat experiments, keyboard dirges, digital orchestral movements and comedic instrumentals, the duo's 2001 debut Moment Of Truth seems to give credence to the cliché that the best Icelandic music is both kooky and comely. The band derives their moniker from the functional and iconic Eastern European automobile. Trabant, notably, share band members with slow country band the Funerals.