* ‎– The Eye Label:  ‎– 1984/1 Format: , LP, Album 
Country: Released: Genre: ,  Style: , , ,  Tracklist A1Assassin3:15A2Anna6:08A3Open The Window And Let The Spirit Fly Free2:35A4Moonbath2:04B1Dismembered4:29B2Seagull3:02B3The Spire4:27B4Handa Tjolla1:55 Companies etc Recorded At –  Pressed By –  Credits Artwork, Design –  Bagpipes [Pipes], Bells, Harmonium, Strings [Other] – * Bass – * Drums –  Engineer –  Strings [Electric] – * Wind [Metal-winds], Voice – * Woodwind, Voice – * Notes Released in a fold-out 6-panel poster sleeve. 
Recorded at Southern Studios January 1984.  (INFO FROM DISCOGS.COM) Kukl (band) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia   (Redirected from ) KuklOrigin, Iceland, , ,, ,Years active1983–1986, , ,Associated acts, Exodus, ,, Medúsa, Spilafífl,, , ,, ExemPast members Birgir Mogensen Einar Arnaldur Melax

Kukl was an Icelandic  group in the 1980s, most notable for being one of 's first bands.

Cover art for the album Söngull

Contents   [] 

History[] Beginnings and first releases[]

The band formed in August 1983 when Ásmundur Jónsson from  wanted to create an avant-garde supergroup to perform on the final episode of a radio show called Áfangar. He assembled vocalist  of Exodus and, trumpeter and vocalist  (aka Einar Ørn) of , keyboardist Einar Arnaldur Melax from the surrealistic group Medúsa, and bassist Birgir Mogensen from Spilafífl, as well as drummer  (aka Trix) and guitarist  (aka God Krist) from the band .

Kukl's first live show was on September 20, 1983, opening for  in in , followed shortly after by their first release, the 7" single "" (Gramm).

The Eye[]

Einar Ørn had studied media at the , which enabled him to come in contact with UK  groups such as and . This led to the 1984 release of Kukl's first album,  (produced by Crass member ) on the  label. The title The Eyecame from Björk’s favorite book,  by  (1928), whose plot involved the sexual adventures of a young French couple within a violent context. The album cover was illustrated by Dada Nana. The Eye contained an English-language version of “Söngull”, retitled “Dismembered”. A  was shot for the song “Anna”, directed by .

Kukl à Paris, touring and Megakukl[]

A live performance from September 1984 at L'Eldorado in  yielded , a cassette-only release issued in 1985 by independent record label . Kukl toured Europe during 1985, visiting the  during the Pandora's Box Festival, and  during the . Also in 1985, Kukl and Icelandic rock singer  (Magnús Þór Jónsson) formed a side project called Megakukl. After creating about 20 songs, which remain unreleased, they played several concerts in Iceland.

Holidays in Europe[]

Kukl released their second and final studio album, , on Crass Records on January 24, 1986. Two video clips were produced, "Outward Flight (Psalm 323)" and "France (A Mutual Thrill)". In a manifesto published as a Crass Records press release to announce the album, the band said:

”The Naughty Nought” pertains to the insignificance of the individual as being nothing but a numb number in a  of loss/profit good/evil black/white binary pairs. You are taken from  to the four elements from the  to  and then from mooistism to the naughty nought. In this process the music breaks the scale by thundering trumpets and pouring vials of wrath together with subtle musical poetry. The naughty nought is the source of all creative energy and is manifested through whirling cyclonic motion from the very shatters of  to the spiralling . By contemplating the  aspect of this naughty ality you gain your former potency as the master and creator without mutilating your fellow beings.” Split[]

By 1986, the band was close to an end, as different members pursued various projects. Óttarsson and Björk formed , a group which featured musicians from Kukl (with the exception of Einar Ørn) and collaborators  and Þorsteinn Magnússon. This ensemble recorded 11 songs in 1986 and disbanded thereafter.

In the summer of 1986, Einar Ørn returned from England with two projects: the creation of a new record label, , and a new band, Sykurmolarnir, later translated as . As Kukl disbanded, the only members who did not continue with the new project were Mogensen and Óttarsson. The birth of the new band coincided with the June 8, 1986 birth of Björk's son Sindri Eldon Þórsson (fathered by Medúsa guitarist Þór Eldon Jónsson).

Later projects[]

Björk, Einar Ørn, Melax and Baldursson formed The Sugarcubes in 1986 with bassist  and guitarist Friðrik Erlingsson (replaced by Jónsson). Melax was later replaced by Margrét Örnólfsdóttir.

Melax later formed Exem with Þorri Jóhannsson of Inferno 5, releasing the album Kjöttromman in 1995 on Smekkleysa.

After Kukl disbanded, Óttarsson collaborated with renowned Icelandic and international artists and has performed solo guitar concerts in Iceland. As a polytechnic engineer in practice and inventor, he has also combined his music work with scientific projects and delved into ,  and navigational systems.

Mogensen worked for recording and video studios and joined Inferno 5, a multimedia ensemble founded by Þorri Jóh. He was asked to play bass for  and rehearsed with them in England before  rejoined that band. He played bass on several tracks on Exem's Kjöttromman. He later worked as a broadcast supervisor at the  TV station.

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