Quarashi (album)

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Quarashi
Studio album by Quarashi
Released	October 13, 1997
Recorded	1996-1997 at Bergstaðarstræti, Nýjasta tækni og vísindi
Genre	Hip hop, Alternative rap, Techno
Length	59:12
Label	Lax Records/Pop Músík
Producer(s)	Sölvi Blöndal
Quarashi chronology
Switchstance (EP) (1996)	Quarashi (1997)	Xeneizes (1999)

Quarashi is the debut hip hop album by the group of the same name, released on October 13, 1997 in Iceland (see 1997 in music). Already popular in Iceland thanks to the EP, Switchstance, Quarashi released their first full-length album with more of the hip-hop infused rock, techno, and funk that brought them fame in the first place. 6,000 copies of Quarashi were made, and all 6,000 copies were soon sold, making the album go gold in Iceland. Like Switchstance, it is rare to find a copy of Quarashi today, but the CD is known to show up on eBay every once in a while.

Because an egg appears on the album cover, fans have come to call Quarashi, "The Egg Album" in order to avoid confusion between the group and the name of their first album.

[edit] Track listing

1. "Ouzo" (Translates to "Intro") [Instrumental] – 0:56
2. "Thunderball" – 3:27
3. "Framogtilbaka" – 3:04
4. "Catch 22" – 3:32
5. "Switchstance" – 3:33
6. "Superwoman" (featuring Omar Swarez) – 2:56
7. "Herra Jinx" [Instrumental] – 2:27
8. "Lone Rangers" (featuring Magga Stina) – 4:20
9. "The Next Movie" – 2:48
10. "Beam Me Down" [Instrumental] – 1:22
11. "Mr. Amber Shades" – 3:21
12. "S.E.T.I." [Instrumental] – 4:10
13. "Beam Me Up" – 4:07
14. "Speedo" [Instrumental] – 4:48
15. "Delphi" – 3:19
16. "Mr. Caulfield" – 10:34

[edit] Miscellanea

• Long time Quarashi friend (and future Quarashi member) Omar Swarez appears on the album, rapping on "Superwoman".

• Richard Oddur Hauksson was credited on "The Egg Album" as the fourth member of Quarashi (as the DJ), which he also had been credited as on Switchstance, but today, he has faded into relative obscurity, due to the fact that most fans consider the original Quarashi line-up to be Sölvi, Hössi, and Steini.

• "Framogtilbaka" is the first rap song done entirely in Icelandic.

• Music videos exist for "Thunderball", "Catch 22" and "Switchstance", but these days are hard to find.

• Hössi Olafsson sings for the first time on a Quarashi track on "Catch 22".

• Four songs from Switchstance appear on Quarashi ("Switchstance", "Lone Rangers", "Beam Me Up", and "Speedo"). "Switchstance" and "Beam Me Up" have slight changes to them that separate them from their versions on Switchstance: "Switchstance" was rerecorded with a new chorus, different scratching, and Steini's last line in the song is changed from "I always play ya" to "Peace to a skater". In "Beam Me Up", Magga Stina's singing in the chorus is replaced with Hössi and Steini rapping, and a new Steini verse is heard during the breakdown portion of the song.

• "Herra Jinx" is the original version of "Mr. Jinx", which would later appear on Quarashi's Jinx album in 2002 ("Herra" means "Mister" in Icelandic).

• At the 8:13 mark on "Mr. Caulfield", a bonus track, an a cappella version of "The Force", starts playing.