Typically I stay away from categorizing bands, as I find the lengths some people go to box a band in silly. But now that the final list of bands for Iceland Airwaves 2013 is out, I wanted to make an easier way for you to learn more about, and listen to the Icelandic bands that will be performing.
Of the 216 or so bands at this year’s Airwaves, 150 of them are Icelandic. With everything from a national symphony to death metal, electro-pop to hip-hop, you’re pretty much covered with things to listen to.
So, I have very loosely divided the bands into 5 different groups. Hip Hop, Composers and classical, Hardcore and all the metals, Electronic/Dance/close-to-dance, and the last, but definitely, largest group I will just call rock+, it consists of reggae, funk, blues, rock, harder rock, indie-er rock etc..etc…
As anyone can look up a band’s website, I had a process for picking which links to use. If I’ve written a piece on them the link will take you to that blog post. If not and they have a Gogoyoko or Soundcloud page, the link will take you there. After that it’s either their website or facebook page. I believe most the bands will take you to a page where you can stream at least some of their music.
If you don’t have a Gogoyoko account yet, I strongly urge you to get one. It’s free, and you can create your own playlists to share what you find, but more importantly, a great deal of the bands linked via gogoyoko have their own playlists making it easier for you to hear the songs they really like from all their albums. Like I said, it’s free and takes little to no time to sign up, so just do it. Think of it as an Icelandic Spotify account that actually gives back to the artist.
After the list of bands you will find both the Spotify and the Soundcloud playlists for all Airwaves artists. And, clicking here will take you to the full Schedule so schedule away.
If I’ve missed a band, or you feel strongly that a band should be classified differently let me know. And now, for your researching and listening pleasure, here are the bands, in order from smallest to largest table:
Hip Hop
| Cell7 | Emmsje Gauti | Epic Rain | Kött Grá Pje |
| Original Melody | Ramses | Ulfur Ulfur |
Classical/Composers
| Biggi Hilmars | Daníel Bjarnason | Iceland Symphony Orchestra |
| Jónas Sen | Nordic Affect | Skuli Sverrisson |
| Þóranna Dögg Björnsdóttir AKA Trouble | Úlfur Eldjárn | Saktmodigur |
Hardcore / Metals
| Æla | Agent Fresco | AMFJ | Angist |
| Blood Feud | Dimma | Endless Dark | In the Company of Men |
| Kimono | Kontinuum | Momentum | Muck |
| Ophidian I | Sign | Skepna | Sólstafir |
| Strigaskór Nr 42 | Svartidauði | Trust the Lies | Wistaria |
Electronic / Experimental / Dance
Rock / Indie Rock / Reggae / Blues / funk / etc..etc…
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and here is their Spotify playlist:
Ragnaar's Icelandic Music Blog 