What a loverly thing to wake up to. A new email from Airwaves announcing more 30 more bands for the festival of which 22 are Icelandic. Ólöf Arnalds, Retro Stefson, Amiina, Moses Hightower, Apparat Organ Quartet, Árstíðir, Kiriyama Family, Skúli Sverrisson, Hermigervill, Captain Fufanu, Sign, Stafrænn Hákon, Leaves, Endless Dark, Nóra, 1860, Dimma, Auxpan, Þórir Georg, Emmsjé Gauti, Kjurr and Nini Wilson.
I have been rather busy with a move, and now an injury, but I truly am hoping in the upcoming week I can get a handle on the massive amount of write ups I need to cover. So stay tuned, and until then, you can read my write ups on FM Belfast, Apparat Organ Quartet, and of course there are more write ups on my Iceland Airwaves page.
Three gals, two guys, that’s MAMMÚT. An Icelandic 5 piece that’s been on the scene for around 9 years. They have crafted the art of delivering a wall of sound both live and on record with Kata, the lead singer sending out vocals akin to an offspring of Grace Slick and Linda Perry. Kata on vocals, Ása strumming bass, Alexandra and Arnar at guitar, and Andri banging the drums and percussion.
3 or 4 months after forming, they won the coveted Músiktilraunir, the annual Icelandic battle of the bands. Two years later their first album, Mammút, was released. Basic rock in the vein of the Breeders or Linda Perry topped with a dash or three of late 60’s psychedelic rock. There are times I can play Miðnæturmetalltwo or three times before moving on to the next track.
The second album, Karkari, has a darker feel. It’s still rock heavy, such as the terrific bass thumping on the beginning of Geimþrá, and the album ends with an instrumentally heavy track, Í Leyni, which could easily be confused for a Godspeed You Black Emperor or Mogwai song. Very heavy, very loud, and oh so awesome on a stereo.
Between the two albums and their new track, MAMMÚT did Bakkus with KEXP:
I love that the video captures Kata’s “I’m almost going to explode, but I’ll do it very quietly” way of singing, she really is awesome to see live, and the only thing I miss from this and their records is just what powerful lungs she actually has, that fire haired girl really knows how to sing. But then again, watching this band live really restores your faith in music, as even when it’s a simple riff, or slow drum line, these guys are always into it. It’s a live gig you should make a priority to see, you’ll get into it just from the energy they give off because their into it.
I want to go off-topic for a moment and bring up KEXP, the folks who did the Bakkus video. The crew that covers Iceland Airwaves from KEXP are an incredible sort. I always end up running into them once or twice during the festival as they are incredibly hard workers. Typically out late to catch as many shows as they can, only to wake up extremely early to go here and there recording Icelandic musicians for special performances all during Airwaves. A lot of material you will find on Airwaves comes from the recordings and sessions of KEXP. Last year they were headquartered at the hostel Kex, recording off-venue gigs, broadcasting their live shows, and generally having a good time.
MAMMÚT have been teasing us about new material for quite some time now, and it looks as if it’s finally going to happen. On the new single, Salt,we get those haunting vocals, and a much darker, more prominent base line. It feels a lot more like Í Leyni than their other catalog and so yes, I’m quite excited for the new album. Also, it will be in English and Icelandic, so you won’t have to go guessing just exactly what the hell they are saying, if you’re not versed in the Icelandic language.
The band was kind enough to take the time to answer my 4 vital questions, so here they are:
1. What is your favorite off-venue Airwaves, or Icelandic joint to jam at? A few year ago we played a gig in Ása’s (our bassist) basement. She used to live in a huge house in downtown Reykjavík and turned the basement into an art gallery, and there we played a secret show for a few good people.
2. If you combine all of your favorite colors (for you, add your bandmates if you would), what do you get? It would be a crazy new color. We’d probably call it “Mammút blue”
3. What are 3 of your favorite little known bands of Icelandic origin? Well we’d have to define “little known” first. If we’re talking about bands who haven’t experienced a huge international success (yet) then we’d have to say Samaris, Agent Fresco and Ojba Rasta.
4. If you could be any creature playing your favorite song, what would the creature be? And what is the song. Most likely we’d like to be a frog singing Ave Maria.
You can keep up, and find out more about MAMMÚT on their Facebook and Tumblr pages. And of course their two albums and new single are conveniently located on Gogoyoko.
Momentum’s roots are in black/death heavy metal and consists of Kristján on Drums, Sigurður for Guitar/Vocals, Hörður with Vocals/Bass, and Ingvar on Guitar/Vocals. They are one of my favorite metal bands from Iceland, and I am looking forward to catching them at Airwaves 2013.
When describing metal everyone has a word for this and that. Call it what you will, I find them to be akin to metal such as Envy and Isis. Their songs are well produced, and progressively send you through epic journeys of heavy, soft and complex arrangements. Instead of one song, I would highly suggest you take 15 minutes and listen to my favorite E.P. of theirs. The Requiem. It’s one of 2 E.Ps they have available. There is also their full length, Fixation, at rest. Check out As the skies break, one of my favorite tracks on the album. Enjoy the delightful music montage of As the skies break being performed live.
They have a new album soon to be released, titled “The freak is alive” and you can hear the title track here. The band was kind enough to answer my four questions, so here they be:
1. What is your favorite off-venue Airwaves, or Icelandic joint to jam at? Our favorite icelandic joint is probably the one in our fans pocket.
2. If you combine all of your favorite colors (for you, add your bandmates if you would), what do you get? A sausage wearing a bandana.
3. What are 3 of your favorite little known bands of Icelandic origin? Difficult choice since there are so many but Plastic Gods, Two Tickets to Japan, Muck
4. If you could be any creature playing your favorite song, what would the creature be? And what is the song. We would definitely be a Manbear Pig playing Brown Shoes Don’t Make it.
So yes, there is going to be metal at Airwaves, and very good metal such as these guys. You can find them on Facebook, and of course Gogoyoko. So give ’em a listen and look for them at Airwaves.
Apparat Organ Quartet, AOQ, began in 1999 and has, or does now, consist of Hörður Bragason, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Músikvatur, Úlfur Eldjárn and Þorvaldur Gröndal who was later replaced by HAM drummer Arnar Geir Ómarsson. As of 2012, Jóhann Jóhannsson left AOQ to focus on his other projects.
Trying to regurgitate their entire history from Wiki, or their website would be a disservice, as their website is extremely entertaining so I’ll leave that to you; and just go on about their albums and live gigs. AOQ is always an interesting band to see live. They pride themselves on not sequencing the music, and their instruments are a hodge-podge of keyboards, organs, vocoders, and synthesizers, all tweaked and modified to bring the audience and listener unique beat-heavy dance and rock pieces.
My first live experience with AOQ was unplanned. I was at NASA early to ensure my sweet spot for a band I can’t even remember that was playing after them. The lights dimmed and the stage came alive with this massive bulk of machinery and wires cranking out these incredibly forceful soundwaves of synthesized vocals, organs tweaked improper, keyboards, and I swear to God there was a cow bell. The crowd, obviously familiar with them went nuts, jumping up and down, freaking out, and displaying the bands symbol, the triangle. Lift both hands above your head, put your thumbs together in a straight line, then touch your index fingers together, making the triangle. Obviously the show left it’s impression, as I remember AOQ, but not the band I was really there to see.
Their first album came out around 2002. The self titled album is built like an album should be, very easy to listen to and fluid. It starts off with a lot of energy, then you coast gleefully through the middle engaging the listener with ups and downs, coming to a very spacey, relaxing end. The album took almost 3 years of discovery and research for the band, and according to the band’s website, it took so long to create as it was undiscovered territory. Not many organ quartets are out there, add that to their naturally creative nature, and obsession with customizing old and new things alike, and you have a lot of untraveled space to fly through. My favorite tracks on the album are The Anguish of Space Time and Stereo rock and roll.
Their second full length, Pólýfónía, has the same upbeat vibe, and more pop-ish tracks such as 123 Forever as well as more rock-ish tracks like Cargo Frakt. At Airwaves 2012, instead of a bulk of instruments taking up the center of the stage, Apparat added 4 very new, very shiny instruments. A quartet of women:
They first appeared on the track Konami and then appeared live, for everyone to see. The concert this time was at Harpa, a much larger venue, which the band filled with an epic light show, as well as these lovely ladies. AOQ proved again that they know how to put on an amazing show.
I would definitely check out their website, they are on Facebook, and of course, their albums are all on Gogoyoko. Definitely unique, energetic, and worthwhile. And now, for their 4 questions:
1. What is your favorite off-venue Airwaves joint to jam at? I think we did our first Airwaves off venue gig this year at KEX and it was quite nice. They had delicious soup.
2. If you combine all of your favorite colors (for you, add your bandmates if you would), what do you get? A whiter shade of pale
3. What are 3 of your favorite little known bands of Icelandic origin? DJ Musician, DJ Sexbomb andDJ Flugvél og geimskip
4. If you could be any creature playing your favorite song, what would the creature be? A steam engine robot playing Jump by Van Halen
A birthday track made by a couple, for a friend, became the beginnings of a snowball gradually gaining speed and size, rolling it’s way through dance floors, festivals, and bar venues taking peoples’ pants in return for lively gigs that feel more like all encompassing parties; this, is the FM Belfast I’ve experienced.
This post was done out of my chaotic order as they are playing Great Scott in Allston (Boston) on Feb. 28th. I always get excited when an Icelandic band comes to Boston, but FM Belfast is famous for putting on amazing live shows anywhere they play. They have an incredible knack for feeding off the energy of a crowd, creating their own energy, and turning any environment into a party. I tried to find clips of live shows, but I honestly feel that you thumbing through this 47 minute set would probably give you a better idea of what to expect:
according to legend, and their website. A couple, Árni Rúnar Hlöðversson and Lóa Hlín Hjálmtýsdóttir, put together a birthday song for a friend. As music things typically do, it got around and eventually more music was created by it. The band expanded, and now includes players from a slew of great Icelandic bands, such as Borko, Retro Stefson, Múm, and Benni Hemm Hemm. Depending on who’s available and what they are doing the roster can change from 3 to 11 players and that adaptability and keen sense for a good mood is what makes going to one of their gig’s absolutely worth it.
Before going into just how great the first time I saw them was, I feel there needs to be a little discography lesson and knowledge shared. They are witty and have no lack of catchy tunes. On How to make friends, there is a keyboard playing monkey named Pedro being Tropical, a warped drunken-like version of the classic Pump up the jam, motivational songs about being President, and of course, one of their most popular songs about being Icelandic and running down the street in their Underwear.The band actually put together a lo-fi video for the song Underwear, I have to admit it cracks me up:
The newest album, Don’t want to sleep, still carries on the dance beat, but the lyrics get more serious, but not too serious. You still have fantastic songs about learning American, and not wanting to go to sleep either. But you also get darker dance beats and more mature sounding tracks like In Line, and Happy winter. In line is actually my favorite track off of the album.
Lóa Hjálmtýsdóttir was kind enough to answer my 4 questions:
1. What is your favorite off-venue Airwaves joint to jam at? My favorite off venue last year was KEX hostel.
2. If you combine all of the band’s favorite colors what do you get? To start with, one of our bandmate has the favorite colors Neon Green and Burgundy red so I think the combo will always turn out to be pretty diarrhetic. Mine is a gray purplish sort of blue, I have a pen with that color and it’s called Cornflower. One bandmate doesn’t know and I can’t be bothered to call the rest of the guys. But like I said, the end result will be brown.
4. If you could be any creatures playing your favorite song, what would you be, and what song? It would be a really big crow singing Smog’s song Feather by Feather.
You can learn more about them on their website. Gogoyoko actually has a lot of remixes, and their full length albums, so I would suggest going and giving them a listen. And of course they are on Facebook.
Sindri Már Sigfússon, Sin Fang, may very well deserve the hardest working musician award for last year’s Iceland Airwaves festival. I swear that man was playing everywhere I turned, on top of that, he was also seen exhibiting his artwork leaving me to believe he cloned himself to be at multiple places at once. Part of Seabear, Sin Fang originally solo’d as Sin Fang Bous before dropping the Bous and becoming Sin Fang.
In 2011, Sin Fang released the first album I was privy to hear. Summer Echos, Excellent production and unique vocals, combined with somber lyrics moved the listener along as if Sin Fang was directing the crowd through the fall into winter. One of the great singles from the album, Because of the Blood also has one of my favorite videos:
And while Summer Echos feels like he’s leading you into winter, the newest album, Flowers, begins with the lively anthem-ish Young boysleading you out of winter into spring. Young boys, with it’s Vibrant, upbeat, and stronger, more precise vocals, cues the listener for the energetic ride they are about to take. Young boys and Not enough are definitely recommended, but to me, the absolute solid treat on the album is Look at the light. The arrangement, vocals and overall feel of the song is just perfect for my current state of mind. Luckily for me, and you, he just released a video for it:
Flowers was produced by Alex Somers of Parachutes and Jónsi and Alex fame. And it’s apparent in the upbeat drumming and great vocal quality found in the album. It’s too early in the year, but honestly of all the new stuff I’ve been listening to, I keep coming back to Flowers for my commute, it is definitely in the running to be one of the best things of 2013.
Here be the four questions he was kind enough to answer:
1. What is your favorite off-venue Airwaves joint to jam at? My favorite off-venue was called havarí. a little music/art store downtown. it’s a hotel now.
2. If you combine all of your favorite colors (for you, add your bandmates if you would), what do you get? Brown?
3. What are 3 of your favorite little known bands of Icelandic origin? Boyfriends, Olympic boys and Munnfylli af galli. (Unfortunately I could not find links for these bands.)
4. If you could be any creature playing your favorite song, what would the creature be? And what is the song. A squirrel playing look at the light
You can Listen to and/or purchase a good amount of Sin Fang’s catalog on Gogoyoko, including the new album Flowers. he is also on Itunes, and Flowers is available for pre-order or purchase on Feb 5th.
Pétur Ben is another artist I was introduced to last year at the Taste of Iceland festival here in Boston. Very interactive with the crowd and full of energy, I was impressed with his style and energy and of course started listening to his music shortly afterwards. At the Taste of Boston gig he had an odd but well put together style, sometimes strumming a guitar and singing about family, other times booming rock across the room with quite an aggressive manner.
If you’ve ever been on an Icelandair flight, and been adventurous enough to watch Ragnar Bragason’s Children, or Parents in the Icelandic movie section, you’ve heard PB. He did both the scores as well as scores for multiple theater productions. He’s done arrangements for Mugison, Slowblow and others around Iceland.
The first album I listened to, Wine for my weakness, is a bit raw, with great loops and clever lyrics. You begin to see his talent and experience with composition on this album, as songs take you on a roller coaster ride through tempo, pitch and timing instrumentally with more of a 90’s style rock vocal sat on top. The album reminds me of road trips tapes we made for driving through the desert in the summer. Tracks like Something Radical, and White Tiger.
And while I dig the old album, his new album really brings out just what talent PB has in regards to composition, lyric writing, and overall song creation, God’s lonely man, reminds me of the experimental rock days modernized to keep it interesting. Remember when Pink Floyd added all the odd jazz elements to rock, when they didn’t care about stanzas or timing, changing things in the middle of a bar? The composition of these songs is quite reminiscent of this. I’m not saying it sounds like Pink Floyd, I’m saying his ability to change mid-song to unexpected keys and tempo in the songs, breaking out into something not expected is a talent I appreciate with the same regard.
His vocals are much more haunting and subdued on the new album as well, lower and slower with a dark almost sinister side to them at time. Some songs, like Cold War Baby, remind me of a modern Velvet Underground, and others, such as Runes, send you on dark float down a stream ending into a marching track such as Visions. And yes, I realized I just linked you to three tracks in a row.
God’s lonely man is exclusively available on Gogoyoko, and I suggest you get it as it is quickly becoming my favorite recently released album. You can find him on Facebook, as well as on Gogoyoko.
So, thanks to PB for answering my 4 questions, I leave you with them and a great video of a cover song he did back in 2010 of Billy Jean by Micheal Jackson, I love how the mostly Icelandic crowd sings the chorus with him, right on spot:
1. What is your favorite off-venue Airwaves joint to jam at?Definitely Bar 11 on Hverfisgata. Very small, in the basement, very atmospheric and good sound.
2. If you combine all of your favorite colors (for you, add your bandmates if you would), what do you get?Black
3. What are 3 of your favorite little known bands of Icelandic origin?Most of us are little known but I guess I could name Oyama,Heavy Experience and Snorri Helgason.
4. If you could be any creature playing your favorite song, what would the creature be? And what is the song. I’d be God singing sympathy for the devil.
As the Reykjavik jazz festival is underway, I thought I would blog about an Icelandic jazz musician. Iceland definitely holds it’s own with diverse jazz musicians. From the smooth classical quartet style of Sunna Gunnlaugs to the glam-pop rockish guitar jams of GP! (Guðmundur Pétursson.) It’s not that hard to find Icelandic jazz to dig.
I’m slightly biased, I really dig drummers and I find it exceptional when a drummer can not only compose their own albums, but manage not to overpower those albums with just drums. So, it shouldn’t be a surprise that I really dig Þorvaldur Þór Þorvaldsson (Doddi.) You may recognize him as the crazy crowned drummer that accompanied Jónsi on the band’s 2010 tour. But before, and now after that, he’s been recording and creating jazz. Doddi’s self titled album happens to be one of my favorite Sunday morning breakfast making albums. You get smooth elements intertwined with great orchestrations of blended instruments, and he certainly has that ability to not overpower a piece. The first time I heard the album I was blown away. He was so active and smash-tacular with Jónsi but his album was such a smooth blend, not too cookie cutter but not overpowering with the hyper-ness I was expecting. It’s a jazz album that I personally think non-jazz and jazz listeners will equally enjoy.
You can listen to the full length album here. And my favorite tracks from the album are:
Þrír fjórir
Unfortunately, from what I saw he’s not going to be around for the jazz festival. But I am hoping that he may do something during Airwaves, the annual Icelandic music festival happening at the end of October. You can learn more, and see what he’s up to on his website So, apparently I cannot embed the songs from Gogoyoko directly into WordPress as they embed as objects that are not approved by WP. I am working on getting them accepted.
Vigri the band was formed in 2009 by the Pjetursson brothers Bjarki and Hans. Named after the last ship their Grandfather captained, Vigri tends to be environmental and atmospheric. To me, the album feels like romanticized windswept cloudy days on a beach where regardless of the elements you find yourself at peace. Which is odd as they have just released a video for my favorite song off the Pink Boats album and it happens on a snowy beach:
From what I’ve heard, Pink Boats was recorded inside a slew of Icelandic churches capitalizing on the old wooden interiors to boost their sound. Add to that the brilliant tinkerings of Iceland’s own Birgir Jón Birgissong, and you get a very pleasant album indeed. If you listen closely you can actually hear the bells of Hallgrimskirkja ringing away, though I’m not going to tell you where, you can find it on your own.
Vigri consist of Bjarki and Hans Pjetursson, Atli Jónasson, Þórir Bergsson and Egill Halldórsson. And you can listen to Pink Boats in its entirety and purchase the sucker on Bandcamp. Animals, Maternal Machine, and I I Augsyn are my favorite tracks.
Graphic by Paige Bowman
Ragnaar's Icelandic Music Blog 