It’s almost time, and tickets are almost gone, so I would suggest getting off your duffer and getting them. Iceland Airwaves 2014 is around the corner, and of the 215 or so bands performing this year, 145 of them are Icelandic.
I’ve sorted the musicians loosely by genres, very loosely. Don’t judge, there are a lot of bands that walk the line between categories, but I think I’ve done an alright job of making it easy for you to find something you’ll dig. Clicking on the band name will take you either to a blog post I’ve done on the musician, or to a page with their music or more info. To see the full international list of all artists at the festival and for more info, check out the Iceland Airwaves website. And you can purchases packages for the festival here, at Iceland Air.
Last year’s band list is located here, and if you are new to Airwaves and want to learn more, here is a list of my previous posts on the festival. Here, you will find my recap posts of last years festival as well.
Story has it that Legend began on a drunken night of brain-synced tomfoolery between two old friends in a studio which lead to the creation of the track ‘Devil in Me‘. After finding its way quickly up the Icelandic charts, these friends, Krummi Björgvinsson and Halldór A Björnsson called themselves Legend, and created an album of winterishly dark and stormy synth-pop.
Krummi’s been on the scene for years, Probably most known for his band Mínus, the first Icelandic hardcore band I heard as a youngin’, and one of the first hardcore bands ever signed outside of the Icelandic realm. He’s a busy man also known for his art, and his solo projects such as DÖPUR.Halldór has done film and play soundtracks, as well as jingles for commercials. He’s also an active producer and genius on the keys. The two have been friends for quite sometime. Previous to Legend, the two worked with Daníel Ágúst of GusGus on a country style project called Esja.
Some say there is a fine line that’s not to be crossed between Industrial pop-synth and heavy-industrial. It’s refreshing to hear a band that calls bullshit on that theory and proves you can have both. Their music reminds me of dark stormy Winter-ish days, yet there is a lighter side of pop floating in and out of the songs like moving clouds that threaten to reveal the sun every so often. In my opinion, they have expertly crafted music that takes the best of both worlds creating the perfect stormy soundtrack.
Fearless, their first album, follows that interwoven, layered formula. One gets the sense of dark, crisp, winter nights with darker songs, such as Sister, Fearless, and my favorite track with it’s deeper vocals, Violence:
And you have the lighter breath of fresh air moments, with the more pop-ish tracks such as Sudden Stop, Lust, and City which is one of the most pop tracks on the album:
The album ends with one of the lightest tracks on the album, Traveling blind, akin to the transition of winter into spring. While I love the album, you have to see these guys live. Krummi is a performer through and through, and puts on one hell of a gig. Always high energy, always a little crazy, always fun.
2015 is going to be an insane year for Legend and Co. Legend is working on their second release, DÖPUR and AMFJ are doing a split cassette, and Krummi’s new new project KÓBRAKAT is in the works. If that isn’t enough, Mínus is hoping to finish an album they’ve been working on for 3 years with a hopeful release sometime in 2015.
You can follow Legend on Facebook, and listen to them on Soundcloud. Krummi was nice enough to answer my 4 questions:
1. What is your favorite place to play at in Iceland? –I really don´t have a favorite place anymore because many venues have been closed down so they (bloodsucking yuppies) can build more hotels. These venues were so important for the music scene. It´s a shame but hopefully there will be new venues in the future, then maybe i will have a favorite place to play again.
2. If you combine all of your favorite colors (for you, add your band mates if you would), what do you get? –Black and Blue
3. What are 3 of your favorite little known bands of Icelandic origin? –Börn, Icarus and AMFJ
4. If you could be any creature playing your favorite song, what would the creature be? And what is the song. –I would be a recluse spider also known as Fiddle-backs playing Isolation by Iggy Pop.
Last week I posted 15 bands I thought you should know. The response to that blog was somewhat incredible in my little blog world. Some of you are very, VERY, angry individuals, both towards the bands chosen as well as the person who’d dare pick some and leave others out. And some of you came up with great alternatives or bands you wished were on it.
So in this post, I took the top suggestions you commented and emailed about, as well as a few more new bands I think you should check out. As before, click on their name to find out more about them. So, without further ado:
A good indie style rock back, akin to “At the Drive In” They’ve been in the scene since 2008, and are working on a new album as we speak. A mellow style of math rock with creative licks and lyrics that seem to float over the top.
GusGus is indeed a veteran band of Iceland. A little bit of trip-hop, a lot electronic, the band has been on the scene for almost 20 years. Over the years, there have been many members, and those members have gone on to start production companies and other bands. GusGus can count musicians such as Emilíana Torrini, and Daníel Ágúst amongst their ranks. The above video is from the new Album Mexico, it’s a great album and I am currently working on a post about them, so stay tuned.
Reverent, conservative, Sunday morning driving music. Yeahno, they’ve been around since Christ was a child, and their music is crassly clever, aggressive punk rock promoting whatever they want when they want to. Oddly enough, on the East river walkway a few weeks ago, the song above came on, and as all the asshattedly good looking folks were surrounding me, it seemed the fitting soundtrack to my movie-like fantasty of tossing them into the river. A lot of fun to hear live, and their massive catalog of albums is worthy of your attention.
I’m actually quite glad a few people recommended this band. A large contrast to Reykjavik! Vigri is soothing, with floating lyrics over what on the surface appears to be mellow music. But there’s a hidden intensity that creeps up on you. I first saw them play two or so years ago, and last year at Airwaves I made everyone that came with me see the band at least once. Not one person came back with bad things to say, even the grumpy metal guy. I’m impatiently waiting patiently for the new album, the new material they played at Airwaves last year was fantastic.
Mínus was the first hardcore Icelandic band I heard. I believe it was Chimera off of the Fálkar soundtrack. Legend is Krummi Björgvinsson from Mínus and keyboardist Halldor Björnsson. It’s dark, sometimes industrial, sometimes rock, and it’s good, crazy good. These guys are not to be missed live.
I placed Samaris on the original list, one of the other projects by Jófríður Ákadóttir, but Pascal Pinon is the sweet, smooth and charming band of her and her sister, Ásthildur. Haunting vocals and soothing instrumentals make for a very relaxing, excellent combination. Excellent for when you just need to sit back and relax.
Good old fashion rock, nothing fancy but damn it’s good. They put on an extremely high energy live gig as well. Created by Þórir Bogason, somewhat a genius in the Icelandic music scene, their music just makes you feel good.
Snorri’s first band, Sprengjuhöllin was a super band of sorts. He epitomizes the hard work ethic of Icelandic musicians. He is constantly on the go touring everywhere he can while writing and releasing music. Later this year he will be in Connecticut with the likes of Lay Low and Svavar Knútur at the Icelandic music festival, Iceland Affair. He’s blessed with incredible writing skills, and his songs are summer porch gems to be shared with friends and beer.
There are two newer bands that I really feel you should check out:
The day before Airwaves of 2013, I was standing in Lucky records with only a handful of people, when just a DJ and Ragna (Cell 7) broke into her rap. It quickly reminded me of the old days, and her improvising, action with the crowd, and overall set was amazing. I highly suggest you check out her stuff, and if you can, pick up her new album, CELLF
Trippy, spacey grooves with an incredibly fluid high pitched voice. Dee-Lite has to love this DJ, and if you liked Dee-Lite you will love her as well. So, set up the disco ball, lava lamp and trip out.
So there you go, more Icelandic bands for you to get to know, this time crowd sourced for your listening pleasure. There is a lot of music out there, and it’s easy to find new stuff you yourself will dig. Check out the Iceland Music Export page, or get the book Blue Eyed Pop to learn more about the history, distant and yesterday, of the Icelandic music scene.
At ATP Iceland this year, I had the pleasure to run into a certain journalist in Iceland. I’m being honest in saying it’s a pleasure as he’s about as delightfully entertaining as it gets. He gave me some pointers on my blog, most of which was that I need to be a bigger asshole, as I may come across as an ass kisser of sorts. So, in honor of him, I’m going to try this mean thing out… Let’s talk about Bob Cluness.
He’s an old crusty cantankerous Shetland Scot, who is slightly understandable by his second beer. By his sixth, it’s just spit and guttural noises, swear-to-god. He stumbles about Iceland grumbling about this band and that band cursing their very existence, and in the event he likes a band, he grumbles about how they’re going to fuck it up.
His Tweets typically tend to be entertaining extensions of his fuckery, incoherent rant-fests of his own creation, or in his moments of seemingly glee, the passing along of other rants he admires. He loves the word Fuck almost as much as he loves the band Coldplay. (which is a lot so I hear.)
Perhaps because of his impressive knowledge of music coupled with the fact that in person he’s a goddamned sweetheart is the only reason the Icelanders haven’t stuffed him in a barrel and dropped him into the sea.
My blog may seem a bit bubble gum and unicorn farts, but I’m not here to critique or tell a band what they could do to be better or differently, I’m promoting what I like while trying to give us English reading folks some background information on bands that otherwise may not get a lot of non-Icelandic write ups. It’s a personal blog, and I’ll be nice if I goddamned well and want to. And no, I’ve never literally kissed the ass of an Icelander, (that I remember, too many years of visiting and too many vodkas.)
That being said, if my blog were more about reviewing all things coming out of Iceland, and not just blogging about what I dig, I actually would agree with him, which in itself is understandably quite aggravating, that and the fact that Bob is indeed a fucking smiling, beer giving, sweetheart.
I really do suggest you follow him on Twitter (@bobcluness), as he is a riot. And you can read his rants, cursings, and entertaining reviews at Grapevine.
I figured he would punch me if I asked him my questions so I didn’t…. Now back to unicorn farts and bubble gum.
Wow, just wow. Shellac and Portishead have killed it for me, excellent doesn’t begin to describe how much I enjoyed their performances.
The night started out rainy, and grew to even rainier as we continued. But the bands were going at it with a vengeance, Low put on one of the highest energy sets I’ve seen from them, and Shellac just upped the anti. Kurt Vile & the Violators was mellow and matched the outside rain well, and Mogwai is Mogwai. They’ve become more docile in years and I miss them completely going nuts on stage, but the wall of sound was forceful, and I actually put in the ole earplugs.Spiritualized did an acoustic set with the gals from Amiina backing them up. It was in a theater setting and sounded quite nice.
The clouds opened up and Friday night was quite pleasant. I may have been the only guy in shorts, but it’s summer so that’s how it goes. The night started off with Sóley’s return, some great new stuff and of course the classics. Liars instantly notched up the high energy, and Slowdive’s performace was fantastic.
Portishead was amazing, so perfect, the sound, the video, everything about it was fantastic. It still looked like twilight outside, and there was a giant moon hovering in the sky as we left the show adding to the surreal ambiance they created.
Another chunk o’bands have been released. This brings the announced total to 124, 63 of which are Icelandic. A lot of Icelandic veterans playing this year such as Sóley, Prins Póló, For a Minor Reflection and Validmar, and there are even more newbies that I look forward to hearing.
As the list is getting bigger, I am going to break down my Iceland Airwaves reference page into a few more categories hopefully later today, definitely by the end of the weekend.
I have a few hopeful Icelandic bands I am still holding out for such as Knife Fights, Ghostigital and Boogie trouble, but I am really enjoying the roster so far.
So get your tickets, it always sells out, and the longer you wait, the less options you will have for hotels and housing, it definitely is one festival where the more of an early bird you are, the better your choices are.
Anytime an Icelandic band comes to Boston, I do everything I can to be there. As it so happens, the Ásgeir gig this last Friday coincided with my new purchase of a much faster camera lens. So, I was able to practice and catch a great gig, two birds…one stone kind of thing and the like. You can click any of these pics to see the actual photos on my Flickr account.
The gig was at Great Scott, a bar in Allston famous for hosting acts rather late in the night. FM Belfast played there last year also to a sold out crowd. It’s a simple set up, but the sound is typically good, and the beer and vodka rather cheap.
Connor Youngblood opened for the band. He’s a youngin’ out of Dallas Texas often seen on stage with multiple instruments strapped around him. His pedal boards were impressive, and so was his ability to shift between the sounds and loops he created during his songs. There is very little out there on him, but I did find this interview, and his website. (which could use an about me section.)
Ásgeir and his band of motley fools were next. Filling the tiny stage to it’s capacity and beginning the soothing songs he’s famous for. We luckily got to hear a few songs in Icelandic, and he did a very smooth, high pitched version of Heartshaped box a little more than halfway through his set. The girls, and a few guys, were swooning and it made taking photos nearly impossible as the crowd was all but sitting in the band’s lap on the stage.
I have to say that I loved his drummer, and even though the lighting wasn’t very good and he was in the dark a lit of the time, it was fun to watch him play.
I still have quite a bit of practice to get the hang of the new lens, there were noise issues, and a prime lens takes some getting used to. But the concert was great, and good times were had. So, thank you to Ásgeir‘s management for the opportunity to snap some shots, and thanks to Ásgeir and Connor Youngblood for a great gig.
It was a fantastic Iceland music snack before ATP Iceland, which is less than a month away. But that’ll be an entirely different post.
FM Belfast are back with another high energy album just in time for Summer, Brighter days. somehow, they’ve found time between a plethora of individual side projects to put together a fantastic album. Lóa Hlín Hjálmtýsdóttir has her Lóaboratorium project, Árni Vilhjálmsson is in the acting group Kriðpleir, most recently acting in a play called Tiny Guy. Árni Rúnar Hlöðversson is making synths and controllors for his side project Plúseinn, Örvar Þóreyjarson Smárason’s been busy with Múm and even the dancer, Egill Eyjólfsson, spends his non FM Belfast hours as a bureaucrat for Brussles for EFTA. As if that’s not enough, they have been touring globally for quite a while now. So really, when do they find the time?…
It begins like any FM Belfast record should, sharp stops and high energy beats about Brighter days, Deloreans, ears and Gold. But then comes a surprise. A smoother, more layered track called “Holiday.”
It’s energy brews right under the surface, like a wide river that at first glance seems to be meandering all the while the current is raging under the surface. After “Holiday”, the album takes a slight turn giving us new beats to get excited about such as the ultra heavy sounds in “Ariel”, which drops quite a bit lower than the typical FM Belfast track shaking one right out of their earbuds.
Overall, it’s fantastic. Brighter days delivers the beats we expect from FM Belfast, and gives us a new sounds to dance along to. You can listen to it, and buy it for $7 from their website. Check out their tour dates as I find them best live. Their Youtube channel. is chocked full of videos. And of course, follow them on Facebook.
Welcome to the twilight zone, here’s your host, Dj. flugvél og geimskip (DJ Airplane and spaceship.) Her grooves and spacey music would make the likes of Kier Kirby of Dee-Lite, and Kate Pierson of the B-52’s weep in happiness. Dj. flugvél og geimskip is Steinunn Harðardóttir, it’s hard to call it her stage name, or her project, because as she put it in an interview once, “it’s just me with a cooler name and sunglasses.”
GLAMÚR Í GEIMNUM! is the first track I listened to back in the day. There is a cosmic punjabi-like effect throughout the music, and the video is a video that should be played on the largest screen possible in repeat. It’s a fantastic delight all around.
Her songs relate to the cosmic wonders and mysteries of the universe. There are songs about animals, both spiritual and earth bound, the moon and those peripheral beings that enter and fade our world by mere glances into the shadows. Both live and on album, her songs have this powerfully happy vibe that almost trumps the positivity you walk away with after corresponding with her.
The first time I experienced her live show was by accident. It was during last year’s Airwaves and I walked into the wrong door, through a bar, up some stairs and into a room slowly filling with fog. There was some frequency bits going around, and a giant ball casting laser beams every which direction. With a sparkly feathered vest, she appeared on stage and began, first with beats, then with layers and topped with her signature vocals. I’ve been impressed ever since, I look forward to another live show.
Her website is down for upgrades at the moment, but you can find her on Facebook. And she has a full length album available on Gogoyoko. She has quite the Youtube channel, and a Soundcloud page.
In an incredibly sweet manner, she replied with the answers to my 4 nonsensical questions:
1. What is your favorite place to play in Iceland? : Þríhnúkahellir/gígur
2. If you combine all of your favorite colors, what do you get? clear/seethrough
3. What are 3 of your favorite little known bands of Icelandic origin? Pink Street Boys, Godchilla, Carpe Noctem
4. If you could be any creature playing your favorite song, what would the creature be? and what is the song? Snake Playing Black Sun Empire´s song Arrakis
It’s almost time, and tickets are almost gone, so I would suggest getting off your duffer and getting them. Iceland Airwaves 2014 is around the corner, and of the 215 or so bands performing this year, 145 of them are Icelandic.
Ragnaar's Icelandic Music Blog 