Tag Archives: in the company of men

Iceland Airwaves 2015

And, the final announcement is out. Almost 230 bands will be at Iceland Airwaves 2015, and while we’ll definitely miss Björk and Mammút, The Airwaves staff have outdone themselves with the roster this year. This is the most bands I have seen yet, 155 of the 230 bands are Icelandic, and they span the spectrum of every genre. Here is the new announcement, Directed, edited and created by the wonderful Ingibjörg Birgisdóttir, Sin Fang once again is credited with the music, and… Now we all know who Gangly is.

Also announced for this year is a festival within a festival. On Sunday, the final night of the festival,the mini-festival called Extreme Chill will happen at the Vodafone Hall. One last hurrah and “laid back” night of music, featuring Hot Chip, Introbeats, dj. flugvél og geimskip, Agent Fresco, Emmsjé Gauti, Sleaford Mods, Úlfur Úlfur and FM Belfast. You can learn more about it here. It’s a fantastic idea, because if you have done Airwaves right, nothing will sound better than only having to go to one place to finish off in musical bliss.

As I did for 2014 and 2013, I’ve listed all of the Icelandic bands playing into loosely divided into genres on this page. Clicking on their name will open a new tab with the Iceland Airwaves info page for that artist, which includes Soundcloud, Social media links, and a short bio.

This list is just the Icelandic bands playing, if you want to see the full line-up go to the Iceland Airwaves Line-up page.

RocknRoll – Indie Rock – Pop Rock – Rock Rock
Agent Fresco	Bárujárn	Borko	CeaseTone
Dikta	Dr. Gunni	Elin helena	FM Belfast
Fufanu	Geislar	Hallelewah	HAM
Hide your kids	Himbrimi	Hjaltalín	John Grant & the ISO
Just Another Snake Cult	kimono	Kiriyama Family	Klassart
Lára Rúnars	Low Roar	MAMMÚT	Mosi Musik
Mosi Musik	Mr. Silla	Oyama	Red Barnett
Rhytmatik	Runar Thorisson	Russian.girls	Sindri Eldon & the Ways
Teitur Magnússon	Toneron	Trúboðarnir	Valdimar
Var	The Vintage Caravan	Vio	Þórir Georg

Singer/Songwriter – Folk – Blues/Jazz – Composers – Classical
Árstíðir	Aurora	Axel Flóvent	Beebee and the Bluebirds
Brim	DALÍ	Fura	Grúska Babúska
Helgi Valur	Hymnalaya	Jónas Sen	Júníus Meyvant
Justman	Lucy in Blue	Magnús Leifur	Máni Orrason
Markús & The Diversion Sessions	Mógil	My Bubba	Nordic Affect
Par-Ðar	Soffía Björg	Sóley	TUSK
Þórunn Antonía og Bjarni	Ylja

All things Electronica – Dance / DJs / Composers / ambient / ElectroPop / noise
Agzilla	Arni Vector	Arnljótur	Art is Dead
Asonat	Auður	Berndsen	Bistro Boy
Brilliantinus	Daveeth	dj. Flugvél og geimskip	DÖPUR
Dream wife	Exos	Futuregrapher	Gangly
Ghostigital	Good Moon Deer	Gunnar Jónsson Collider	Gus Gus
H.dór	Hekla	HimBrim	Jack Magnet Quintet
Jóhann Eiriksson	Jón Ólafsson & Futuregrapher	Kiasmos	Kippi Kaninus
LaFontaine	Lord Pusswhip	M-Band	Mafama
Mankan	Milkywhale	Miri	Mikael Lind
Mike Hunt	Mr. Signout	Odinn	OHM
Royal	Ruxpin	Serengeti by President Bongo	Skurken
SMURJÓN	Snooze infinity	Súrefni	Sykur
Thor	Tonik Ensemble	Trptych	Vaginaboys
Vök	Waage	Yagya	Yamaho
Young Karin

Punk – Hardcore
Æla	Börn	Caterpillarmen	Grísalappalísa
In the Company of Men	Kælan Mikla	Muck	Pink Street Boys
Skelkur í bringu

All Shades of Metal
Beneath	Bubbi Og Dimma	Endless Dark	Kontinuum
Misþyrming	Momentum-Malneirophrenia	Severed	Sinmara
Svartidauði

Hip-Hop – Rap – Reggae
AmbAdama	B-Ruff	Cell 7	Cheddy Carter
Emmsjé Gauti	Epic Rain	Gísli Pálmi	Herra Hnetusmjör
Kut Grapje	Ojba Rasta	Reykjavíkurdætur	Shades of Reykjavik
Sturla Atlas	Úlfur Úlfur

You can listen to all the bands playing this year via Iceland Airwaves Spotify playlist here:

And here are the previous video announcements:

Video four was Directed, produced, and shot by Máni M Sigfússon, starring Kælan Mikla, with music by Sin Fang:

Video three was produced by Les Frères Stefson, directed and written by, Unnsteinn Manuel Stefánsson And the banker was Haraldur Ari Stefánsson:

Video two with Hrafnkell Örn Guðjónsson drumming away as band names float across the screen:

First announcement with Dj. Flugvél og Geimski:

I would suggest getting your tickets sooner than later, especially if you are planning on doing a package you’ll have more hotel options in the beginning now than you will in a month. Typically the festival sells out, but with the line up looking as good as it does this year, I would imagine it will sell out sooner than later. I’m sure you wouldn’t want to be on the wrong end of “you snooze, you lose”

If you want to see what the past has been like, here is a link to all my Iceland Airwaves related posts. And here is the link to the Iceland Airwaves Flickr page if you want to see just how fun this festival really is.

Hope to see you there.

My top 10 must see bands for Iceland Airwaves 2013

Kimono:

I love this band, they skipped out last year, but I’m glad they are back and I can’t wait to hear the new stuff. It is rumored there may be an electronic element sneaking into the set. How to describe them, think modern Wire with a twist. Prog-metal if you want to get all fancy and the like, or perhaps just don’t describe them and tell people to go and listen for their own damned selves.

Clicking the band name above will take you to my blog on them, they have one of the most extensive soundcloud pages you will find:

Apparat Organ Quartet:

Even with the missing member from last year’s festival, Apparat Organ Quartet consistently put on one of the best shows of the festival. If you have never seen them play I highly suggest you do so as I’ve yet to hear anyone new to them dislike their sound. Clicking on their name will take you to my blog post on them, and here is Konami:

FM Belfast:

Yes I saw them earlier this year, but in their native land this band really cranks out a party, it’s typical for other musicians to magically appear and dance on stage with them, and they are one of those bands that really gets the crowd going. I’d suggest you go with clean underwear, as chances are you’ll be dancing in them by the end of their set. Best gig I’ve seen was at the infamous NASA, hoping they try and top it this year.

Clicking on the name takes you to my blog post on them, and this olld video is still a favorite of mine:

In the Company of Men:

Diversity is key at this festival, and these bat-shit crazy monkeys really know how to throw down on stage. It’s organized chaos and very Dillinger Escape Plan-ish. Can’t wait to see them live. The title above takes you to my blog-post for more info, and here’s a video

Samaris:

Recently signed to One Little Indian records, and with a new album comprised of their E.P’s, I’m very curious to hear how they sound live.

Zola Jesus:

On Sacred Bones Records, Zola Jesus never fails to amaze. She’s a force to be reckoned with and her hauntingly good music is going to be a treat for the Icelandic scene.

Ghostigital:

Seriously, if you haven’t seen these guys play, make this a priority. Curver and Einar örn are staples and their show is awesome crazy. I try to see them whenever I can, they have crazy instruments, a crazy leader, and a baby blue trumpet. How could you not want to see it

Oyama:

A band of many bands, Oyama’s roster includes members from a lot of other bands you will hear this week. They put on a great show, and you do not want to miss it. Click the band name for my blog post on them, and listen here:

Amiina:

Amiina never fails, with their creative implementation of items as instruments, haunting voices, and endless supplies of charm you really need to take a breathe and take in an Amiina gig.

Lay Low:

Nancy Sinatra and June Carter apparently had a love child when we weren’t looking. If her song writing and soothing voice doesn’t get you, her snake charming personality will. Doesn’t matter if she’s in front of a massive crowd, or singing for 5 people in a shack smack dab in the middle of Reykjavik, she is definitely someone you want to experience while at the festival. She has a slew of new songs, and I’m excited to hear them. You’re absolutely NOT going to hate her.

Ok, I’ve got to stop, I promised myself only 10. But it was a tough choice as there are plenty of other acts worthy of mention. Dikta, Tilbury, Pétur Ben, Moses Hightower, Mammut, Momentum, Hudson Wayne etc..etc… Nini Wilson is also a band you should look out for. I’m not going to spoil it, but they consist of members from other well known Icelandic bands.

I’m going to be blogging every morning after the festival, and I hope to see you up there.

In the Company of Men

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Yes yes, I know I should use a more recent photo of the band, but with that shit-eating grin behind the guitar, and the oh so seriousness of holding keys vertically while a Dillinger Escape plan T-shirt gets cuddled, how could I resist. So sue me, I picked this pic.

Mostly described as Mathcore, they’ve also been described as hardcore and metal. Grapevine once described them stating, “they looked and acted more fucked up and obnoxious (in the best possible way) than before, running and jumping around like monkeys dosed on purple drank.” In the Company of Men, (ITCOM) is a five piece band that came together late 2011, consisting of Finnbogi Örn (Guitar & Vocals), Samúel Örn Böðvarsson (Bass), A.K. Andersen (Vocals), Steini Milljón (Guitar, Vocals), and Björn Rúnarsson (Drummer).

From live videos I’ve seen, they appear batshit crazy showing a complete disregard for stages, lighting or boundaries while precisely and artfully pulling off complex signatures. They hold their own with other bands of their genre such as the beautifully psychotic Dillinger Escape Plan, In fact, from the videos I’ve seen, they are reminsicint of a young DEP, and are on my top list to check out at Airwaves this year.

At only a year or so old they took second place in the Músiktilraunir, Iceland’s battle of the bands, and Luigi from the Mario Brothers handled lead vocals during the Wacken Metal Battle (perhaps it was the singer dressed up as Luigi, we may never know.)

The track in the above video is Captain Planet. This was one of the first tracks made available online and in many ways the start of my admiration of the band. Of the tracks available on their Soundcloud page, I have to say the Steini Milljón is my favorite.

As with most Icelandic musicians, the band members are up to their necks in other creative projects in and around Iceland. Finnbogi Örn also belongs to the hardcore band Icarus, who are currently touring New York throughout the month of July, Samúel Örn Böðvarsson also plays bass for the Death Metal band Aeterna, and A.K. Andersen, when not waxing philosophy around the table is working on a comic book titled “Alfjeder”.

You can visit their Facebook page or listen to them on Soundcloud. They are in the final stages of their first album and steadily working on their second, look for them this year.

And here are the 4 questions they were nice enough to answer for me:

What is your favorite off-venue Airwaves joint to jam at?

Björn Rúnarsson – Lucky Records.
A.k. Andersen – Lucky Records.
Steini Milljón – Lucky Records.
Samúel Örn Böðvarsson – Lucky Records or Dillon
Finnbogi Örn Einarsson – Lucky Records & Gaukur á Stöng.

If you combine all of your favorite colors, what do you get?

Björn Rúnarsson – Green (420 – 420 – 420 – 420)
A.k. Andersen – Pink, all da way! (420-4… wait… oh)
Steini Milljón – Lilla Blár (Purple)
Samúel Örn Böðvarsson – Black, stay KVLT
Finnbogi Örn Einarsson – Metallica

What are 3 of your favorite little known bands of Icelandic origin?

Björn Rúnarsson – Ehh, ég veit ekki. Bjornen
A.k. Andersen – Bob, Japanese shuper shift and da future band og Kuraka
Steini Milljón – Me The Slumbering Napoleon, Ampersand og Bob Gillan & Ztrandverðirnir
Samúel Örn Böðvarsson – Aeterna & Metallica!
Finnbogi Örn Einarsson – Gruesome Glory, Trust The Lies, & World Narcosis. (Also Mýnkarnir, a hip-hop collective from Hornafjörður)

If you could be any creature playing your favorite song, what would the creature be? What is the song?

Björn Rúnarsson – Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go með Wham eða When I’m Back On My Feet Again með Michael Bolton
A.k. Andersen – Sloths playing silence by no one.
Steini Milljón – A Trumpet, Hot House
Samúel Örn Böðvarsson – I’d be a Liger playing the classic Eye of the “Liger”
Finnbogi Örn Einarsson – A Silverback Gorilla doing an acapella version of ‘Over The Years’ by 25 Ta Life.

Iceland Airwaves 2016
1860	Amiina	Apparat Organ Quartet	AMFJ
Bloodgroup	Dj. flugvél og geimskip	FM Belfast	For a Minor Reflection
Futuregrapher	In the Company of Men	John Grant	Jónas Sen
Kimono	Knife fights	Lay Low	Legend
MAMMÚT	Momentum	Ojba Rasta	Oyama
Pétur Ben	Sin Fang	Snorri Helgason	Sudden Weather Change
Þorvaldur Þór Þorvaldsson(Doddi)	Vigri

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Tag Archives: in the company of men

My top 10 must see bands for Iceland Airwaves 2013

Kimono:

Apparat Organ Quartet:

FM Belfast:

In the Company of Men:

Samaris:

Zola Jesus:

Ghostigital:

Oyama:

Amiina:

Lay Low:

In the Company of Men

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Iceland Airwaves 2016

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