The mighty island of Iceland has delivered 6 new Music videos from musicians I love and admire. I’m so excited about it, I feel compared to share. So, in no particular order, here they are:
As a huge kimono and World Narcosis fan, I’m really looking forward to this new album. This song is Minimal, yet full of both energy and tension keeping you engaged throughout, ending in utter chaos. I really love this track and can’t wait for their new album, “Ending Friendships” Which you can pre-ordered here. It will be released November 1st.
Laura Secord is Alison MacNeil from kimono, Ægir Bjarnason of World Narcossis and owner of the record label, Why Not? Plötur, Erik Deluca from the band Den, and Julius of Stormy Daniels and BSÍ
Sindri of Sin fang seems to never sleep with multiple projects including Gangly, Team Dreams (with Sóley & Örvar Smárason,) and the reappearance of Seabear. So it may be odd, or justified, that this song is about taking a sleeping pill. His classic vocals flow through the music, which has exemplary lullaby qualities. The video, with soft, out of focus imagery coupled with a grainy film feel is surprisngly soothing in an oddly dark way. The Song is off his upcoming album, “Sad Party.” You can pre-order here.
The video was directed by Ingibjörg Birgisdóttir. She has done some of my favorite videos including artists such as Sóley and Sigur Rós. Pay attention to the “lyrics” on the screen as they drift off into thoughts of the artist, not his words.
I’ve blogged about Cyber and their videos before. Absolutely one of my favorite Icelandic hip hop bands, and one of my favorite acts to see live. Their beats, the energy, and their presence is always commanding on stage as well as in their videos. Their new video, Hold, is from their EP “Bizness” The video is about the the time we spend waiting, waiting for xyz and such. English lyrics are in the description, as the song is in Icelandic.
You never know what to expect with Mr. Silla, and I have to say that her singing with Páll Ivan frá Eiðum is a pleasant surprise on her new album. unlike her normal floating vocals this track carries more of a funky folk feel. The new album, “Hands on Hands” will be released later this year.
Still dirty and raw, Pink Street boys have a new song. Lots of beer, a fish head or two, and a country cabin filled with punk rockers, emphasis on the rock. I still listen to their previous albums frequently, it’s great road trip music. I’ve no idea when they’ve got something new coming out, but hopefully soon.
And, as I was writing this blog post, a notification for this new video popped up:
Jófríður Ákadóttir is one of the hardest working Icelandic musicians out there. With multiple bands and projects such as Pascal Pinon, Gangly, and Samaris she continues to innovate and craft insanely gorgeous music. “Taking a part of me” is a delightful surprise, and hopefully hints at new material coming soon. You can stream it here.
And here it is, the complete list of Icelandic musicians performing at the 20th anniversary of Iceland Airwaves 2018. It’s under new management so there are probably a few more surprises coming our way, But here is the list of everything we know. So get digging in and learn about all the new stuff you haven’t heard before.
I’ll be doing a few blog posts with tips, recommendations etc… And this year I’ve started a series on the first time Icelandic musicians, you can see the first post here.
You can see my past Airwaves photos here, and my tips for a pleasant Airwaves as well.
Once again I’ve created a loosely sorted, by genre, cheat sheet for the Icelandic bands. Out of the 225 bands set to perform, 139 are Icelandic. This year the Airwaves team massively improved their line up page, you can search and sort by genre and country, but the genre sections is rather precise, so I’ve kept the categories rather broad here. To See the official Airwaves line-up page, click here.
With Icelandic bands it can always be hard to categorize their music styles as one of the greatest things about them is their ability to snag and grab their favorite things from all over the musical spectrum and make it work for them. So these lists are just general nods in the direction you may be looking for, for example, the Dance table, they sit right on the edge of electronic and dance pop/rock and beats. But I tried to focus on the prominence of a lead singer and the beats of the bulk of their songs in deciding which side to place them.
At the bottom you will also find the Spotify playlist for the entire festival.
Categorizing some bands can be extremely difficult as they run borders are freely through genres, so if you feel a band needs to be moved into a different category let me know and I’ll change it.
Day 3 was delightfully long. Started off with Speciak-K then Pink Street Boys followed by Jae Tyler, moving then to Pinegrove, and then Arab Strap and finally finishing the night in an insane hour long party known as FM Belfast.
Pics are a bit FM Belfast heavy, but that’s because every second they are playing there is something incredible to try and capture on camera, even their end of show bow. Click here or the picture to see day 3 photos:
Unlike past years, Iceland Airwaves will be in two cities this year, Reykjavik and Akureyri giving festival goers a chance to see more of the island, and from the looks of it, bringing more Icelandic bands from all over together to play. You can now look at the schedule here. And here are my tips to make the festival more enjoyable.
I will be photographing the festival this year and if you follow my Facebook page you view at your leisure. You can see photos from Airwaves past here.
218 bands have been announced so far of which 162 are Icelandic. I make this page as a quick reference and it’s a good thing to bookmark while you’re at the festival. There will be times where your plans may not come to fruition and you can look at the app, find a band you’ve never heard of for plan B, and use the quick reference here to see if you dig it.
With Icelandic bands it can always be hard to categorize their music styles as one of the greatest things about them is their ability to snag and grab their favorite things from all over the musical spectrum and make it work for them. So these lists are just general nods in the direction you may be looking for, for example, the Dance table, they sit right on the edge of electronic and dance pop/rock and beats. But I tried to focus on the prominence of a lead singer and the beats of the bulk of their songs in deciding which side to place them.
I’ve also made a table of just Möller Records and Thule Records artists as they have quite the strong presence this year. Both of these record labels have continually brought amazing electronic acts out of the Icelandic woodwork for years and I’m really stoked to visit their stage and get my fill of their collective music.
Categorizing some bands can be extremely difficult as they run borders are freely through genres, so if you feel a band needs to be moved into a different category let me know and I’ll change it.
Well, it’s over. Another year another massive amount of music, art, and sight seeing crammed into 5 days. It began with an art show, a toilet museum opening with a Q&A from John Lydon, and continued with a ton of new music. On top of that I managed to go beyond my comfort zone and took part in conducting live interviews with bands, and created a few podcasts.
Jason from Zombie Popcorn convinced me to get behind a mic and conduct interviews and podcasts with him. There were a few hilarious moments, a few cringe worthy moments, but a lot of good dialog with bands and musicians such as Dr. Gunni, Tófa, Milkywhale, and Sóley. It’s all been compiled nice and neat like over at Zombie Popcorn on an Airwaves page.
I took all the photos in the blog post and you can see all the Airwaves photos here.
It all started the night before Iceland Airwaves officially began at Mokka-kaffi. Dr. Gunni of Bless, S.H. Draumur, Unum, and his own band had an art exhibit opening at the cafe. It’s his new album, ATVIK, of which he’s only made 18 copies all with acrylic paintings of historic moments in his musical life on the album covers. The bottom middle photo above is of Dr. Gunni giving the legendary Bubbi Morthens an empty Coke bottle… because that’s what you do apparently.
A new punk museum opened in Iceland. Housed in an old public toilet the museum gives you the history of punk stall by stall, with memorabilia and pull down headphones so you can sample the goods. John Lydon, accompanied by Rambo showed up for the opening and participated in a Q&A where he talked about underwear, and questioned if punk was still alive.
One of the great things about Iceland Airwaves is there is always something new, and there is always something for everybody. In the event you can’t cram it all in at the official shows there will always be extra off-venue gigs throughout the city during the day. This blog post would turn into a book if I commented on everything I saw so I will stick to highlights for me of new bands and veterans.
First, the new:
Tófa @ 12 Tónar
One of the freshest highlights was Tófa. The word Tófa is Icelandic for a female blue fox. An animal that looks sweet and innocent but actually can be vicious and cunning. And much like their namesake the began with innocent banter about who they are right before blowing out our eardrums and manufacturing mosh pits with their heavy high-spirited sets both off-venue and on. Even a power outage at Gaukurinn was no match for drum solos and banter.
Milkywhale is what you get when you cross an upbeat choreographer with a musician from one of the most party-est bands in Iceland. He was bouncing and smiling behind the decks, she was all over the stage, belting out while the audience danced away. Both shows I saw this Airwaves were full of interactions with the crowd breaking down that wall between performers and festival goers.
Hórmónar is another new band that I was really impressed with. I actually left PJ Harvey early so that I could catch their gig at Gaukurinn and they ended up being a great way to end the festival. they were all over the tiny stage and guard rails, with the drummer using a wheel rim and a saxaphone player stuffed in the corner. It all added to the rough and angry set. I can’t wait to see what they come up with for next year.
Last but not least is Cyber. Comprised of some of the Reykjavíkurdætur crew, Cyber did aerobics with the crowd, rapped about Daddy issues and Aspen Barbie-world problems, and there was some hugging it out while pretending to pretend they were at prom. Icelandic hip hop has become rather large over the last few years, and Cyber definitely was my top pick this year for the genre.
Now for the highlights from the veterans:
This year was FM Belfast’s 10th anniversary playing Airwaves. I first saw them in 2009-10?? when they closed the festival at NASA. The festival ended with hordes of people dancing and running past us in their underwear. I have seen this band play small bars in Boston and stadium sized venues in Iceland and every time they leave you sweaty, out of breath, and wanting more of the party.
Now, 10 years later, they’ve upped their game with confetti-cannons, rolls and rolls of streamers, and costumes galore. The band revved up the crowd to the point the floors felt as if they were going to give in from the insane crowd jumping up and down.
In an interesting twist of things, two veteran bands I see whenever they play swapped up their stages. Prins Póló dropped his band and Berndsen added one. Things are always changing and even established bands like to completely swap things out for the fun of it.
Prins Póló was joined by Árni Rúnar Hlöðversson from FM Belfast/Milkywhale/Plúseinn. Perhaps having less folks on stage led to the heightened party atmosphere and more aggressive vocals and powerful beats. Svavar was flying all over the stage interacting with the crowd as he sang songs we’ve all come to love.
Berndsen on the other hand, showed up with a full band. He played a lot of the classics, and a few of the new songs from his upcoming album, “Alter Ego.” The new material still has that 80’s feel, but there’s more of a rock element now. I’ve dug what I’ve heard so far and can’t wait to get my grubby mits on the full album. The set ended with a stripped down Berndsen, and the drummer standing on his kit.
Part of the fun of going to Airwaves a lot is you get to watch bands evolve. Fufanu is one such band, I’ve been watching them for a few years now and this year was the best I’ve ever seen them. Their music was tight and on point, the visuals complimented the set, and they filled the Harpa hall with rock quite nicely. They’ve released a great new video for Sports, and their show superseded my expectations.
Vök packed the Reykjavik art museum and their high-octane performance with saxophones, synths, guitars and simulated drums was had the crowd excitedly dancing and singing along. They seem a lot more at ease on stage and worked as a full rock unit playing a lot of material I actually hadn’t heard yet.
And then there was Pink street boys. I fully admit to having a musical crush on this band. Their dirty, garage punk rock style is just my type of music and they killed it at Gaukurinn. The place was packed, and the sweaty horde of festival goers were rocking Their album is a go-to staple for me at home and in commute and I only wish I could see them play live more often.
And then there was PJ Harvey.She filled the enormous hall at Valshöllin. I was not only excited for the chance to see her live, but damned near ecstatic I was given the opportunity to photograph. The band entered the stage in marching band style with PJ in the middle playing the saxophone.
She lined up in formation and once everyone was set moved front and center to begin the show. While she played a few of her classics, her focus was on the new material. With band members moving from brass instruments to strings, and her holding on dearly to her saxophone she filled the hall with her quirky style of music.
So, yet again another fantastic year at Iceland Airwaves. All of the photos are mine though the featured image contains the Iceland Airwaves logo as well. Early bird tickets will be on sale soon so make sure to follow Iceland Airwaves on Facebook and check their website frequently. If you want a head start on learning about more of the Icelandic bands that may be playing next year, or just want a reminiscent feel for what you saw I suggest you check out Straumur on Facebook and their website. They compile fantastic playlists mixed with international acts, but a lot of the new Icelandic bands coming out. Also, follow Iceland Music Export on Facebook as they deliver speedy news on new bands, bands that are touring, and new information about the bands you already love.
Iceland continually maintains a wealth of musicians and bands. There isn’t a genre missing on the small island, and there is a lot of talent found almost everywhere you look. From atmospherically haunting soundtracks to the darkest metal, you can always find something you’ll dig. And while this list doesn’t encompass all said genres, it’s my personal list of bands I’m enjoying at the moment.
Full disclosure, this blog post is about the 11 bands I’ve been lucky enough to compile on the new Icelandic Whatever compilation. They are 11 bands I truly dig, and I hope you will as well. The new compilation is released on November 11th, and is available for pre-order for $3 here. These bands are presented in the order of the compilation.
Most of these bands will be at Iceland Airwaves 2016. So if you’re going, make sure to check them out. The schedule and more info for Iceland Airwaves can be found here.
David Berndsen is Berndsen. I try to describe Berndsen not as 80’s retro, or a blast from the past, but as a continuation of the 80’s, with unique beats, heavy synths, and a booming voice. It’s not just a pinhole representation of what we loved about the 80’s, it’s a feel good modernized trip back to what we dug. In my opinion, he’s taken what can be a very dated musical genre and made it timeless. His music videos are also something of pure genius and are frequently on almost all of my house party playlists. The video above is “Shaping the Grey” featuring the talented singer/songwriter Elin Ey, and Högni Egilsson of GusGus fame. It is from his new album “Alter Ego.” The title track is on the compilation. Other videos you should watch are Lover in the dark, and Game of Chance.
Dr. Gunni – “Ég er aumingi”
Dr. Gunni is a veteran punk, he’s been at it since the 80’s. And as well as the band Dr. Gunni, he has been in the legendary bands: SH Draumur, Bless, and Unun. He wrote, “Blue eyed pop” which is the most comprehensive book on the history of rock in Iceland and has also has released a few compilations in his time called the Snarl series which was the inspiration for me to begin releasing compilations. The song “Ég er aumingi” is on the new comp, and it’s from his upcoming album, “ATVIK”.
MilkyWhale began as a musical project between choreographer Melkorka Sigríður Magnúsdóttir and Árni Rúnar Hlöðversson (FM Belfast, and Pluseinn.) It’s dance pop, with unique breaks and as with their music, their live shows are filled with high energy moments that somehow bring both band and audience together almost as if everyone in attendance had rehearsed their dancing. “Invisible” is on the compilation.
Yes, Icelandic Disco does exist, perhaps it’s not well known, but one of Donna Summers favorite songwriters was Icelandic. I fell in love with Boogie troublethe first time I saw them at Iceland Airwaves years ago. It’s a super group of talented and seasoned musicians, and their new album, “Í bænum” is one solid disco dance-fest. I’ve written about it before, and I still thing the song, “Moldun” is about the quest of a lonely space cowboy to find his electric-slide line dancing space cow folk. Thankfully, the band has let me put said track on the compilation.
I like contrast, and Pink Street Boys delivers said contrast. Dirty, sludgy punk infused garage rock. practically insane in everything they do, they’ve been my go-to rock out band for quite a while now. I originally wanted “Evel Knievel” for the compilation, but they delighted me with a new gem, “Let it down” and it does not disappoint.
Æla continue to be a treat. They are a punk band whose live shows are always a must-see for me. Every year after their gig I say “that’ll be tough to beat next year,” and every year they beat it. The dedication they put into their show antics are only beat by their dedication to their music, and their new-ish album, Vettlingatök (Handle with kid gloves) is solid. “Rólegur” is the track on the compilation, and the performance above was at the Iceland Airwaves KEXP stage at Kex last year.
Myrra Rós, is well known in Iceland for her solo project as well as a vocalist for the band Var. She is an enchanting chanteuse, her soothing voice soars only grounded by heavy instrumentation below her. Her new album, “One Amongst Others” is an atmospheric collection of other-wordly songs. The title track shown above is on the compilation.
Svavar Knútur is the traveling troubadour. From the west side of Iceland his folk songs are a contrast of serious topics happily sung. He takes his audiences on comedic journeys and with or without a backing band an audience is never left without. The song above is an acoustic version of the song”Wanderlust” from his newest album, Brot (The breaking) and the album version is on the compilation.
Cyber is an interesting duo. Formerly they were what I can only describe as disco/metal/rap duo, and now they are hip hop. I was stoked when they agreed to be on my comp, as I really like their music + lyric combination. Typically they rap in Icelandic, but the video above is in English. MÁVAR is the track they’ve let me use for the compilation, trippy beats, Icelandic lyrics.
It’s no secret that Reykjavik! is one of my favorite bands. They are somewhat garage/punk rock legends in Iceland, and they are a band I thought I would never get to see live. So last year when they played a surprise gig at Kaffibarinn, I became that happy little kid on Christmas morning. It was sweaty, and nobody could really move except for the band, which managed to hang off the ceiling, bars tops and audience members, you can see the pics I took of the gig here. So you can imagine how happy I was when they let me put their classic track, Flybus! on the compilation.
I was beyond stoked when Futuregrapher agreed to be on the compilation, even more so when he sent a brand new track. he mixes multiple layers of trippy broken beats combined with the atmospheric noise to create unique songs you can’t help but get wrapped up in. He’s a breath of fresh air to see live, and you get sucked in not only by the music, but by his unique style behind the machines. I’ve written about him before, and the new song, Shemale, which is on the compilation is something different I’ve never heard from him before. It’s the perfect ending to a great list of musicians on the compilation.
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.
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.
It’s been decades since the last Snarl, and Dr. Gunni certainly exceeded expectations with this 4th edition. The compilation contains a broad assortment of what is coming up and is going around Iceland. It’s not just double rainbows, bowed guitars, elven harmonies or hair model horses. It’s everything from deep dark meaty punk to folk; trippy rock to dizzying funk. Its all encompassing with 25 great bands anyone that appreciates music will end up digging. What else would you expect from the author of one of my favorite history of Icelandic pop-rock books, Blue eyed pop.
You can listen and purchase the compilation here on Bandcamp. Either get a digital copy for $10, or an actual CD including a foldout cover with pictures of the band, and a long summation by Haukur S Magnússon of Grapevine. for $20. Here are just a few of what I feel are the lesser known bands you’ll find on the comp:
They were one of the favorite new bands of Airwaves, and justifiably so. Dirty, punkish rock that required one to take a shower after seeing them rock the shit out of wherever they played. I was looking forward to seeing them at Airwaves, and they didn’t disappoint in the slightest.
I’ve got a soft spot for this band, they really tore it up at Airwaves, and brought back nostalgic memories of Hole before the celebrity. Angry angry gals with heavy beats behind them. This isn’t the song on the album, but a good representation, and it was filmed in one of my favorite bars in Iceland, Bar 11, quite possibly by a drunk individual….not me.
The compilation isn’t just dark heavy punk and rock, Dj. flugvél og geimskip, the alter ego of Steinunn Eldflaug Harðardóttir is one of the sweetest beings out there, and her funky trippy manner is best witnessed live. Again not the song on the comp, but my favorite video of hers.
KVÖL is the new project of one of my favorite Icelandic artists, Þórir Georg. I first heard him when he was My Summer as a Salvation Soldier, and as he progressed through the years, so did his music, like a crazy river ever evolving, this new project has a fantastic gothic, Joy divisionist feel to it. You can actually hear a lot more from him on Soundcloud, and I suggest you do, He’s releasing an album that will combine his two EPs as well as some newer stuff soon.
There are a lot of “top 10 Icelandic bands you should know” floating around these days. They all seem to list the same bands, half of which we already know.
By now, any person who even knows the minimal of Icelandic music knows bands and musicians such as the Sugarcubes, Björk, Sigur Rós, Ásgeir, Amiina, Mum, Seabear, Of Monsters and Men and Sin Fang. They are killing it on a global scope and are getting air play and reviews in almost every music mag out there, so I’m leaving them out of my list, they’re wonderful and loverly but we already know that.
There is a book on the history of pop and rock in Iceland called Blue Eyed pop. It’s an extremely entertaining read, all your favorite bands will be in there with their histories, and it’s shocking to see just how connected even the most distant genre types really are. It’s become one of my favorite books to loan to people, and the hardest book to get back when they’re done.
So here it is, my top 15 bands you should know, split into three categories, Veterans, Been around the blockers, and Freshies. Aside from that, there is no rhyme or reason to their order. Clicking on the band heading will take you to either a blog post I’ve written about them, or their respective interwebby pages:
I have been in love with this band since I first heard them almost a decade go. I love all three of their albums, and the sneak peaks we’re getting of the new album, such as the video above, make me happy indeed. They’ve been playing for over a decade and a half, and if you’re fans of that minimal yet heavy sound, you’ll go nuts for them. Click here for more info, including Soundcloud links. Perfect for twilight drives through the desert or pre-night shenanigans.
One of the best dance party bands out of Iceland, their live concerts typically end with hysteric crowds jamming around in nothing but their underwear. If they ever come near your town, they are a must see, you won’t be disappointed, well unless you don’t like to smile and dance. It’s hard to listen to their albums without jumping a little while smiling. I reviewed the new album here, and that post also has links to more of their goodiness. Perfect for party times and getting large crowds of people partially nekkid.
Imagine that, the crazy guy from the Sugarcubes has his own crazy band. By far my favorite band to see every year Iceland Airwaves, his break-neck rant-ish style backed up by the almost genius mixing of Curver Thoroddson make the perfect album for walking around a busy city. Another act that should be witnessed live for full effect. The video above also has Sóley, which I’ll get to later. Perfect for going crazy.
As My Summer as a Salvation Soldier, Þórir made one of my favorite songs, TheRiver. It’s been quite a journey with his singer songwriter style, as it’s not all kumbyah’s and strumming around a campfire. There are pop ditties, and an album of split personalities harshly contrasting each other in thrash and calmness. It’s creative weirdness, and well worth getting into. Depending on the album, it’s perfect for most situations.
Part of the Icelandic supergroup Seabear, Sóley has quite the solo catalog under her belt. She took time off to raise a family after “We Sink” but I just saw her at ATP Iceland, and she’s definitely back in the thick of it. Her charming voice, and well orchestrated band make for a perfect evening/road trip record.
I’ve called her the offspring of Nancy Sinatra and June Carter. Her voice is full with the slightest hint of a smokey, well rounded accent. Her back catalog has quite the folk/country feel. And the new album, “Talking about the weather” has a more full, larger band approach. It’s one of my favorite road trip albums, and was on my top list of albums to come out last year. The video above is from the new album. For me, pretty much perfect anytime.
A stage completely filled with tubes, wires and organs. These guys are amazing live as nothing is typically preset. They are a fun, high energy band synthesizing the hell out of their organs for the audience and listeners enjoyment. In 2010 I saw them by accident at Airwaves, and I’ve been an uber-fan since. Perfect for all musically inclined nerds, for rocking out on the weekend, and for when you need a climatic build up before taking on the world.
They’ve been called shoegazers, and I s’pose it fits. They won me over last year at Airwaves with both their interruptive irreverence at Harpa and their actual full gig. Heavy instruments and floating lyrics, excellent music for afternoon BBQ’s and video gaming sessions. Perfect for getting your jam on, I’ve yet to gaze at my shoes when seeing them.
Imagine if you will, walking right after twilight in the desert or across a foggy field of snow. Nothing but the wilderness casting strange shadows all around you as you trek forward towards your final destination. That’s how the very poetic sound of Samaris hits me. Their new album not available in the US yet, Silkidranga, is less atmospheric and more dance-like. But the trio’s ability to captivate my ADHD addled brain is quite impressive. Perfect for druidian chants in the countryside.
This 5 piece could almost be considered veterans as well, they’ve been at it for over 9 years. Their lead singer with her Grace slick style singing, over heavy instrumentation makes for great albums and great gigs. Perfect rock out music, the above video is their new, first official music video.
What started out as a high school songwriting project has turned into quite the band. They’ve had local success for years, but the new album has projected them into the global realm. Fantastic band live and on record, I highly suggest checking out their new album, Enter 4. Perfect for get togethers with friends, as well as swooning sessions over that damned sexy long blond head of hair.
Simple, yet energetic, I love this new band out of Iceland. It completely reminds me what we’d listen to on our way to the big city for gigs during the summers of my youth. There’s a sunny, west coast type Violent Femmes era feel to the music, and I haven’t come close to being sick of their album, “I need you to go to Hell.” Which I highly suggest you give a listen to. If this sucker gets heard, I really think it has potential to make a lot of folks happy this summer. Video above is their new video for my favorite song off their album.
Ohhh, sweet funky disco. This band won my favorite new act of 2013, incredibly fun to watch and the locals go crazy for them. Right this moment they have a crowd funding effort to put out their new album, so go help them out. And try to listen to their music without wiggling your butt…ain’t gonna happen. I was going to put an original track as the video, but I think this cover is pretty awesome.
Nooo shit, there’s a garage punk band that has emerged on the rock. A little Ramones, a little Deadbolt; A lot of Trans Am and Camero mullets. They are trashy, thrashy, and a completely new guilty pleasure of mine. Sometimes it’s the slimy little things in life that make one smile.
Recap and final band:
It’s difficult to limit my list with 10 or 15 bands,, as the scene is constantly changing, and there are always bands coming up that you should know. The best way to keep up on it is to check out The Icelandic Music Export website, blogs such as mine, or rok musik. There are still an epic amount of bands left, such as Grísalappalísa (punk), Snorri Helgason (folk), Sudden Weather Change (harder rock), For a Minor Reflection (Post-rock), Mr. Silla, Fufanu (electro-rock), and the old greats such as HAM, SH Draumur and etc…..
There is one band, of which I will never get to see live regrettably so. They were a great noisy punk experiment, and their music get played regularly at my house. Great for rocking out, and shaking your head when there really is no other way, I present Skátar playing Mahatma Gandhi with Gylfi of Kimono:
Update: Due to the overwhelming response this got, I have made a second list based on the readers suggested additions to this original ist.
Ragnaar's Icelandic Music Blog 