Iceland Airwaves 2014: Fresh Erupting Tunes!

Ever since I came to visit Iceland for the first time in 2010 there has been one music festival on the calendar I don’t want to miss: Iceland Airwaves! A small showcase festival that started of in 1999 for local bands and evolved into an international festival showcasing the Icelandic music-scene but has had also several international acts on the verge of breakthrough. This years edition also brought some big names into Reykjavik. War on Drugs, The Flaming Lips and the final concert of The Knife. A total number of 219 bands, of which only 65 not-Icelandic ones, performed at least one time during the festival. As some Icelandic musicians tend to be playing in more than one band some face could be seen a dozen times. Although the financing of the musical industry in Iceland currently is under fire due to a sudden weather change in parliament (which lead to revoking almost all grands) the Icelandic music during Airwaves sounded even stronger than before. With over 600 performances for free scheduled during the day/night in bars, recordstores and shops you could say the festival was bigger than ever before. There was only one small problem.. with so many concerts to attend: where to be begin?! Luckily almost every band is worth checking out so the changes of bad decisions were nihil. Nevertheless choosing was tough. Therefore, in general, I chose to not choose at all and was guided by the recommendations of the Iceland Music Export-agency, locals and other music fanatics. During the festival I saw about 50 different bands on- and off-venue. Because I’m crazy about music I selected eleven as highlights of this years festival.

Bird:

On the first night of Airwaves the festival already had several famous Icelandic bands on the menu. FM Belfast, Agent Fresco, Lay Low, Sin Fang, Ásgeir, Ghostigital, Leaves, Mammút. It almost felt like the grand finale although this was just day one! Big names or not my highlight of the evening was an aspiring newcomer: Bird. Originally a solo-project of the 26-yo Jón Valur Gudmundsson who previously worked for Ásgeir as a drummer and sound-engineered for Hjálmar. His first single ‘Go Back’ In april 2014 put him on the Icelandic music-map. Freshly produced a bit melancholic indie-pop. Only six months later he assembled a band around him and played his very first gig during Airwaves. After the ice broke Bird sounded very convincing. It wouldn’t surprise me Jón Valur is going to be bigger than Ásgeir and be the next the heir for the Icelandic indie-pop throne as his music and charisma is already shining.

Kælan Mikla:

Going through the program a photograph of three little blonde girls attracted my attention. Together they called themselves Kælan Mikla (translated: ‘Lady of the Cold’) and their music? Poetry punk. In the middle of the capitalistic heart of Reykjavik on Bankastræti they were giving a performance at the local hostel. Usually you would expect a lot of verbal abusive screams, loud drums, screeching guitars when referring to punk-music. Kælan Mikla however was different. Sure, there were some screams but apart from the ductaped boobies of the leadsinger, or actually poetry-teller, their performance was quite decent an intriguing. I wasn’t able to comprehend any of the poetic lyrics but there was something about the way of their performance that made sense and made it intense. These three girls definitely were able to turn their worldview into music.

Emilie Nicolas:

I have to admit, I’m getting a bit predictable but every chance I have to see, hear and highlight one of the best Norwegian singers at the moment I will. I had seen Emilie Nicolas during the past year in Groningen, Oslo and Århus and was blown away by her voice time after time. I really get goosebumps every time I hear her sing ‘Grown Up’. Which is probably also one of her best songs. Her powerful voice and music got me nailed to the ground again for the whole 30 minutes of her performance. Wonderful! If I do need to critize her there are two things. On stage she is never in the spotlight and her music shouldn’t be solely available in Norway. There is a world outside Norway that is dying to hear you Emilie!

Tremoro Tarantura:

After being starstruck by Emilie I had to hurry to see yet another great Norwegian band: Tremoro Tarantura! I had seen them play for a little audience during the Nordic Delight Festival in Utrecht (Holland) and knew they deserved a bigger audience. So, I went and many more followed. Who wouldn’t? These guys and girl aren’t just playing fascinating tunes they also have humor. For instance they describe themselves as جنسي (sex/gender) and are interested in Волк меха и шампанское (Wolf, fur and champagne). Watching their latest video ‘Cameneon’ it might suggest their opinion about making music is like giving birth to a child. Their music just sounds as rough and tough as the video-images. Their thirty minutes of fame in Iceland were a big success considering the audience getting psyched in a positive way on the haunted rocktunes from Os(h)lo.

Fridaynight with Fufanu & Kiasmos:

Even though Airwaves is awesome there are some moments during the festival you cry out for some sleep as there is just so little time there is nothing to see/hear/experience. So, for those wanted to enjoy music and close their eyes for a moment the concert of Jóhann Jóhannsson was perfect. During the performance of “The Miners’ Hymns” with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra the film was played on the big screen behind the orchestra. It sounded very good but the low lights also resulted in me having a short nap. Directly afterwards I had to rush to see the singer of famous bands like Legend en Minus (Krummi Björgvinsson) presenting his latest one-man & one-girl ambient-noise-drone-project Döpur in the basement of Harpa. Different but interesting.

Not much later there was some serious offspring of The Sugarcubes on stage. Hrafnkell Kaktus (son of the former singer of The Sugarcubes) has been in the Iceland musicscene as the successful Techno-duo Fufanu together with Gudlaugur Halldór. After they decided in 2013 to add a live-drummer (Frost Gnarr) to their band the music horizon of Fufanu expanded into a more psychedelic rock soundscape. Although my initial plan was to go see my favorite red bearded electro-hero Berndsen I was advised to go check out Fufanu. It was far from disappointing. Yes, the soundengineer should have done a better job as the sound was poor but the whole performance itself was brilliant! With an extra two guitar,- and keyboardplayer they rocked the place and and almost had to be kicked of stage as the band and the audience wanted more. But their was up.. hopefully there will be many more occasssions to checke thesr guys out.

 Another bandname that buzzed through Reykjavik and “made” my fridaynight was Kiasmos. Another techno-duo but from a whole different angle as Kiasmos is the collaboration of the famous Icelandic composer Ólafur Arnalds and electronics-wizzard Janus Rasmussen (FO) from e.g. Bloodgroup (IS) and Byrta (FO). They had been playing together a few times over the last few years but in October 2014 they finally released their debut-album. Fifty minutes of ambient techno-soundscapes that really came to live with the two concentrated behind their MacBooks and volcanic eruptions on the screen behind them. It would have been even more exciting if they had taken live strings and drummer to the stage. You can’t have it all..

The Knife:

It was crowded. VERY crowded with a large queue for the actual queue to get in. Nevertheless it wasn’t entirely unexpected. In the history of Airwaves this was probably the first time a highly acclaimed international band played their last gig ever during the festival. Swedish The Knife already placed itself into the spotlight without playing a single note. In the hours before their performance the venue was already pretty full even before their Icelandic support-act Samaris was on stage. Just after 10pm The Knife started their performance with a 10 minutes warming up the audience with an aerobics lesson. In the following 1,5 hour the stage was taken over by The Knife and about 10 dancers dancing, singing, playing music.. Although the latter two were points for debate afterwards. Were they seriously playbacking? Did they do anything live apart from the dancing? Apart from the very loud sound with heavy bass the performance itself was quite funny although many spectators might have wanted to see an actual band.

Lily the Kid:

In comparison with The Knife watching the performance of the new band of Lilja K. Jónsdóttir was overwhelming on a different level. Previously Lilja was the singer of Bloodgroup but this year she made her solo-debut as Lily the Kid with some help from her brother Hallur Jónsson (also Bloodgroup) in the production process. On stage she was not only assisted by her brother bu also the current singer of Bloodgroup Sunna Þórisdóttir on backing vocals. Her latest songs, so I’ve been told, are quite personal. Not really something you would expect when listening to electropop. Many spectators where sort of dancing on the tender feelings of this beautiful lady. Naturally not just her beautiful long blonde moving hair and hip-motions got my attention. Especially her precious voice and the soundscapes created by her brother made Lily the Kid the best electro-act of the saturdaynight.

Airwaves Sunday’s are the best.

 After four days of musicmania you would expect there wouldn’t be any more surprises. Physically, mentally and musically exhausted the fifth day of Airwaves might feel like an appendicitis waiting to burst. But as it is ICELAND Airwaves they’ve invented the hotpot (either natural or build) to regenerate. In previous editions the Airwaves Blue Lagoon Chill-out party was the place to be. However this year I went to one of the oldest swimmingpools in Reykjavik and went for a swim and a soothing hotpot. It turned out to be the most effective way to energize for the last night of Airwaves. With international acclaimed bands The Flaming Lips and War On Drugs on the program it certainly was going to be a party. I chose however for an all Icelandic night in one of the other venues. Although the other venues were close I chose for the bar Gaukurinn as there were at least 3 bands I wanted to see. I wasn’t disappointed.

VAR:

The evening started of with VAR. Former singer-songwriter Myrra Rós formed VAR together with her husband Júliús Óttar in 2013. Their compositions were pretty awesome but they thought it was missing something. Therefore they searched and found a drummer, bass-player and guitar-player. Together VAR got even stronger and evolved into one of the best new bands there is at the moment in Iceland. Their melodious dreamy pop with a crunch sounded already very good on their Soundcloud/Bandcamp but live? Wow! This was really Iceland erupting on stage. It really surprised me Iceland Music Export (IMX), apart from highlighting them in the line-up for Airwaves, didn’t award them with a spot for the Eurosonic Festival 2015 in Groningen. They really deserve an international audience!

East of my Youth:

In a different league but also very admirable was the band on stage directly after VAR: East of my Youth. The description of their music “Electric experimental pop music with inspiration from classical and modern music” was perhaps a bit too pretentious but their performance made up for it. Although their first single and videoclip ‘Lemonstars’ sounded and looked unfinished their second live-performance ever (!) was very convincing. Singer Thelma Marín Jónsdóttir looked like Kylie Minogue at the top of her career while keyboardplayer & composer Herdís Stefánsdóttir apart from her long curly hair could easily be regarded as the female version of Vince Clarke. Playing one after another fine synthesizer-tune with Thelma impressing the audience with her voice and charme. Unfortunately they ran out of songs within half an hour but they promised to be back. They were actually quite ambitious about that. “We played our first gig last night. The same night The Knife played their very last. So there is a free spot we would like take over gladly”. Adorable, such young enthousiasm.

Rökkurró:

The closing act for the night and this years Airwaves could already be considere veterans as they’ve been playing ever since their debut in 2007: Rökkurró. Previously they made precious Icelandic folk-poprock and got many appraisals for their second album ‘Í Annan Heim’ in 2010. Apart from a very crowded concert in the famous 12-Tonar recordstore in 2013 the band was seemed to be dormant for the last few years. After some changes in the band they released their highly anticipated third album ‘INNRA’ in October. Like so many other bands the amount of electronic gear on stage had multiplied but Rökkurró managed to stay authentic.

As closing act they were possibly less spectacular as e.g. FM Belfast or The Flaming Lips but they sounded live thus warm, their new songs magnificent the feeling of coming home was overwhelming. Heima! So it does exist. There’s only one problem. Airwaves 2015 is still over 300 nights sleep away.. Well, at least I still have the music and pictures to hold on to that feeling.

Plans for 2015..

 As of December 1 2014 tickets for Iceland Airwaves which will be held from November 4^th till november 9^th are available. For just over 100,- euro’s you can claim your Early bird ticket for this five day (Icelandic) music heaven. Naturally you could also choose to just visit Reykjavik during the festival and enjoy one of the many off-venue gigs. Nevertheless, if you want to see the bands at their best a festival-wristband is recommendable.

 You might scream: “November 2015?! Aaahh that is still so far away!”. Yes. It is. In The Netherlands however we have a couple of solutions for the problem. In January 2015 Iceland will be in the spotlight during the Eurosonic music festival in Groningen. About 19 different Icelandic acts varying from Sólstafir’s Saga-metal till the Techno of Kiasmos can be enjoyed on one of the stages in Groningen. The following days several of the Icelanders can also be found elsewhere. For instance Rökkurró will also perform in Gouda and Sóley will be playing in Amsterdam. The Nordic Delight Festival does it even better by organising “Nordic Delight presents Iceland” on Saturday 17^th of January. Music, art, film and food! Tickets are on sale and changes of an imminent sell-out are likely! So get your tickets as soon as possible if you want to experience Iceland in Holland!

Website Iceland Airwaves

More pictures can be found here