Some bands are not from Iceland

 

Every year I go through every single band playing at Iceland Airwaves and make sure I've listened to them all. As I've said before this is largely pointless as given the choice I will generally head straight for the nearest bunch of Icelandic musicians. For Iceland Airwaves 2012 I have listened to them all, I've read all the other great hints and tips and I've read the bios in the Iceland Airwaves booklet and website.

And so here is a list of the 10 overseas acts I may well seek out 2 weeks from now…

Swans – obviously. (pictured, above)

Purity Ring – just love finetime, brilliant tune. Plus they're on right before some band called Of Monsters & Men so it will probably be pretty quiet. Right?

Purity Ring – Fineshrine by Last Gang Entertainment

Nelson Can – they come with a great live reputation, they sound great and have a song called Call Me When You Wanna Get Laid.

Ghostpoet – Mercury nominated, creative, original. A must see. Delighted that he shares a bill with Ghostigital. Scary. (pictured, right)

Friends – named after a sitcom, perhaps. Hipster as hell, but utterly addictive. Should be fun.

Friends – I'm His Girl by paulpoule

Haim – very buzzy right now in the UK, getting a load of airplay. On the strength of the single Forever, I'm keen to take a look.

Haim (US) – Forever by Iceland Airwaves

DIIV – bit of a brooklyn underground super group, I can be a sucker for that stuff. Can't we all?

Jesuslesfilles – More Canadians at Iceland Airwaves, this time French speaking ones playing garage rock. I like everything about this!

Thee Attacks – excellent fuzzy rock songs by Danes. Really good album, and fabulous Rolling Stone magazine backed live performances. Worth seeking out their wonderful Christmas tune too, when the time comes.

Thee Attacks (DK) – Rock Bottom by Iceland Airwaves

I Break Horses – I started with an obviously. I'm ending with one. While you wait for Sigur Ros, this might keep you satisfied.