“If Agent Fresco can burst out from the confines of their home-country, there’s no reason why the band couldn’t fill stadiums the world over.” That’s from Echoes and Dust, who don’t have a bad record at spotting a bit of talent or two. Even after one album Agent Fresco ranked pretty high up on the […]
Yes, I admit it. Even before I knew anything about Milkywhale, or heard any of their music, I was interested. It’s (another) one of those names that Iceland airwaves throws out every year that makes you want to find out more. It turns out that there’s a lot to like here. If you’ve ever wondered […]
Æla have played at pretty much every Iceland Airwaves I've been to, which is more than a few. They are always worth seeking out. They are a punk band with a long history, with consistently exciting, surprising and insanely energetic live performances and a front man, Halli Valli, who is right up there with the […]
Every year, each new Iceland Airwaves brings with it a bunch of brand new vital sounding bands, and it also brings with it a great new array of fabulously named Icelandic bands. And sometimes, there is a band that fit perfectly into both categories. So, here are Vaginaboys – memorable name, memorable sounds and they […]
Every year as part of this series of pre Iceland Airwaves features I try to interview the winners of the annual Músíktilraunir competition (music experiments). The competition has an incredible record of finding brand new bands on their way up. I guess most famously of all with Of Monsters And Men in 2010, but there […]
Axel Flovent is a singer-songwriter from Akureyri who played his first Airwaves festival a year ago and is back again after a year that has seen him release a highly acclaimed EP, led by the fabulous ‘Forest Fires’ (you can hear it below) and tour around Europe. The stage is definitely bigger this year for […]
21 year old GKR is an up and coming hip hop artist from Reykjavík and one of a growing number of acts in that area and RnB getting a load of attention at home but also starting to get some outside of Iceland too. It feels like the scene, if that’s what it is, is […]
One of the more exciting aspects of Iceland Airwaves 2015, now just over 2 weeks away, is the return of the iconic Reykjavík venue, NASA. It’s going to be a real treat to get back in there having had more than a handful of incredible nights there in the past. I was always likely to […]
It feels like it has been a bit of a year for music comebacks. Blur are back with a new album which, in places, sounds beautifully like Modern Life Is rubbish. The Bluetones are coming back around again later in the year. Most excitingly of all, Nineties champs, the mighty Collapsed Lung have a couple […]
Just as 2 years ago, I couldn’t resist the late temptation to pay a quick visit to Reykjavík for the Sonar festival. The festival represents a very nice opportunity to see a good number of local favourites over the course of three days (actually, pretty much over 2 days, as there were very few local […]