Einar Örn is one of my very few proper, all out, musical heroes. Along with Bjork and The Sugarcubes he started my love, some would say obsession, with all things Icelandic back in 1987/1988. That may have been his most public peak but Einar was a busy and influential part of the Icelandic punk scene […]
Haukur is a special character. You will see him everywhere in Reykjavik all year around, but especially during Iceland Airwaves. He has not one, but two of the best jobs in the world. Firstly he is editor of the most awesome newspaper, The Reykjavik Grapevine – seriously, the first thing to do on every trip […]
Retro Stefson are undeniably and irresistibly FUN. Ever since i first saw them several Airwaves ago, I've been getting more and more hooked on their, well, hooks. Since then they have visibly grown up before our eyes becoming increasingly confident and never losing their sense of fun. Most recently I saw them at the London […]
Dr. Gunni is an Icelandic music legend. These days he's busy the whole time it seems just keeping up his amazing website and blog which is updated so often that I'm ashamed and is constant source of great and unexpected MP3s. He's also a DJ on Icelandic radio and a regular on television, presenting the […]
Mugison was another of my very early finds at Iceland Airwaves. I was told not to miss his show at the 2004 edition and that proved a great decision. His style has changed a lot over the years, but the inflow of awards has never stopped, from the lo-fi folk of debut, "Lonely Mountain" to […]
Olafur Arnalds made my very favourite album of 2009 – the project, "Found Songs" which you can listen to here. For this project he wrote and recorded a song a day for seven days. The highlight, Ljósið, was the seventh. I've only managed to see him live once so far, at Airwaves last year. that […]
Þórir, for that is the real name of My Summer As A Salvation Soldier, was the very first person who made me realise just how jaw-droppingly brilliant Iceland Airwaves was. One moment he was serving me coffee whilst dispensing spot-on advice as a staff member at the great 12 tonar record store, the next minute […]
Hjaltalín appear to be on the rise. In fact they seem to have had upwards momentum ever since I first came across them. Most commonly described (and well described) as chamber pop, they're certainly not running away from the tag, playing with orchestras of varying sizes over the last 18 months and refining their sound […]
I've seen Snorri Helgason playing live on stage a lot of times. Always until recently that was as a member of the excellent band Sprengjuhöllin and in the last year as a solo artist, arriving with a mellow masterpiece of a debut album, "I'm Gonna Put My Name On Your Door". Most recently I saw […]
Ah, lovely Rökkurró, their first album was full of beautiful swoonful tunes and the lovely voice of cellist Hildur. Second album, Í Annan Heim, is freshly released and getting a heap of praise for its 'bigger' sound. I rather expect that I'll be picking that up during the festival. Also, Rökkurró may very well be […]