I loved seeing Útidúr last year. It was one of those great late nights at Airwaves, the plan I had made for the night had disappeared hours earlier, I admit I wasn’t sure which band’s show I had walked into at first, but Útidúr were absolutely perfect. They were surprising, engaging and fun and clearly […]
Grísalappalísa arrived in summer 2013 and went on to play one of the very best shows of Airwaves last year, and since then have released a fantastic second record and been named best live band by the Grapevine newspaper. That’s already a lot of reasons to check them out if you get the chance next […]
There’s more of this in the interview below but at my first Airwaves in 2004, Þórir Georg was working at the excellent 12 Tonar store and sold me his debut album (I picked it up independently and didn't work that out until later). Since then I think I have seen him play every year, I […]
The Pink Street Boys just might be THE new band of Iceland Airwaves this year. Seemingly they have arrived from nowhere over the last six months and are getting rave reviews and praise all over the place. Over the summer they released a debut album, led by the thrilling single, Sleazus, on limited edition cassette […]
Oyama have been growing in stature over the last few years (and indeed the last few Airwaves festivals). Last year they released and excellent six-track record featuring excellent songs such as Wasted. Any day now they will be unleashing a new album ready for all those excellent music-hungry visitors, especially those who like their shoegaze […]
Fufanu are a band on the up and a key band to watch at this year’s Iceland Airwaves. At some point in the last year they lost the first half of their name (Captain) and have transformed from techno into a different kind of band. One of their latest releases, Circus Life, reminds me of […]
Börn are a band that I have never seen before but I am definitely looking forward to checking out. They have an excellent record “s/t” available on bandcamp. They get described with words such as loud, dark and gloomy and associated with genres like post-punk and death-rock. So you know what you’re getting, and this […]
Ólafur Arnalds has provided many Airwaves highlights for me over the years, and also some stunning shows in London too. Plus, I always interview him in years which end in an even number! So it was a bit of shock to be scanning the line-up for Iceland Airwaves 2014 and to realise that his name […]
I always love the first shows of the first night of Iceland Airwaves. There’s always a bit of magic in the air (and often some sleet etc) and it feels like Christmas morning! For Iceland Airwaves 2014, Kælan Mikla are lucky (I think) to be filling one of those opening slots. And I am also […]