IceBlah

Hey Reykjavík Grapevine, I think I love you

The English language Icelandic newspaper, The Reykjavík Grapevine is 10 years old this week. This is not going to be an unbiased article, I totally love that paper.

Over the last ten years I have (yes, you know this) been a regular visitor to Iceland. When I think of Iceland I pretty quickly think of Grapevine. Whenever anyone asks for a bunch of recommendations for their trip to Iceland, usually the first thing I say is to pick up the latest copy of Grapevine. It immediately gives you a real and honest feel for Reykjavík, it tells you what's on, it tells you where is good and where is bad (and sometimes even where is a karaoke bar), it tells you what the issues are, what's topical - whale meat, smelter construction, strip club controversies, and it regularly makes you laugh.

It's run on a shoestring, it has interns, part-time writers and contributors and the occasional article by unpaid enthusiasts who receive nothing me than a little plug for their cute little Icelandic music blog ;-)

I love their music reviews, they are witty and honest and I liked it when quality was measured in terms of how many beers you should be willing to not drink in order to afford the record.

I loved it when Hugleikur Dagsson was a regular contributor with tiny little cartoons or two page spreads showing all the beasts native to Iceland.

I loved it when they let me do the cover feature (page 20 if you're very keen!) interview with Sprengjuhöllin during Iceland Airwaves in 2008. I loved every Iceland Airwaves issue ever, it was always a joy to sping (kind of) out of bed and skip (kind of) to the nearest coffee place to grab an espresso and read what people honestly thought of what had gone on the night before. Those guys work through the night for this. 

I loved it when Haukur got angry, really angry, when someone did a wee where they really shouldn't be doing a wee.

I loved the list of their most viewed articles. Björk, volcanos, elves, horses.

I loved it when I subscribed (you can too) to the newspaper and it would arrive in all its glory through my letterbox and I'd feel really special (in a good way) reading The Reykjavík Grapevine on the London Underground. In your face Metro. And now I love it when I get the alert that a new pdf edition is ready for me to have an online browse through on some fancy device or other.

Good work guys :-)

 

 

Jóhann Kristinsson interview

I came across Headphones, the new album by Jóhann Kristinsson, last week when I heard about it on the same day from three different people. It was also a couple of days after I had been given some fancy new headphones - so it all made sense. I listened to it online a couple of times and then I got myself a copy. The next logical step was to have a chat with Jóhann about his excellent new record.

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Congratulations on your great new album, Headphones. How would you describe it compared to your previous record?

[JK] That's kind of you. Thank you very much! It's a lot more focused. I threw away almost 90% of whatever I had written and then I picked out the best pieces of music and made them into songs. Only a few of them were good enough and honest enough to get to be on the record which is different from the other two records. They got released as soon as they were finished and a lot of the time, the lyrics weren't even about anything. Maybe just words that sounded nice together. Now, the words mean something to me and I've also become a better songwriter in general. Better with chords and better at recording. The quality of everything is simply better.

The record took a long time to record, and I believe you used various locations - are you a perfectionist? 

You could say that I am a little bit of a perfectionist, if that even exists but the most enjoyable location was at a 15th century castle in Denmark, called Engelsholm Slot. That is an amazing place. The record took this long to record because I wanted it to be so much better than the other ones. I look at it like this. The two first albums were like my own personal schools of songwriting and when the third one came out, it was like my graduation piece. But I'll still be learning for the rest of my life, hopefully.

How does it feel to finally have it released?

It feels like such a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. It feels really, really good. I put together a band the other day to play the album and it sounds fantastic. I can't wait to start playing it live.

You must have been delighted with the reaction to the lead track 'No Need To Hesitate' last year, do you have a favourite song on the record?

If I had to pick one favorite song off the album, it would probably be Typewriter, because that whole song was recorded in the castle. Although, I have to admit that it's really hard for me to pick one because it seems like they are all equal to me. It was really nice to get the reaction to No Need to Hesitate. A good motivation.

Can you tell us about the artwork? It sounds like that was also quite a process.

Þórir Örn Sigvaldason is the artist behind this cover artwork. When I visited him, asking if he could do this for me, he started showing me all kinds of different things that he collected. Books and street signs and all kinds of stuff. He showed me this guide book to sign language from the 80's I believe, and I opened it. The first sign I saw when I opened the book in the middle, was the sign for ''Creating''. That was it. I wanted that sign and that's what the cover of the album says. "Creating".

What recent music would you recommend to people who are enjoying Headphones?

Wow, I really don't know. I don't follow new music that much. Pass?

Can you tell us about any plans to play live shows at home or elsewhere?

I'm doing a release concert, probably in late July here in Iceland. I will announce it soon but I'm playing a festival here in the Western Fjords in Iceland, called Rauðasandur Festival in the beginning of July. Other than that is to be announced.

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You can listen to and buy Headphones by Jóhann Kristinsson right here, and you can also track him down on facebook and on soundcloud.

Sin Fang + Pascal Pinon in London

It's been a very nice year so far for Icelandic musical visitors in London. Last night was a double header in trendy, but far from home, Hoxton with Sin Fang supported by Pascal Pinon.

Pascal Pinon played at 8:45, which feels like a very Pascal Pinon time of the evening. When I first saw them two years ago they seemed very young and very, very shy. Last night they were a much more assured, charming and funny presence on stage. The music has moved on too. Their latest record has a much fuller sound than the debut.

That did come across in their set last night, with added effects and the vocals a little lower in the mix than I remember from Airwaves 2011. They went down really well in the room, which was full and pleasingly quiet during the songs. I enjoyed that fact that they felt the need to explain to us what the song in Swedish was about, but not the ones in Icelandic. My Icelandic vocabulary about as good as my Swedish!

I worte on twitter before the show that if there has been a better record this year than Sin Fang's "Flowers" then I hadn't heard it. It's an exceptional set of crafted songs and it's fair to say that I was ecited to see Sindri and his band play their debut London show.

They played a superb set lasting just over an hour which included most of the new album plus some very welcome old favourites - 'Two Boys' and especially 'Clangour' form the old Sin Fang Bous days were great to hear again. As well as those two tracks I think my highlights were 'Young Boys' and 'See Ribs'. Last night's version of 'What's Wrong With Your Eyes' was struck by some pretty bad technical issues, aborted twice befgore being played brilliantly without monitors egged on by an audience very keen to hear this album highlight.

There was a three song encore with Sindri on keyboards swigging red wine (I think) from a bottle, probably to get over the stress of the earlier technical issues. It was a great London debut, and nobody shouted "Too depressing mate" (you had to be there), please come back soon...

 

Ólafur Arnalds at The Barbican

I am even less at home writing about classical (neo-classical? pop classical? whatever) music than I am about guitars and drums and all that stuff. But I know magic when I hear it. I can't tell you about the arrangements or composition but I can tell you that this show felt incredible. 

I had never watched an orchestra, or a sinfonia (here, the Britten Sinfonia), at close range but I was lucky enough to be in the second row (row C, curiously) at The Barbican for what was surely one of Ólafur's biggest shows to date. He always has had that kind of awkward, shy yet utterly charming character on-stage (the same as off stage actually) but it was pretty clear that this was a special night for him too with friends and family amongst the sold out audience in the main hall at The Barbican. He looked in awe as he walked on stage, I think his first words were, "This is insane".

The show was magical, the wonderful new album For Now I Am Winter was played in its entirity and almost without break. The set included the songs with vocals from Arnór Dan of Agent Fresco who was absolutely incredible here. That full album set was followed by two older tunes, the always welcome Near Light and the frankly always heart-shattering Lag fyrir ömmu (Song For Grandma) which was introduced by it's tearful composer.

As a whole the show was special and spell-binding. Special because it was clearly a very momentous occasion for a constant, key, popular and innovative member of the wonderful Icelandic music scene. It felt special sharing it with him and others fans of the scene. Spell-binding because, even in my busy city stressy life, everything was forgotten as these incredibly written and wonderfully performed songs kept on coming out from the stage, the time flew by. What a star, I love that this nice, shy guy makes these full songs that are so affecting.

Having seen Óli play in November at Airwaves and in February at Sonar, it was very nice to see him in London! I was going to end this with a 'come back soon' plea, but if you just click here, you will find that you can get tickets to see him back here in June. Yay!

There are a few videos on youtube. I'm not sure if they are official (I guess not), but the links are below:

For Now I Am Winter

A Stutter

Reclaim

 

Iceland invades West London: Of Monsters And Men + Mugison play Shepherds Bush Empire

Whilst much of Iceland was disappearing under a big fluffy blanket of snow earlier this week, 3 of its favourite musical acts arrived in (comparatively) tropical London to entertain us locals. Big boys Sigur Ros had much of the week sold out down in wild South London and by all accounts accompanied their incredible back catalogue with some slightly more muscly sounding new tracks.

I didn’t venture down there this time, but I did venture to Shepherds Bush for the mighty double bill of Mugison and Of Monsters And Men at the Empire. Little more than two years ago I did what I am claiming (almost certainly untruthfully) to be the very first interview (LOOK AT THEIR LITTLE FACES!) with fresh Icelandic band Of Monsters And Men. Those early days showed much promise and I have happy memories of chaotic gigs in tiny Glaumbar and in the ground floor café in Harpa. It has been a pretty incredible rise, 2 years after winning the Musiktilraunir competition they had a song voted best of the year on the American amazon site and now here they are on the first night of a residency in this famous old London theatre.

First up was the incredibly popular and always wonderful Mugison. I first saw him at Iceland airwaves in 2004 having been tipped off by the guys at 12 tonar. I guess I’ve watched him play 20 or so times since then but it was pretty weird to be watching him just a mile or two from my front door. I saw him last November at Airwaves, then in February at Sonar and now here in London. All the shows have been different but excellent. This time, there was no band with him, he took to the stage alone claiming that he was his own support act. This was true – he played a 3 or 4 song set with his bespoke machine (still no name?) which mainly bewildered people I think and then left the stage for a matter of seconds before returning as the more traditional, guitar clad, support act playing his Icelandic blues. No doubt, most people inside the Empire had never come across Mugison before so I think he can take great pride that, in the role of supporting act, he did get a pretty decent singalong going with “Sweetest Melody”.

Of Monsters And Men were welcomed to the stage like heroes, and immediately broke into their traditional opener Dirty Paws. They show absolutely no sign of nerves and retain that kind of shy / charming conversational style between songs. The cover of Yeah Yeah Yeah’s Skeletons was the only time I kind of lost interest – the rest of the set was excellent. My personal highlights were From Finner, Mountain Sound, Love Love Love and the rousing finale Yellow Light. I’m so bored with lazy comparisons that people make between OM&M and the Mumfords, I just don’t see it. Live, the volume and energy is closer to a band like Arcade Fire.

This was a fine start to a pretty exceptional season of Icelandic music coming to London. Before the end of March we will be welcoming Olafur Arnalds and Retro Stefson, and before long we will get to see Soley, Sin Fang and Pascal Pinon. It’s just like Iceland Airwaves but over a longer period and without 8 other bands at the same time and with less hot dogs oh it’s nothing like Iceland Airwaves, but it is nice.

Sónar Reykjavik review

I couldn't resist a quick jaunt to Reykjavík for the first ever Icelandic edition of the famous Sonar festival. The chance to see some of the very best stuff Icelandic music has to offer in such a short space of time was too tempting. I had never been to another festival here other than Airwaves, so I was keen to see the comparisons.

The obvious stuff - everything official was happening on one of the four stages in Harpa. The two great rooms we're used to at Airwaves plus the underground car park converted to a club area and the ground floor 'bay view' area which was a neat idea but really struggled for atmosphere. Apart from a good line-up at Volta (FM Belfast, Legend and others) there was very little happening off-venue.

The audience at Sonar was much more Icelandic, I reckon at least 80% instead of around half at Airwaves. There also seemed to be more extremes of age, definitely a large contingent of under 18s and a good scattering of 60+. There was more bad-temperedness on show than I've seen before, a couple of shoving matches happened when people took exception to those guys (you know, those guys) who want to march up to the front of the show using shoulder barges as they go.

The music for Sonar is described as cutting edge, certainly everything in Reykjavík from overseas could broadly be classified under 'dance'. The selection wasn't that straightforward for the local acts, the more obvious choices like GusGus, Retro Stefson, Samaris & Soley were joined by acts like Sin Fang, Mugison & Asgeir Trausti - I was interested to see if that second batch of acts would adapt their shows.

Almost half of the acts playing were DJ sets, and whilst I know there's skill involved in this it remains really hard for a bloke playing records not to look like a bloke playing records. I know, I don't get it. I mainly avoided these sets but did enjoy what I heard at sets by Human Woman and Pedro Pilatus. What I got, as I look back at Sonar, was a bunch of very fine shows (headed by Samaris [right], Valgeir Sigurdsson, Bloodgroup and Soley – those last two had to struggle in that weird non-gig space of the bay view area) and six really exceptional ones. The final score, not surprisingly (have we met?), being Iceland 5 Rest of the world 1. Let's talk about them...

Ghostigital's set was excellent, of course it was. It was a shame that it started in front of such a sparse room, luckily the noise (oh the noise) drew a decent crowd in pretty soon. This is something Sonar had in common with Airwaves and Icelandic nightlife generally - not much is busy until at least 10pm. This was the first of many sets to be conducted exclusively, or nearly so, in Icelandic. Fair enough too, these are Icelandic people in Iceland - I guess I'm so used to hearing English at Airwaves where the crowd is so much more international. Of course, Einar makes most of his lyrics up on the spot so these were all Icelandic too. It doesn't matter one bit to the overall effect, I just don't get the jokes! Ghostigital triumph through that wondrous, thunderous alignment of beats, voice and extreme volume - Harpa passed the volume stress test that some other venues have failed. Highlights, if I'm coping without the English language prompts were Hovering Hoover Skates and Numb.

The late night Friday slot produced a choice between local legends GusGus and the ever growing reputation of Retro Stefson (I CAN NOT BELIEVE it is 7 years since I first saw this band, and they are still so young!). In the end, the choice was removed, the queue to see GusGus was extraordinary (I assume due solely to the excellent endorsement in the Grapevine) and so my plan of catching half of each set became a full blown party with Retro Stefson. Party continues to be the word for these guys. They’ve changed a lot musically over the last 18 months, but even this slightly (you should have seen them before!) toned down live approach still manages to get every room they play in jumping like lunatics. Like at Iceland Airwaves their set concentrated almost exclusively of the newer sound of their most recent record, highlights were littered throughout the hour they spent with us but the renditions of Glow and Qween were my picks. The very best was saved for last – I was so pleased (and they definitely were) to hear them go right back to the debut album for a good 10 minute rendition of Senseni. Total and utter triumph.

So the first night produced two huge ticks. The Saturday night doubled that tally, and also had another increasingly confident outing from the very fast improving Samaris, who wowed a big crowd in the Silfurberg hall. In what must be the all-time record for earliest start to a Saturday night in Reykjavík, the first show of the evening was at 18:30. Of course, Ólafur Arnalds was well worth heading out early for. The Norðurljós hall had been fitted out with rows of seating and the crowd in the full venue sat in the type of stunned silence that Ólafur must be very used to by now. It was every bit as great as the Airwaves show in the same venue months earlier. My personal highlights this time were a perfect version of Near Light and the two collaborations (Old Skin, and a track from Ólafur’s very imminent new album) with Agent Fresco vocalist Arnór Dan. This was the first time I have seen Ólafur perform with a live vocalist. Bring on that new record, and (whoop!) the show at The Barbican in London next month.

Shocking news. I loved a set that wasn’t by an Icelandic band! The fullest room I was a part of at Sonar (I wasn’t at GusGus, Modeselektor, Simian Mobile Disco or LFO all of which I was told were rammed) was in Silfurberg to see James Blake. I was really intrigued to see this show. James won a lot of friends in Iceland a few years back when he really threw himself into the spirit of Iceland Airwaves, popping up all over town for impromptu sets and, let’s face it, drinking into the small (not that small) hours. Knowing that and hearing talk around the blogosphere of an upcoming and reputedly sensational second album convinced me to venture “non-Icelandic”. What a good decision, this was an exceptional set of clever beats, soulful tunes with some cracking singing and effects and came complete with a proper screaming at a pop-star moment (not me, waaaay too cool) when he began to play Limit To Your Love. I have no idea what genre label you’d put on this type of thing. The real star for me was the drummer who, for a couple of hours, came close to getting ahead of Mugison’s drummer in my drummer-based affections. There’s a lot to hate about James Blake, he’s good looking, incredibly pleasant and unreasonably talented. Try as I might though (!) I absolutely adored his set, and I can’t wait to hear the new record and see more shows.

I’ve already been a bit rude about the Bay View Area more than once. It didn’t really work out. Half the time it was half empty, all of the time there were people eating their dinners not that far from the stage. The lighting (and Harpa has the best I have ever seen) was odd, with a permanent pair of bright lights pointing out at the half-blinded crowd. Sin Fang was the exception to the rule. Sindri and his mates played a set of songs from brand new (and utterly wonderful) album, Flowers. It must just have been those songs that made this set so enjoyable. Once again the ‘area’ was sparsely populated. Nobody had dared venture within 5 years of the stage, then a few rows of people sitting on the floor and finally people sitting around round table wondering if they are at a concert or in a café (answer: both). Sin Fang have just made a wonderful album of songs I want to hear over and over again, and they get even better heard live. From the Strokes-like “See Ribs” through to the very charming “Young Boys” and “Sunbeam”, every track is a winner. I could watch this band every day right now.

Sin Fang didn’t seem to vary anything about his set of songs in a nod to the Sonar ethic of dance or cutting edge sounds. That was fine I loved it, but it was noticeable that Mugison, my final highlight, did go a little bit ‘fusion’ – his word, not mine! Mugi’s set-up looked the same as the show he played at Airwaves but with the addition of what I think we need to call the ‘mirstrument’. I can’t describe it, it is an instrument that makes all kinds of noise and I suspect only Mugison really knows how it works. This was a very different set to the one in November. I was delighted to hear him start with a pair of really old (a decade already?) favourites, “Poke A Pal” and “Sea Y” and then later on, “I Want You”. Even the standard, ever-present songs in mugi-sets like “Mugiboogie” and “Jesus Is A Good Name To Moan” were transformed by the box of tricks. And, my God, the traditional set closer “Murr Murr” which has already had many iterations since its launch as an acoustic lullaby, once again was transformed. This time it became something thunderous and terrifying but still retained THAT riff somewhere in its soul. An incredible end, I had to go outside after that to check the world hadn’t actually ended, because it sure sounded like it might have done.

So yes, I am glad I was at Sonar Reykjavik. It isn’t Airwaves and it was never going to be. I missed the rushing around the streets because there’s JUST TOO MUCH going on all at the same time. I love Icelanders (yes I do!) but this festival lacked that spirit that I guess a bunch of foreign music lovers adds to the city. Having said that, at Airwaves time that’s pretty much all Reykjavik is about. These last few days it has been nice to see RVK going about its normal business, mainly unaware that cutting edge music has arrived in the harbor. The truth is of course that cutting edge music, and all manner of non-sharp edged music of extraordinary standard, is always present here, part of the soul of the place. It’s just that these festivals are the best way to let the rest of the world in now and again. More, more, more.

Sin Fang on Sónar, Flowers and, erm, hair metal

Under names including Seabear, Sin Fan Bous, Sin Fan and Pojke - Sindri Már Sigfússon has been involved in a lot of very fine music over many years. His latest album as Sin Fang, Flowers, might just be the best of the lot. Always wonderful to watch live, Sin Fang are amongst a brilliant local line-up at Sónar festival in Reykjavík this weekend. I've been wanting to chat to Sindri for a very long time, this seemed like the perfect moment.

Are you excited that a well known global festival like Sónar is coming to Iceland and that you will be playing at it?

Yep! I hope this festival is here to stay in Iceland.

Sónar bills itself as 'cutting edge music' but seems to favour electronic and dance music and DJ sets. Will you be doing anything different with your Sónar set?

No I don't think so. We are playing all new material though.

What else on the line-up are you keen to see?

I would love to see James Blake and Squarepusher.

Am I right to assume that musicians welcome Sonar to Iceland? Do you think there is benefit for the local scene and for tourism?

 

Yes everyone is excited to have a new festival, also February is kind of a dead time in Iceland so it's great to get an event happening around that time.

Can I get one piece of advice from you for people reading this that may be about to come to Reykjavik for the first time? A favourite bar? A favourite place?

My favourite places to have lunch are the noodle station and the hamburger joint. My buddy has a great bar called Harlem.

Congratulations on your new album 'Flowers', I'm listening to it right now. How was the recording process different from other Sin Fang (Bous) records?

Thanks! It was pretty different for me. It was the first time working with a producer and the process was a bit longer than usual for me. I really enjoyed it and I'm very happy with the way it came out.

Where did the title 'Flowers' come from? You don't need to give people another excuse to decide that all Icelandic music is inspired by nature! Or is it?

The lyrical theme of the album is teenage life and growing up. When you are a teenager there are lots of ups and downs, mood swings etc. Flowers are used for both happy and sad occasions so I thought it was a good name for the theme. So I wouldn't say it's very nature inspired.

Do you have a personal favourite song on the album?

Right now it's the last song on the album, Weird Heart.

I love your version of 'The Only Living Boy In New York', I'm interested to know what is your favourite song to play that you didn't write and which other artist you would most love to hear play on of your songs?

I don't really play very many covers except for when I'm recording a version of my own. I did a cover for the tv show Fraggle Rock the other day that's not out yet. That is my favourite. I would love to hear R.Kelly do "What's wrong with your eyes".

Who wouldn't! Your most recent musical alias is Pojke. When can we expect to hear more from this project?

I don't know. I have a few almost finished songs in the computer but I don't know if I'll finish them.

One final question - I was just listening to Pojke, but those songs ran out so itunes has moved me along the alphabet (backwards) and now I'm hearing Poison. So what's your favourite eighties hair metal track?

I was never so into hair metal. Were The Scorpions hair metal? Can I say Winds Of Change?

It's a fine choice.

Sin Fang will play at Sónar on Saturday at 10pm. There will not be any cover versions, but you should definitely go anyway.

 

Sónar coming to Reykjavík

Right. I'm excited. Again.

Just over a week from now, Sónar festival will be kicking off a two day party at beautiful, lovely, happy place Harpa (right) in Reykjavík. There will be 3,500 people watching bands on 4 stages, one of which is the underground car park converted, that will be interesting!It's a very exciting event, and, let's be honest, a great chance for me to make a lightning quick visit and see some of my very favourite Icelandic acts in one easy, bite-size chunk.

Like Iceland Airwaves I expect the locals will be mainly found watching the overseas acts and the visitors checking out the Icelanders. So, you will find me watching not only the last two winners of album of the year on this very website Ghostigital (2012) and Sóley (2011) but loads more wonderful (and totally, utterly recommended) local heroes such as Mugison, Retro Stefson, Ólafur Arnalds, GusGus, Sin Fang, Bloodgroup and others do their things. The full program is here, and it looks mighty fine.

What intrigued me was how the process came about that ended up with the internationally famous Sónar festival, most often based in Barcelona, planning a small, boutique event in Reykjavík. I mean, I think it's a wonderful idea and I know it's going to be amazing, but still - it surprised me. Luckily, I have found a man to tell me all about it, key local organiser and driving force, Bjorn Steinbekk.

So, starting with the obvious question - why did you decide to put on a Sonar festival in Reykjavik?

Icelandair asked me if I felt I could see if some sort of a DJ festival was a possibility to set up during the winter time in iceland. I felt that would not be enough to draw attention. I asked around and did some research and decided to approach Sónar. Their brand and how they portrait their festivals was very appealing and I felt this could be the right festival to promote. The hard part was convincing Sónar people of doing this in the middle of February.

Is Reykjavik a cool city? What makes it cool?

I never look at Reykjavik as cool per say. I believe the history, the nature and the people shaped by this nature and Iceland´s culture, specially music has created this so called cool factor. I have lived abroad for extensive time and I can understand why people are drawn to this island in the middle of the Atlantic.

And once you had decided on Sonar Reykjavik, how did you go about researching and selecting the local acts?

The usual suspects like Retro Stefson, Mugison who has played at Sonar, Asgeir Trausti , Olafur Arnalds, Bloodgroup and Gus Gus were contacted first. Then my partner, DJ Margeir came in with others that he felt fit the bill and the Sónar brand and we are very proud of the line up. Especially because some of them have already been invited to perform at Sónar Barcelona.

Is there any one local act in particular you are most excited to see? 

I hope I will be able to see most of them. Mugison will have a very special program but my role while Sónar takes to the stage is to take part as one of the guests and experience the variety of artists.

Will there be others events in the city at the same time? Any daytime shows for example?

There will be a warm up program promoted by local bars and clubs.

And you are changing Harpa's underground car park into a nightclub? Is that going to work!?

First time I came into the car park i felt I wanted to do an old school rave party there. Being one of those who started promoting rave parties in iceland in 1988 at the age of 16 this is a dream come true.

Sonar is a Spanish festival. What will be the biggest differences in Iceland, and what do you expect to be just the same?

Sónar Barcelona draws around 100.000 people to the city every year. We hope to have 3,500 total of guests and media people at Sónar Reykjavik so intimate is what I hope it will be.

What has been the best Sonar outside of Spain so far and why?  (because I'm sure Iceland can beat it!)

Only been to Barcelona but plan to visit Sónar Sao Paulo in May. That will be something.

Finally - you can guarantee Spanish weather for the festival can't you?

Global Warming is doing wonders for Iceland...who knows?

We can hope! Thank you.

If you are going to be there, do give me a shout, and please go and see the excellent local bands. You won't regret it.

Pétur Ben - God's Lonely Man

In 2006, a few years after I had established that there was more, much more, to Icelandic music than those Sugarcubes and their singer, an album appeared called Wine For My Weakness. It's an wonderous album that I still listen to regularly, I have loved it from the first time I played it. The live shows back then were great too - I remember a one-man show in Dillon which featured an absurdly perfect cover of Billie Jean as well as most of that album. This guy could go from acoustic tenderness in the corner of a bar to full on sparkly, posturing rock-God as part of Mugison's band that transformed his early folky songs into the rock songs they have now become. As well as all that, there have been collaborations, production & arrangement duties (Slowblow, Telepathetics, Mugison...) and film soundtracks going on.

This is all sounding very complimentary and friendly, but man am I cross that I've had to wait until now for a full length follow-up to Wine For My Weakness! Luckily the arrival of God's Lonely Man has made the wait worth while, and I was very happy to see the voting public (you!) agreed - the album finished 3rd in our vote for Album Of The Year.

I had to have a word with one of the hardest working, and one of the nicest, guys in Icelandic music...

 

Hi Pétur - where are you and what are you doing?

I'm at home right now trying to work out distribution in Europe for the album.  Hopefully there will be a European tour in 2013.

That would be great news, don't forget to come to London!

So, congratulations on your third place in the iceblah album of the year vote! Is this the highlight of your career?

Thank you very much. I would say it's an artistic highlight for me.  I'm very proud of this thing.  I wanted this album to be different and it took a long time to get here but I believe I hit what I was aiming for.  It took a lot of strength and will to go away from what was expected of me and go in a different direction but it was very necessary for me to do.

And you must be very pleased with all the great reaction to the album and nominations for much better awards?

It has had a great critical reception so far and that helps and I'm very grateful for that.  Hopefully people will catch on to it.  It's a strange record but I believe that it's a good thing and that the album will find its way eventually.

How and why did you decide to fund the album by crowd-sourcing on karolinafund?

Ingi Rafn approached me because he heard I was working on a record and that I was planning to release myself and he was just about ready to start karolinafund. I wasn't even thinking about how I was gonna finance it.  In retrospect I'm grateful that he contacted me cause I don't think I could have done it without them.

Did it make the recording process feel any different knowing that there were eager investors waiting for the results?

Well the thing is Karolina fund only paid for the manufacturing of the CD's.  The record was already recorded  when he approached me.   I was in mixing when we first met so I knew that I had something.  But of course you want to do a good album for the people who are buying it in good faith.  I hope I didn't disappoint them.  I can only do my best.

We had to wait a long time for the follow-up to Wine For My Weakness, might there be another solo album in the near future or are you planning other film scores or collaborations?

I'm doing a film score for Ragnar Bragason's "Metalhead" this year and then I'll be working on the next Kippi Kaninus album which I'm very excited about.  Hopefully you won't have to wait as long for my next solo album. I already have some songs that I want to do.   Maybe I'll release an EP or something this year.
 
Thank you so much for your time, and congratulations again on the album.

Thank you for your charitable work on your blog.  We need all the help we can get.

So how about that? Everyone is being nice to everyone else. Iceblah readers are very, very good judges of good music so if you haven't yet heard God's Lonely Man I really think you're going to love it. Find it in all the normal places, like gogoyoko. 

Icelandic Album Of The Year 2012

This list was compiled with votes from 64 voters, almost exclusively from outside of Iceland. 29 different records got some love, and still nobody nodded in the direction of Björk's remix album.

Like I said last year, Iceland is truly full of wonderful music-makers and some lovely fans too. Here's our best of 2012 list headed by a very worthy succesor to 2011's champion Sóley ...

Have a great Christmas!

1. Ghostigital - Division Of Culture & Tourism

2. Legend - Fearless

3. Pétur Ben - God's Lonely Man

4. Retro Stefson - Retro Stefson    

5. Hjaltalín - Enter 4 

6. Pascal Pinon - Twosomeness 

7. Tilbury - Exorcise

8=  Borko - Born To Be Free

8=  Sigur Rós - Valtari

10. Ásgeir Trausti - Dýrð í dauðaþögn

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What is the best album of 2012?

Welcome to the (not very) grand announcement of the second annual poll for the best Icelandic album of the year!

Last year, I couldn’t believe how many votes there were and Sóley was surely thrilled when her superb album "We Sink" pipped FM Belfast and Björk to the big prize (hmmm, there should be a prize).

Meanwhile, amazon have just this week named My Head Is An Animal by those nice Of Monsters & Men people as their best album of 2011. Not a bad achievement! That very fine album came fourth equal in this survey last year.

I think we should do it all again this year.

The rules (rules! ha!) are as before, each person can vote for up to 5 Icelandic albums and each will receive one point. I will do some sums and announce a winner just before Christmas.

Votes are very welcome from anybody and from everywhere, all of you can have five votes. Hey, if you are Icelandic and you released a record in 2012, why not vote for it!

So, please get thinking, spread the word and send your votes in to me at markollard at googlemail dot com.

You may find inspiration in the recently announced nominations for the Icelandic Music Awards here. Or, off the top of my head right now I can think of 2012 releases from Ásgeir Trausti, Asonat, Björk, Borko, Dream Central Station, Epic Rain, Ghostigital, Hjaltalín, Human Woman, Kiriyama Family, Legend, Moses Hightower, Nora, Pétur Ben, Retro Stefson, Sigur Rós, Snorri Helgason, Sudden Weather Change, Svavar Knutur, Þórir Georg, Tilbury and Valdimar plus EPs from Samaris, Sin Fang & Sign.

Already regretting that I'm sure to have missed some great stuff of that list. Get voting for your favourites...

Epic Rain

I knew very little about Epic Rain before Iceland Airwaves 2012. I had heard their 2011 E.P. A Murder Of Crows but shamefully wasn't aware that they had released the album Elegy during 2012. I caught them in Þýski barinn on the Saturday night of Airwaves (they were on just before Ghostigital) and became more and more impressed as their show progressed. Another hard to pin down Icelandic band, Epic Rain play relaxed, dark hip-hop with the lyrics well to the fore from Jóhannes plus the pretty incredible vocal talents of Bragi.

I'm pretty certain that a lot of people who caught Epic Rain at Airwaves will be keen to find out more. As always, at your service, I decided to have a little chat with main man Jóhannes Pálmason.

BREAKING THE CHAIN by EPIC RAIN

Hi, congratulations on your show at Iceland Airwaves 2012, I thought it was great - how was it for you?

It was a lot of fun, nice crowd and a really good atmosphere.

What else did you get to see during the festival that you enjoyed?

To tell you the truth, I am not really the concert type. I did check out some of my friends who were playing at the festival, Steve Sampling, Stereo Hypnosis. But actually I just stayed down at the studio and made some music.

Who is Epic Rain? How many are in the band?

Epic Rain was founded in 2010. The band consists of five members,

Jóhannes Pálmason, lyrics, vocals and arrangements.
Bragi Jóhannsson, vocals and slide guitar
Stefán Ólafsson, piano, organ, accordion and a DJ
Daði Már Jensen, classical guitar and banjo
Gumundur Rósuson, acoustic and electric guitar.

We also have a group of session players that contribute and help us a lot making the music.
  
How was the recording of the album? Just from seeing you on stage, you strike me as a perfectionist - is that true?

We recorded the album by ourselves and the process took about one year. I think that you can never be truly satisfied with the work that you do. I guess that's the point, there is always room for improvement.

It's really clear that the lyrics are very important to the band did you always intend to set your words to music?

Before I made music on a serious level I used to write short stories and poetry, words are really important to me. I think I'lll always write, even when I'll stop making music. It's something about that self examination when you sit down in a quiet room with a pen and watch the ink soak in to the paper. But music is the perfect way to make the words come to live.

Thanks for your time, and Happy Christmas, what do you hope 2013 will bring for Epic rain?

I think 2013 is going to be a really good year for us, we'll start the year of by going to the Eurosonic festival and we'll also be playing in Paris in February. There is a new EP coming out called Somber Air that will be released on vinyl which is really exciting. Also there is book coming out, a collaboration between Epic Rain and Björgvin Sigurðarson who is the director for all the Epic Rain music videos.

Goosebumps, Whiskey & Ólafur Arnalds

For the third year in a row, Ólafur Arnalds delivered one of my standout sets of Iceland Airwaves. I love the music, of course, but I love being in an audience stunned to open-mouthed silence, I enjoy that communal feeling. Nobody makes a sound or moves, and then at the end of each song there is a very tangible exhale before the applause begins.

In the hope that you're not all fed up of my interview 'technique', I thought I would add to my pre-Airwaves set with some carefully selected conversations with artists that I'm guessing visitors to Iceland Airwaves will now be at home wanting to know more about, and hear more from. Ólafur Arnalds is top of that list. 

Which of your shows at Iceland Airwaves 2012 did you enjoy most this year, and why?

Actually the KEXP show at Kex Hostel may have been my favourite, I just didn't expect much from it and it surprised me. Very fun and lighthearted atmosphere which I often think is what goes best with my often serious music.

Do you have a favourite song to perform live?
Lag fyrir Ömmu, for sure. For some reason I manage to give myself a little goosebumps every time I play it. The silence in the room is usually so amazing in that song and we have a special little surprise at the ending of it which never gets tired.

And which other shows did you see that were great?
I didn't manage to see much actually, it was quite a busy weekend for me. But I loved Boy and Retro Stefson.

Your show for inspiredbyiceland at The Little House Of Music was great (and you played my favourite song, thank you)- how did you prepare differently and how weird was it being in that little hut?
I didn't really prepare to be honest, me and my band are pretty much ready for any situation that may come up. It was a little weird at first but not in a bad way, it was interesting definitely.

What are you working on next - might there be a new Ólafur Arnalds album next year? Or some more movie soundtrack work?
I just finished one american film score and am starting a score for a new british television series called Broadchurch. I have already finished a new album though which will be released early next year.

This is excellent news! And are you looking forward to playing Sonar in February? Will you be making any special plans for that show?
Yes! very much so. I will be playing with one of my favorite artists, Ryuichi Sakamoto (who I have previously toured with) and we will be premiering my new album material. So expect something very new and different!

Last time we spoke, you described Robyn as your future wife - how is that going?
Not very well actually, my girlfriend keeps getting in the way...

Ha Ha! Thanks for your time. I owe you a drink, what are you having?
Always whiskey. Any time of the day.

 

I couldn't be more delighted by the idea that Ólafur gets goosebumps on stage. To find out more and hunt for tour dates near you check out his official website here. If you've just discovered him and are on the hunt for a bargain, take a look at his projects Found Songs and Living Room Songs. I should say also that the picture above was borrowed from the Reykjavik Grapevine review pages, I'm hoping hard they forgive me, I really love the photo!

Iceland Airwaves 2012 - The quick version

I've been back on this island, as opposed to that island, for a week now and I must confess that the thoughts of Iceland Airwaves 2012 haven't been organised into what I could call a 'review' yet. If you want a review RIGHT THIS MINUTE then I strongly suggest you take a look at what Mr Iceland Bob over at his sex farm. I'm certainly not disagreeing with his nomination of Legend, Reykjavik and Ghostigital as being amongst the many highlights.

Quick thanks too to everyone who helped organise the festival, it must have been a nightmare with the weather and the cancellations, but it was, as ever, amazing. I also know that plans for Iceland Airwaves 2013 are underway.

 I'm just here to give you three things I've learned in the week since I've been away from Iceland and I'll be back soon naming the best ten things I saw and other gimmicky stuff.

1. When I asked people on twitter to name three highlights, the most commonly named things were the storm and the new song, Brennisteinn, played by Sigur Rós.

2. The new Retro Stefson album is seriously effing good.

3. Hangovers are MUCH worse in London. I'm still assuming this is the sulphur shower effect.

I'll write more once I stop wading through the Little House Of Music videos over and over again. For now, here's where I was at Iceland Airwaves 2012 (unless you know better, in which case please do let me know!)

Wednesday October 31st
Jón Þór (Bar 11)
Sindri Eldon & The Ways (Bar 11)
Tilbury (HarpaSilfurberg)
Kiriyama Family (HarpaSilfurberg)
Retrobot (GamliGaukurinn)
Gabríel (Deutsche Bar)
Mammút (Harpa Silfurberg)
Sykur (HarpaSilfurberg)
Retro Stefson (HarpaSilfurberg)

Thursday November 1st
Mo Kenney (Hresso)
Technical Kidman (Hresso)
Passwords (Hresso)
Retro Stefson (Little House of Music)
Ólöf Arnalds (Restaurant Reykjavik)
Steindor Andersen & HilmarOrn (12 tonar, Harpa)
Retro Stefson (Sirkus port)
Samaris (Art Museum)
Cheek Mountain Thief (Idno)
Sólstafir (Harpa Nordurljos)
Ham (HarpaNordurljos)
Mugison (HarpaNordurljos)

Friday November 2nd
Ghostigital (Kex)
Þórir Georg (12 Tonar, Harpa)
Monotown (Harpa Nordurljos)
Me & My Drummer (Harpa Silfurberg)
Cercueil (Harpa Nordurljos)
Ólafur Arnalds (Harpa Nordurljos)
Apparat Organ Quartet (Harpa Silfurberg)
Wistaria (Amsterdam)
Moonface with Siinai (Deutsche Bar)
Reykjavík! (Deutsche Bar)
Dream Central Station (Deutsche Bar)
 
Saturday November 3rd
Sudden Weather Change (Hresso)
Caterpillarmen (Hresso)
Ólafur Arnalds (Little House of Music)
Asgeir Trausti (Restaurant Reykjavik)
Bartones (Laundromat Café)
Eliza Newman (Eymundsson)
Sóley (Little House of Music)
Prinspóló (Art Museum)
Epic Rain (Deutsche Bar)
Ghostigital (Deutsche Bar)
Legend (Faktory)
Ghostpoet (Deutsche Bar)
Morðingjarnir (Amsterdam)
 

Iceland Airwaves 2012 - Tilbury Interview

My final pre Iceland Airwaves interview for this year is with Tilbury. They are almost certainly going to be the first band I see at the festival unless as they open proceedings in Harpa Silfurberg on Wednesday night. They may be a new band but some things about them might seem familiar - as we find out below the members are all a part of other bands (Skakkamange, Jeff Who?, Valdimar, Sin Fang, Hjaltalin and more) you know from the scene and I know of a lot of people will recognise the genius handiwork of Hugleikur Dagsson behind their album cover and other artwork. Yep, I needed to find out more...

Tilbury - Tenderloin by RecordRecords

Hi Þorri, where are you right now and what are you doing?

Hi, I´m at the university library preparing my final thesis that I´m hoping to hand in this december. 

I love how so many bands in Iceland share members, and Tilbury is one of those bands. Can you tell me who is in Tilbury?

Tilbury is Örn Eldjárn, Kristinn Evertsson, Magnús Trygvason Eliassen, Guðmundur Óskar Guðmundsson and me, Þormóður Dagsson. Last time I checked we are members of 15 other band projects, all combined.

The artwork on your album is awesome, what's the story behind it?

Thanks. It´s actually my brothers work, the cartoonist Hugleikur Dagsson. The basic idea of the drawing comes from an old and weird icelandic mythalogical creature called "Tilberi". The Icelandic writer Þórarinn Eldjárn later wrote a short novel, Tilbury, where he uses this myth and puts it into a love story set during the second world war in Iceland. That´s also where the name of the band comes from.

In your wildest dreams, who would you most like to see at the front of the crowd at your show?

Elton John.

What else are you keen to see at Airwaves this year?

I´ve been listening to a lot of the artists that are coming this year and I really excited about nearly  all of them. I especially like Blouse and I think we are playing on the same venue on the same night. So that´s going to be exciting. And then there all the local acts. I´m looking forward to seeing Kiriyama Family, Ásgeir Trausti, Cheek Mountain Thief, Ojba Rasta and many more. It´s gonna be a good party.

Can you pass on some tips for first timers at Airwaves and in Iceland?

Don´t come too prepared. Leave open slots on your agenda for unexpected experiences.

---

How can you not catch Tilbury at Iceland Airwaves 2012? You have the following seven chances!

Wednesday Oct 31st: 2pm at the Inspired By Iceland venue, 5pm at the wonderful Kex Hostel and 8pm at Harpa Silfurberg (see you there!)

Friday November 2nd: 7pm at Hotel MArina and 10:30pm at Deutsche Bar.

Saturday November 3rd: 2pm in Restaurant Reykjavik and 4pm at Kolabrautin Bar.

...and I'll see you at Iceland Airwaves 2012 xxx

Iceland Airwaves 2012 - Retrobot Interview

The annual competition for new bands in Iceland, Músíktilraunir, has an excellent track record of finding talent. Not least the winners from two years ago, a band called Of Monsters & Men, have had a little bit (A LOT) of international success. So it is kind of a big deal. Being the Icelandic music weirdo that I am, I trawl through and listen to all the entries every year and Retrobot very definitely stood out as a likely winner from the start. As is traditional, the winners get to play at Iceland Airwaves. In addition, more often than not, they get the added bonus of an iceblah interview. They are lucky...

RetRoBot - Electric Wizard by Iceland Airwaves

Hi Retrobot, where are you right now and what are you doing?

Right now we are in Reykjavík, getting ready for a trip to Norway.

Who is in the band?
Daði Freyr Pétursson - Computer, Synths, Percussions, Vocoder and Vocals
Gunnlaugur Bjarnason - Lead vocals and synth
Kristján Pálmi Ásmundsson - Guitar, Vocoder and Vocals
Guðmundur Einar Vilbergsson - Guitar, Synth and Vocals

...and this Airwaves we will have a good friend of ours joining us for some of the songs Hörður Már Bjarnason (from M-Band) on Vocoder and Vocals

Congratulations on winning the Músíktilraunir (new bands) competition, how does it feel to follow bands like Maus, Mínus, Mammút, Jakobínarína and those Of Monsters & Men people?
It feels great, it puts some pressure on us to get further and we like it. Now we just have to work on getting people to know us for our music, and not just for being the winners of Músíktilraunir.

There will be 5 or more other bands playing at the same time as you - so why should people choose your show?
Because this is our first gig at Iceland Airwaves and we are going to play full power and give it all we have, we will probably be playing some new songs that we have never played live before. And if you can't come, we are playing 4 off-venue shows at Prikið, Bar 11, Kaffibarinn and Dillon.

Have you seen the festival line-up? What other bands are you excited to see?
The line-up this year is amazing. A lot of great Icelandic bands will be playing this year, Agent Fresco, FM Belfast, Sólstafir, Kiriyama Family, Samaris, GusGus, HAM, M-Band, Sin Fang, Sóley and of course Sigur Rós, these are just a few of the amazing icelandic bands. But in the international bands we have Django Django and Dirty Projectors, we can't miss that!

And finally, how about a few local tips for the festival first-timers?
Go to the off-venue shows as well, those shows can be just as good, or sometimes even better.

---

You have six chances to sample the significant delights of Retrobot at Iceland Airwaves 2012:

Wednesday October 31st : 8:50pm in Gamli Gaukurinn

Thursday November 1st: 9am (IN THE ACTUAL MORNING) for Rock & Bacon at Prikið and then at 8pm at Bar 11.

Friday November 2nd: at 4pm at Menntaskólinn við Hamrahlíð and at 10pm in Kaffibarinn.

And finally on Saturday 3rd November at 8:45pm in Dillon.

 

Iceland Airwaves 2012 - Reykjavík! Interview

I love Reykjavík! the band nearly as much as I love Reykjavík the city. They are one of those bands who I merrily seek out time after time at Iceland Airwaves. Their live shows are the stuff of Airwaves legend, and you really need to check them out, as it really does need to be seen to be believed. Last year's highlights included passing round vodka to anyone who appeared to know any lyrics, and playing one song, particularly terrifyingly, in almost complete darkness. I'm still not sure whether this was on purpose or not.

Previously they have played Iceland Airwaves gigs in a cupboard - chairs were damaged. On top of some chairs - chairs were damaged. With a trio of choreographed dancing girls (which you can see here) - no idea if any chairs were damaged, but it's definitely possible. They do generally go by the motto, "no audience member left untouched" but be assured that's a good and friendly thing.

And most of them aren't even from Reykjavík - it's all THAT crazy.

Hellbound Heart by Reykjavík!

I interviewed, or at least I tried to interview, their fresh-faced guitarist Haukur. It didn't entirely go to plan... (just for the avoidance of doubt, my words remain in bold throughout!)

Hello Reykjavík!, where are you and what are you doing?

Hello Mark Ollard! We see it's time for our annual interview! This is very exciting for us, as we love getting interviewed and we are fans of your Iceblah and what you've been doing with it for the longest time now. Sometimes, we feel like we should be the ones interviewing you. Maybe we'll do just that, right now. Seeing as whoever is answering this on behalf of the band probably used to be some sort of journalist. Here's a question:

Hello, Mark Ollard! You've been following the Icelandic scene for a long while now. Is there a band or musician who is no longer performing regularly (or at all) that you find yourself particularly missing?

Yes, of course, loads of them. In fact I'm already panicking that if I start listing them I will leave someone great out and then I'll feel guilty forever. But let's do it, off the top of my head I would like to see a reunion gig featuring Jakobínarína, Skátar, Trabant and headlined by the mighty, mighty Rúnk - the band that pretty much got me into this mess in the first place. That would be fun right? I also am wondering where are Jeff Who these days? and what ever happened to Jan Mayen? Are they STILL working on a new album? They were fun.

Well, that makes a lot of sense, of course. You are probably right! But even though a lot of the bands and musicians that were part of the scene when you first started following it have moved to greener pastures (to that big ol' farmhouse in the sky), the scene itself retains the same sort of spirit and attitude that led you to embrace it in the past, right?

Right.

Why so?

The attitude and spirit has hardly changed at all. Even though every year certain things are different, some venues have closed, beer prices have mutated, record shops have moved on or bands have given up, but the feel of that week in Reykjavík remains pretty much constant. Harpa is an extreme example, I know it was a controversial project and for such a controversial and 'perfect' building to somehow manage to play an authentic part in Iceland Airwaves was a big ask, but it really delivered last year, the festival was different yet felt much the same. It's the same for bands too - every time there a whole bunch of bands with kids that look even younger or a whole bunch of new bands where you can spend the first song working out which 15 other bands these guys are members of.

What are you up to these days anyway? Through your site, we get a pretty clear idea of what's going on in Icelandic music and with bands that you favour, but we never really hear about your personal life. What's with that? For instance: following your Twitter we have ascertained that you make semi-frequent trips to Philly, most people never go to Philly at all! Why is that?

I go to Philadelphia because my wife has family there and I love the city and I love the American sports, especially Ice Hockey. I just like stuff that starts with i.c.e. I suppose. If you pay close attention to my twitter account, you will see that I have a little baby boy, an amazing wife and I work at Penguin Books, between these things and the Iceland thing, that's pretty much my personal life solved.

Also, here's an interesting question: do you ever interview bands/musicians for your site that you do not like? All in service of the idea of Icelandic music? Or do you refrain from doing that? Why or why not?

I'm doing it right now! HAHAHAHAHA.

No, obviously that's not true. If I don't like some music I won't talk about it at all. I'm completely independent, by which I mean that this blog is a hobby so I'm not going to spend my spare time writing stuff about bands I don't like, I don't see the point.

Who are you most looking forward to seeing at Iceland Airwaves 2012? Did you know that local rock band Reykjavík! is planning to play a set spanning their entire catalogue, heavy on old faves that haven't been heard in the live setting for a while?

Well, I think I will have to check out the band Reykjavík! as a big priority, I am looking forward to hearing those old classics. For the festival I have my established list of must-see bands that would include FM Belfast, Retro Stefson, HAM, Mugison, Ghostigital and Þórir Georg and then a few newer ones I'm keen to take a look at like Kiriyama Family, Retrobot and especially Legend. And then there will be the ones I haven't even thought of yet that I go home in love with, last year that was Sóley.

Did you furthermore know that they will be playing only ONE set at Airwaves this year? WTF is up with that?

Only one? What's wrong with you guys? Are you getting old or something?

Right, I'm regaining control of this so-called interview now, you're on...

You've just been in Japan - how was that? Did you love it? Did they love you?

Yes! We are back from Japan! We spent a week there along with Lazyblood, putting on THE TICKLING DEATH MACHINE for an art festival called THE KYOTO EXPERIMENT, collaborating with like fifteen Japanese volunteers for the show. It was amazing. Japan is amazing. They really did profess a big affinity for us, love even, but they surely didn't come close to loving us as much as we loved them and the entirety of Japan.

In fact, a couple of us - guitarist Gummi and myself, Haukur, his nephew - had decided to stay an extra two weeks in the Japan, as we had been fantasizing about going there since we were tweens. It was amazing. Go there. It still is amazing. Go there.

Also, here is another clip from Tickling Death Machine. Hopefully, we'll have some video from Kyoto ready soon. You really haven't lived until you've been joined on stage by 15 long-haired and headbanging Japanese girls. You really haven't. We also met a Japanese hXc band called Cycropsu. They were awesome.

Also, at some department store we wandered into, we saw this video by this all girl Japanese post-something band. It's like a Japanese, female version of kimono. Which is just as awesome as it sounds.

Japan is like a big bomb of perspective. Go there.

OK, so you like Japan. Back in the good old UK, we just hosted the Olympics, did you like it? What would Reykjavik! win a gold medal at?

We loved your Olympics, although we were secretly disappointed that the Rothschild/Illuminati/Freemason conspiracy to enslave mankind and instill a New World Order wasn't unleashed during the spectacle. We will probably win an Olympic gold for ping pong at some point. We are always practicing.

I'm very sad that the old NASA venue is gone. You guys played at NASA a lot of times, what's your favourite memory?

Oh wow, that's hard to pick. Seriously. So many fun times at NASA, even though the club itself was at times kind of douchey and anyone who tells you differently probably never had to pay 500 ISK for a bottled water or whatnot. It was a big and exciting space ad thinking about it now I sort of understand that it was a huge and even formative place for the majority of my twenties. Damn you, Ollard, getting me all weepy-eyed.

SO MANY MEMORIES. One is about when we opened up for Blonde Redhead and they insisted on a separate dressing room, and then we were accidentally put in their dressing room (because they were in our dressing room, it turned out, because of whatever, they are kind of a needy band, Blonde Redhead), and we couldn't believe our luck having such a big and fancy rider with fresh fruit and various types of booze and stuff (mind you, we thought we were situated in the 'support dressing room' and were pretty stunned that since we got such an awesome deal, being in a mid-level alt. band must entail untold riches and luxuries.)

So we went ahead consuming EVERYTHING. And throwing it around. And generally acting like drunk and excited boys (or assholes, if you will). Then, when the guacamole was all over everything and the last grape had been snorted, some dude came down and informed us of the mistake. We got embarrassed and tried to clean up a little. Then we came to the dressing room that had been intended for us and were confronted by an empty bag of Doritos, an ashtray and some bottled water.

So anyway, that's not the favourite memory, but it's a nice memory nonetheless. That bottled water was AMAZING.
 
You have a song called "INTERNET"? What is the best thing on the whole internet?

Well. It's definitely not our website www.reykjaviktheband.com. It has been hijacked by some sort of Chinese cosmetics manufacturer we think. WEIRD.

Why should people come and see your show at Airwaves?

Do it for the kids!

In your wildest dreams, who would you most love to see in the front row of one of your shows?

Man, I wouldn't mind seeing Mark Ollard and Paul Sullivan there.

Hoping to boost your female audience?

Also, I would personally get a great big kick out of playing for Bob Mould. I saw him earlier this year and he effing blew me away and I would love to attempt a return of the favour.

What other stuff are you hoping to catch at Airwaves this year?

Is 'chlamydia' an amusing answer? I'll go with that.

Yes, it is hilarious. Aside for seeing your show and reading Grapevine, what are your best tips for Airwaves virgins?

Take two aspirin, drink lots of water and call me in the morning if the problem persists.

---

You can get Haukur's number from me, should you need to call him about chlamydia or anything else. Otherwise you can see him at the ONE AND ONLY Reykjavik! show of Iceland Airwaves 2012 at 01:20am on Friday night at Þýski barinn / Deutsche bar. Except there may be another show, you never know.

I should also say that he is the boss or something of the wonderful English language newspaper The Reykjavik Grapevine - a copy is essential for a good time in town, and their Iceland Airwaves special minisite is brilliant and will be updated with reviews of every single show (!) and if you don't have their AMAZING BUMPER FREE DOWNLOAD of  65 songs then go here now.

Iceland Airwaves 2012 - Kiriyama Family Interview

Hey, look at those five cheeky kind of naked guys! That is not how my family behave. Anyway - Kiriyama Family are an electronic band with a freshly released debut album YOU are going to want to own by the end of Iceland Airwaves 2012. Just to make sure, they are going to play six (so far) shows over the course of the festival.

I had a chat with them, and disappointingly learned that they're not really a family!

Keep Me In The Light by Kiriyamamusic

Where are you right now and what are you doing?
We are sitting in our rehearsal studio having a look at some new songs that will be on our second album. We started demoing them a while back and now, after a long summer filled with concerts, we’re finally making time to work on them.

Who is in the band? Are you really a family?
We are five members in the band, but when we play live we have a session saxophone player. None of us is related but after spending such a long time together we find our selves acting like brothers all the time. So you could say were a family.

When you play your show there will be at least 4 or 5 other acts playing - why should people come and see you?
Because we tend to rock people’s world… Seriously though, it’s really difficult to tell anyone why they should come and see us.
We put a lot of effort into our live sound / show and usually people walk out the door with a big smile on their face.

In your wildest dreams, who would you most like to see at the front of the crowd at your show?
Our wildest dream gig would be in a South-European castle, it would be filmed and recorded with additional backing vocals from Caroline Polachek and Yukimi Nagano.
Front of the crowd… doesn’t really matter any more. Music lovers?

What else are you keen to see at Airwaves this year?
Purity Ring, Philco Fiction, Policia (BOOOO!), Dirty Projectors would be a great catch along with Ghostpoet and Phantogram. Really just anything with a “p” in it.

Can you pass on some tips for first timers at Airwaves and in Iceland?
Bring a warm jacket, woolen socks and be there on time. It might get cold… Also, harðfiskur!

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Oh yes, please go for the harðfiskur.

Right, deep breath, you can see Kiriyama Family at Iceland Airwaves in these numerous ways:

Wednesday (Oct 31st) at 3pm in lovely old Hressó bar and then at 8:50pm in Harpa Silfurberg (see you there).

Thursday (Nov 1st) at 12:40pm at Munnharpen (with a coffee) and 12:15am (Friday morning) back at Hressó.

Friday (Nov 2nd) at 9:20pm at Harpa Silfurberg.

Saturday (Nov 3rd) at 5:30pm in bookshop Eymundsson.

Iceland Airwaves 2012 - Mammút Interview

Mammút are one of the regulars of Iceland Airwaves despite still appearing to be teenagers and, as you are about to read, still going to school. Sigh. They have two excellent albums behind them and are always good to see live. Typically they work really hard at Airwaves, seeming to be playing off-venue shows pretty much all of the time. I'm kind of addicted to Kata's voice backed by a kind of choppy indie guitar backing that reminds me of early Bloc Party.

It seems like they are going to be playing us a whole bunch of brand new material at Iceland Airwaves 2012, but for now hit play below on an old favourite of mine, and have a read of what they had to say...

Mammút - Rauðilækur by alltadgerast

 

Mammút! Where are you right now and what are you doing?

We are all in Reykjavík at the moment, super busy recording our upcoming album. As individuals we are also working, going to school, partying, playing sports and loads of stuff.

You are always one of the busiest bands at Airwaves, how many shows are you planning this year?

At the moment we have 4 gigs planned. That's not a lot though compared to last year. Maybe we'll add some more!

Whenever you play at Iceland Airwaves there will be at least 4 or 5 other acts playing at the same time - why should people come and see you?

This year we'll be playing only new songs and some of them for the first time ever. So people should come and be the first ones to hear them!

In your wildest dreams, who would you most like to see at the front of the crowd at your show?

It's probably very different for each one of us but for me I think I'd have to say Dave Grohl. To have him at the front of the crowd slamming would be perfection.

How is the recording going for your 3rd album? What should we expect from it?

It's going well. Slowly but well. We thought we'd just finish it off in 2 or 3 weeks but we can see now that we need much more time. Each song just has to have its time. You should expect a much heavier and more dramatic album than the last one. And of course MUCH better!

What else are you keen to see at Airwaves this year?

I really wanna see Django Django but usually I don't check the bands out before the festival. It's much more fun to stumble into something great when you not expecting it.

Can you pass on some tips for first timers at Airwaves and in Iceland?

I'd suggest to see as many Icelandic bands as you can. Even though there are many internationally famous bands playing I'd still rather check the local ones out since there are so many good ones who never play abroad.

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Check out Mammút at Harpa Silfurberg on Wednesday 31st October at 10:30pm then twice on Friday November 2nd - at the Downtown Hostel at 3pm and then at Reykjavik Art Museum at 11pm.

And I'm afraid I have no idea when or where the 4th gig they talked about is!

Iceland Airwaves 2012 - Legend Interview

Legend are one of the bands I am most looking forward to seeing at Iceland Airwaves next week. I absolutely love their debut album but I haven't ever seen them play before. Songs like City, Runaway Train and Sister especially have been part of the soundtrack to my 2012. They are fronted by Krummi Bjorgvins who has been a key part of the Icelandic music scene for a long time, most famously in the band Mínus. I was pretty excited when he agreed to a quick pre-Airwaves chat...

City by Legend band

Hi Krummi, where are you right now and what are you doing?

I´m at home preparing for a Dieter Roth art opening where I´m doing a music piece. I combine all kinds of music by other artists and combine it with my own sounds. I will also do some live vocals over it to tie it all together.
 
Legend is very different from your bands Minus and Esja. Are you a personality who always wants to do something new and different?

Yes I have always been very versatile and I love the challenge. I can´t keep doing the same thing over and over again. As an artist I like to evolve and push myself. There are so many things out there to explore. Especially the mind!

Are those bands over now? Or can we look forward to hearing new stuff from them too?

No not at all. Mínus recorded an album 2 years ago which will be released early next year under the name KOL. Esja is a project that me and Daníel Ágúst from Gus Gus do when we have the time. We have already written some songs for the next Esja album we just don´t know when we are going to record them and release a record. There´s no pressure so we are taking our time with it. 

Better journalists than me (!) have tried and failed to define Legend's sound and I'm not going to try, but it really feels like great late night music. I'm interested to know whether a lot of it was written and recorded at night?

Funny you should say that because most of the album is written and recorded at night. We are a pretty dark bunch of people so we loved being creative while the night creatures were out and about. It´s an ominous album!

In your wildest dreams, who would you most like to see at the front of the crowd at your show?

I can´t say. We are just glad that people show up and enjoy our shows. Even better if they get the lyrics and the whole concept behind the band.  

What else are you keen to see at Airwaves this year?

Swans are one of my favorite bands so that is something I´m not going to miss. I also really like I Break Horses! But I try to see many Icelandic bands because they are so good!

Can you pass on some tips for first timers at Airwaves and in Iceland?

Yes! "Gangið Hægt Um Gleðinnar Dyr"

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I think Legend's shows are going to be amongst the highlights of Iceland Airwaves 2012. Catch them...

Wednesday October 31st at 11:20pm in Gamli Gaukurinn.

Saturday November 3rd at 10:30pm upstairs at Faktory.

and you can do a load of pre-listening here :-)