Words by

Steinunn Jakobsdóttir

Organised for the second time, this year’s Akureyri International Music Festival (AIM) will take place at various venues in the town of Akureyri (located in the northern part of the country), from May 31 to June 2. With artists as diverse as the Argentinean tango orchestra Orquesta Tipica Fernandez Fierro and the Icelandic punk band Morðingjarnir, the blend of tango, jazz, pop, electro and punk-rock that fills up the three day programme is intended to bring together a mixed crowd of festival-goers from all over the country. Among the artists performing this year are: VilHelm, Bob Justman and Bela, who will be playing at Deiglan on May 31; Blúskompaníið, Park Project and Mór will take on the stage at club 1929 on June 1; that same night Cuban composer Hilaríó Dúran together with Tómas R. Einarsson and his big-band will be creating a Latin jazz vibe at 1929. To mark the end of the festival, The North Iceland Symphony Orchestra will throw a concert at 1929 on June 2.

Morr Music Labelnight
As part of the festival, the German independent music label Morr Music will take over the concert venue Græni Hatturinn on Friday night. Thomas Morr founded the label in Berlin in 1991, which today is highly influential in the music world, having released approximately 75 albums with bands such as: The Notwist, múm, Styrofoam, B. Fleischmann, Phonem and Ms. John Soda

The concerts at Græni Hatturinn will feature Berlin based electro postrock duo Tarwater, Belgian dance-pop group The Go Find and the electro duo Isan from the UK. The two Icelandic bands that are signed to the label, Benni Hemm Hemm and Seabear, will of course partake in the event.

Those unfortunate souls who for some reason are unable to attend the festival can hold their breath. After performing in Akureyri, all of the aforementioned Morr musicians will play another show together at Iðnó Theatre in Reykjavík on June 5. Thomas Morr and DJ Apfelblut will keep the crowd entertained between acts. Tickets for the concerts at Iðnó are for sale at the 12 Tónar record shop on Skólavörðustígur 15.

Tickets for the AIM Festival are available at www.midi.is. For a full programme see www.aimfestival.is