We Want The Airwaves

We are thrilled to announce that Straumur will host its own Iceland Airwaves off-venue programme at Bíó Paradís, November 5-9. We will have many of our favourite artists perform, including lo-fi indie duo Nolo, who are currently working on their third LP; the ever-so-talented M-band, who released his first album this year; and the hazy newcomer Pretty Please. We are currently in negotiations with other mind-bending acts and we’ll let you know when the results are in.

In other news, standard bearers of the domestic disco scene Boogie Trouble just released a new single from their forthcoming and as-yet unnamed debut album. It’s called “Augnablik” (“Blink of an Eye”), and it’s one of the grooviest sonic entities to emerge from this year. “Augnablik” bears many hallmarks of Icelandic pop music from the 70s, and blends a grinding bass thump with chicken scratch guitars and a chorus that attaches itself to your brain like duck tape smeared with superglue. The lead guitar soars and at one point the song explodes into a sensational saxophone solo. Boogie Trouble will be playing Iceland Airwaves and we anticipate great things from their upcoming album.

This week we also got the great news that exceptional American indie band Sun Kil Moon will be heading to our shores to play a show at Fríkirkjan on November 28. Singer Mark Kozelek founded Sun Kil Moon in 2002 out of the remains of defunct indie band Red House Painters. The band established itself with the critically acclaimed ‘Ghosts of the Great Highway’ in 2003 and has since released six albums and collaborated with artists such as Will Oldham and Ben Gibbard. Their latest release, ‘Benji,’ has received universal acclaim for Kozelek’s personal and confessional lyrics and impeccable folk-rock songcraft evident in astounding songs like “Ben’s My Friend.”

Don’t forget to come enjoy our off-venue programme at downtown Reykjavík’s arthouse cinema. The concerts will be free and we would love to see you there. In the words of the Ramones, “We want the Airwaves.”

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Straumur has been active since the summer 2012, with writers Óli Dóri and Davíð Roach documenting  the local music scene and helping people discover new music at straum.is. It is associated with the  radio show Straumur on X977, which Óli Dóri hosts every Monday evening at 23:00