Iceland Airwaves 2012
The Reykjavík Grapevine’s coverage of Iceland Airwaves 2012
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Rangling And Raving at Faktorý Upstairs
At times throughout last night at the Faktorý upstairs stage, it felt less so a case of how amazing the artist was, but more which period of Aphex Twin’s career the artist most respected. At other times it felt like a flat…
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A GRAB-BAG OF GUITAR-ROCK
Hello, Airwaves. Having arrived at the festival a day late thanks to a certain big storm on America’s East Coast, I was treated to an evening of mostly homegrown talent at Amsterdam. Like a lot of Icelandic bands I’ve seen, these ones…
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Something Old, Something New: From Country To The Cutting Edge
Ladies and gentleman, come on in. We have quite a spectacle here at Kaldalon this evening. On drums, we have the polar opposite of Keith Moon! This man hits the drums like no other: he’s never bruised a skin. He is indisputably…
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Doldrums Steal The Show: Iðnó, Night Two
They sing about crack cocaine, coke, being broke and drinking whiskey without an air of satire or wit, any insightful experiences that may inform these songs lost in irritatingly trite lyrics.
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Harpa’s Metal Night: Considerable Damage To Structures
For your review-reading accompaniment: field audio recording of the wind storm currently unleashing holy hell on this wee island nation. From the darkened gates of waning gloom, we were summoned. From the wind-frozen terrorface of a Greenlandic glacial shitstorm,* we were summoned.…
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Beats, Rhymes And Life: Faktorý Downstairs
I don’t do drugs (often), but if I did I would do them while listening to artists like Thizone. Oops, I’ve fallen down a K-hole and I can’t get up! Then again, it’s sort of nice down here… Thizone serves up tracks…
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Ups And Downs At Gamli Gaukurinn
There may be gale force winds trying to blow festivalgoers towards the sea tonight, but there’s not a lot that the weather can do to dampen spirits. The sky’s clear, the northern lights are glowing and there are some seriously good sounds…
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Moments Strung Together On A Thread Of Other Moments
It’s Wednesday night and it’s all beginning. The wind is blowing like it doesn’t blow anywhere else and I am almost pushed from my bike on the way down to Harpa, body forcing against the brute strength of it. But I prevail,…
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This One Goes Out To The One I Love!
Yes, you! Granted you can be a pain in the butt, forcing others to queue up in the cold, spilling beer all over the place and being generally loud and obnoxious, but Airwaves would be nothing without you. So here’s to you! …
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Harping on at Harpa
By Thomas L. Moir This evening will see Steindór Andersen and Hilmar Örn reunite to perform together for the first time in over ten years. They will be performing in collaboration with a one-of-a-kind stone harp specially brought in for the performance.…
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Come Get Yr Fill: Deutsche Bar, Night One
Myrra Rós makes the kind of music that makes you want to close your eyes. Not because the band is terrible looking (they’re all cute!), but because it’s the sort of blissed out, mellow folk pop that causes people to stand, maybe sway…
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TONIGHT! Bands Sing Songs By Other Bands At KARAOKE101
Because imitation is the sincerest form of flattery! As previously reported, the bar Bakkus is celebrating its swan-song week with its final instalment of the B-Waves festival. Amidst all the madness they’ll be hosting in the next few days is the multimedia…
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Is Lára’s Moment Here?
Hi Lára! Sorry to be bothering you with all these questions right before the Airwaves festival starts (you are surely pretty busy getting ready for all those shows you’ll be playing), but we heard you have a new record on the way…
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Back On The Stage With Rökkurró: We Just Had To Play Iceland Airwaves
Their first show in over a year Rökkurró are back for Iceland Airwaves with new energy and an acoustic set, but with the future yet to be decided By Steffan Lykke Møller / Photos by Pat Moriearty Recently, you haven’t heard a…
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Youth Is Wasted On The Young…
It was halfway through the evening‘s music when I kept thinking of two pieces published by our paper. The first being last week’s news item on a report that Iceland’s youth was becoming “more conservative,” the other being a think piece from…
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Extreme Chillin’
There is a constant underlying agitation in Jafet Melge’s set. It surfaces, but for the most part it comes out either attacking or barely stifled in the end of segment, and all of this is wonderfully entwined with some nice backdrop videos.
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A Night Of Confounded Expectations
Unlike many of the other venues – including Deutsche Bar across the road – there is no queue at Amsterdam for the first night of Airwaves, but that doesn’t mean it’s not the place to be. An extremely mixed, inclusive line-up is…
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Sykur Stole The Show
The day is Wednesday, the place is Harpa Silfurberg, and the time is 20:00. Day one, let’s dig in!
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A Truly Incredible Opening Night
Experiencing FM Belfast closing up a very effective snapshot of homegrown talent is a glimpse for me, an outsider, into that moment where music and place become synergous. The band’s energy bounces around the room, back and forth between the stage and…
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Keep It Simple
The small, dingy space of Faktory’s downstairs venue lent itself well to both the tranquil and the frenetic, as three varied electronic acts brought their own definitions of minimalism
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JFM Is An Icelandic Legend – Here’s Why
For some of our international Airwaves guests, the name Jakob Frímann Magnússon might not ring a bell (don’t be afraid, we’re about to ring that bell for you, so long as you read on). However, every single Icelander knows the Jakob Frímann…
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Inspired By Hobbits
A little house in Reykjavík is offering visitors a chance at catching Airwaves’ best in an intimate environment. By Thomas L. Moir So you’re sitting at the pub, sinking beers, with the boys, eyeing the potential. Talk turns to the best live…