| The Music |
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| Despite all the talk about stumbling from bar to bar, Iceland Airwaves was about music. Fans from all over the world came to see close to a hundred acts from Iceland and elsewhere, representing rock, hardcore, pop, indie rock, lo-fi, electronica, hip hop and DJs, playing at about a dozen venues. The events of Sept. 11 caused a few cancellations among international acts (Gorillaz were scheduled but apparently didn't want to fly; Thievery Corporation had to re-schedule a New York City show originally slated for Sept. 12) but quite a few still made it and added nicely to a full roster of Icelandic bands. Music-wise, Reykjav�k reminds me of New Zealand in the '80s (not that I was there) with a close-knit, supportive scene and a lot of bands sharing members. (Hmm. Sounds like Chapel Hill, too.) Plus, there's a lot to hear that hopefully will be easier to find soon. The Iceland Airwaves site has the lineups, as well as artist bios, photos and MP3s. The linked band names below will take you to the individual band's sections on the Airwaves web site where you can read what they have to say about themselves, and then click the "Listen and See" link to view a picture and download an MP3. Rather than try to give a comprehensive list or reviews of everything I saw and heard, I'll mention a few standouts of the week. |
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| Sigur R�s is the biggest thing out of Iceland since Bj�rk, and was recently named by Time Magazine as one of the ten best bands in the world. They're mentioned in the November 2001 music issue of Vanity Fair, and I just tried to get on their official web site only to get a message that it has exceeded its bandwidth. You can buy their album �g�tis Byrjun in Reykjav�k gift shops. In short, they're not a big music geek secret anymore. |
| Quite a few reviewers have made the comparison between the band's music and the landscape of their homeland. In the Vanity Fair piece, bassist Georg Holm calls that "a boring clich�." Well, sorry Georg. If you live on a treeless lava rock where the sun sometimes refuses to come up and sometimes refuses to go down, and you make spare, ethereal music that alternates between dark and brooding and bright and piercing, a comparison is inevitable. Still, you can't blame the guy. So much has been written about the band in the last two years, and so much of it crap. (One reviewer said the music was like "God weeping tears of gold in heaven." Steady on.) |
| Bringing it back down to earth, Sigur R�s put on an amazing show. There had been rumors that the band would require the audience to take off their shoes, but the only restrictions were on photographers, who were only allowed to take pictures during the first three songs, without flash and from the back of the auditorium. Live, the music is every bit as powerful as you would expect. (Several audience members at a New York City show apparently all fainted at once.) Ryan, who has seen thousands of shows and doesn't often use the word "transcendent", um, used it. Video screens behind the band played abstract images that went well with the music and helped to further the feeling that we were in another world. As spectacular as the show was, the best thing about seeing them in their hometown was seeing the locals at the show, who clearly love the band, but don't seem to hold them in the same awe as those of us who travelled thousands of miles to see them. ("Hey, you going to the Sigur R�s show tonight?" "I dunno. Maybe.") Kind of like seeing Superchunk in Chapel Hill. ELF FACTOR: High. Hard to imagine this music coming from somewhere else. Plus, they've made up their own language. And nobody put a gun to their heads to force them to pose for that picture. |
| A band with a lot of buzz going into the festival, Apparat Organ Quartet makes their music on keyboard instruments cobbled together from bits of old organs. After having obsessively listened to one MP3 of Apparat's music before going to Iceland, I was very excited to see them, and wasn't disappointed. Their music is smart, intricate and multi-layered, but still rocks. Plus, the band performed the "Appa dance," which looked like Kraftwerk impersonating the Village People. You can read about them in The New York Times, with a photo by Mike (but you'll have to register). ELF FACTOR: Moderate. Definitely sounds like compositions that were arranged during a long dark night. |
| Presumably Botnle�ja decided to go by the name Silt in hopes of increasing their international potential, which is a fine idea. Just try saying Botnle�ja after, well, no beers. Silt calls their music "hard edged, icy, beautiful, unconventional and always unique." From the little I've heard, I'm not sure that I would go so far as unconventional (let alone unique) but Silt know how to make powerful rock with a lot of bottom and a driving beat. Tony apparently agreed, especially after sitting through an earlier set of electronic music. He exited the show with fist in the air, proclaiming "Silt were the first band to (obscene gerund deleted) rock!" ELF FACTOR: Low. They sing in Icelandic, but other than that they could be from anywhere. |
| We met Thorunn (it should actually be written "�orunn," but if you can read that you already know that) on our first day and were lucky enough to spend time with her as well as see her show. She has a strong, clear and beautiful voice and sings engaging pop rock, backed up by an extremely tight band. She co-writes with her father, a well-known musician in Iceland in his own right, and is working on an album which should be out by now. She's also a total sweetheart with a great sense of humor (one night she told a group of guys hitting on her that she was a plumber from Denmark). Christy told that same sushi restaurant (see food and drink section) that Thorunn was going to be Iceland's next big thing, and it wouldn't surprise me a bit, and couldn't happen to a nicer person. ELF FACTOR: Moderate, if only because of the eyebrows. Plus, it's hard not to compare a woman who sings in English with an Icelandic accent to Bj�rk, although I'm sure anyone in Iceland would think I was deaf for even suggesting it. |
| Get up, uh, get on up. Jag�ar is just your everyday, garden variety Icelandic funk soul Latin band. Their second release, "Get the Funk Out," has been stuck in the CD player in my car for about a week now and doesn't show any signs of wanting to come out. Jag�ar describe themselves as "groove oriented music," and that's for damn skippy. The album starts out funky, gets Latin, and then gets funky again. Ryan puts it on in his car and pretends to be a spy while he's driving home from work. Perfectly reasonable response. Jag�ar played to a packed house Saturday night at their "Blaxploitation Party" at Leikh�skjallarinn (Home of the Testy Viking� - this was the venue where we had the most aggro.) ELF FACTOR: Absolute zero, baby. Starsky, Hutch, Shaft and Jo�o Gilberto careening through the streets of Reykjav�k in a red Nissan Patrol with a white stripe down the side. |
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| Sigur R�s - photo from www.sigur-ros.co.uk |
| Not an Icelandic band, but one of the best shows of Airwaves. Sparta is made up of three-quarters of At the Drive-In, a highly respected band among indie rock purists. (Perhaps they reformed as Sparta because they realized the name "At the Drive-In" sucks.) Allmusic.com describes them in part as "rollicking, earnest and cathartic," and boy did they do some earnestly cathartic rollicking at Airwaves. Another way to put it is they rocked the crap out of Gaukur � St�ng. The crowd was extremely receptive and excited, as though they realized they were seeing something extraordinary. ELF FACTOR: Dude, they're from Texas. |
| And some more |
| Unfortunately it wasn't possible to see every band at Airwaves. There are many that I either saw briefly, heard good things about or have heard via MP3. Trabant drew a good crowd and good reviews for their quirky but tuneful electronic music. I downloaded their MP3 from the Airwaves site before going over, and it stuck in my head for weeks. M�m are another electronic band recommended to me by my pals from the Sparta show. I brought back a CD, and I'm really enjoying their spare, buzzy, atmospheric electronica. I also brought back a CD by Ensimi, but it hasn't grown on me yet. They sound a bit like Silt, but more radio-friendly (never a positive comment in my book). Finally, I wish I had gotten to see N�ttfari, another band whose MP3 stuck in my head before going over. They appeared to have a dedicated local following. I'm also looking forward to borrowing the Ulpa CD Ryan brought back. Once again, all of the bands I mention on this page are well worth a listen, and worth the time to download their MP3s. |
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| Mike making the universal gesture of friendship at Gaukur � St�ng |