ICELAND AIRWAVES – THE HIDDEN GEMS OF MUSIC TODAY! [Pt. 1]

Posted in Alternative Rock, Festival, Folk Rock, Indie Pop, Rock, Uncategorized by halldorabirta

First – I’d like to say I’m sorry for my lack of writing. There’s been much going on for the past months. I want to make this blog alive again and I think this is the perfect timing to do so!

The first time I went to Iceland Airwaves I was completely blown away. I didn’t recognise at all the bands that were playing, only a few Icelandic ones. I went from one venue to another, came across so many mind blowing bands (some of them are my favorites today), experienced long queues & got to know other people while waiting. And that’s that what this festival is all about. Find and just listen to good music from all over the world and meet new people sharing common interests in music. And yeah, right after the band is finished and off the stage you can expect seeing them in the crowd.

I say hidden gems because the music is so honest and straight from the heart of the artists. They are not there for fame. It’s obvious they do this for them (and for you). I’m glad to say that I’m proud of being from Iceland. I’m proud of the variety of music we make and produce. I’m proud of Iceland Airwaves.

I want to tell you little bit about the bands I saw. I didn’t get to see as many bands as I wanted to but still enough to make this post really..really long!

1860

1860 is an indie-folk rock/pop band from Reykjavík, Iceland. They were formed in 2010 and I remember hearing them on radio X977 early in 2011. Then I saw them later in 2011 for the first time when they came to play in the lunchroom in my school and I completely fell in love. The part I liked most of all was the mandolin. I’d never heard anything so beautiful before!

They only had one gig at the festival this year in the Silfurberg hall @ Harpa. As usual they were flawless in every way. One note to the band though – You should really make (and play) more songs in Icelandic!!

They only played one song in Icelandic.. actually it was half English half Icelandic and it’s called Íðilfagur.

If you want to hear more songs in Icelandic I recommend getting their debut album, Sagan. Their second and most recent album, Artificial Daylight, is mostly in English but is also really, really good!

Here’s one of my favourite songs by 1860

And one in Icelandic.. they’re just too adorable!!

Benny Crespo’s Gang

I decided to check out Benny Crespo’s Gang because I was waiting for another band to play. They were surprisingly good even though it’s not something I would listen to on the daily basis. The female singer, Lay Low, is really a favourite of mine and she gives me goose bumps everytime I hear her sing. She’s also the bass player and apparently plays the keyboard too!

What I liked the most about them is that they switch between genres and they do it good! It goes from psychedelic to punk and all there is between (almost)

Leaves

Continuing with the Icelandic bands. Leaves were formed in 2000 which makes them one of the oldest Icelandic bands still active – At least at Iceland Airwaves. Well actually the’ve not been that active for a while until last year when they released a new album, See You In The Afterglow.

They are extremely powerful on stage and I really enjoyed the concert!

Sin Fang

I know what you’re thinking. I have surpassing skills in photography…

Anyway this band, or artist should I say, is also Icelandic! I have to admit I knew only one song before the concert and I was somehow hoping that all the other stuff he did would be similar to that one song I know. It was in no way like that. I didn’t really enjoy this concert to be honest. I also missed that one song I knew because I had to rush to another concert!

I recommend you listen to it though because it’s really good! And maybe I might give this a second chance and listen to some of his other songs..

Kontinuum

After convincing my friend all night that we had to go see a band called Kontinuum she agreed to do so. We walked (ran actually) in the cold over to Gaukurinn. From the reviews I had read, the band was to be mind blowing on stage, the best concert you would ever attend and so on, I was surprised to see absolutely no one waiting in line outside.

Like before with Sin Fang I only knew one song by Kontinuum and I really thought they would be playing similar music to that one song… but no! It turned out to be a progressive post black-metal band.

I, miss know-it-all, dragged my friend to a black metal concert and she doesn’t even listen to simple rock n roll! This must have been an interesting experience for her but we just had a good laugh about it afterwards. She did agree to me though that this one song I knew is actually really good. It’s in Icelandic too which is a plus and the lyrics are just plain beautiful.

To be continued…

5Jun2014

Coldplay – Ghost Stories

Posted in Albums, Alternative Rock, Electro Rock by halldorabirta

Coldplay, a band that has been growing for years with one hit after another has now released an album that is completely different from the previous five albums. Almost every review I’ve read says this is the one that will be forgotten. The album flows into one and nothing stands out. I disagree.

For me, Ghost Stories is warm and honest. It’s clear that it’s affected by Chris Martin’s split up with his Hollywood wife. The lyrics are mostly about lost love. You can also hear wedding bells and other sounds like they come from a distance. Could be like a memory of something that was before everything went down?

Magic was the first single with a catchy bass note and heartwarming lyrics ‘If you were to ask me, after all that we’ve been through, do you still believe in magic? / Yes I do. Of course I do’

Another single released in April, Midnight is like Bon Iver singing Hide and Seek by Imogen Heap. Quite odd but surprisingly good with a little electronic twist around 3:30. It’s obvious they wanted to try something new and this track is a good example.

The third single A Sky Full Of Stars featuring Avicii, has this piano-house sound that will get you to move but is totally the odd one out (looking at the album as a whole). Sounds a bit like a remix of a Coldplay song.

Other songs like Another’s Arms with a dramatic female voice, True Love’s lyrics ‘tell me you love me/if you don’t then lie to me’ are just breathtakingly beautiful while songs like Ocean and O just fall into one.

Ghost Stories is quiet and beautiful. It speaks right out. It makes you think but also not think at all.

This definitely goes to my ‘Mind Soothing’ playlist!

20Apr2014

Foster the People – Supermodel

Posted in Albums, Alternative Rock, Indie Pop, Neo-psychedelic by halldorabirta

Release date: March 14th 2014

Three years from their debut album Torches comes their follow-up Supermodel. The band’s frontman Mark Foster has said in interviews that Torches was just a collection of songs while Supermodel is an album, a whole. He also said that he wrote this guitar-driven album like nobody was ever going to listen to it and to me that makes this album way more interesting than I ever imagined.

Foster describes the album cover as of a girl who’s vomiting what she had just eaten while paparazzis are capturing her moment of weakness. He said Supermodel is about us acting like supermodels through social media, putting on a face that we want people to see but isn’t necessarily the honest face of who we are.

Being mainly written in Africa it’s easy to spot the eastern sound and rhythm throughout the album. The first song Are You What You Want To Be? makes you feel like you’ve taken a sudden trip to some lost tropical island. The song is also a great beginning for an album and a clear sign that this album has moved to a more stadium-level.

The first single from the album Coming of Age is about the success after Torches but still (for me) doesn’t beat Torches single, Pumped Up Kicks. Best Friend is Mark Foster’s favorite song but also his most difficult one. It ended up being really up-beat song with dark lyrics about his lack of energy after writing the album.

The high point of the album is at The Truth! Literally, no song has ever made me want to cry from anger and happiness at the same time. It makes you kind of tired but also gives you hope “There is a truth / there is a light”

After the powerbomb comes the most beautifully written song on the album, Fire Escape. Like the name indicates, their inspiration came from an old fire escape at the house Foster grew up in. He thought of what the house and the fire escape had seen for all those years, the industrialisation, the greed in LA and as much as he want’s to save it he can’t. As crazy as it sounds this acoustic guitar song is really just beautifully written!