Rökkurró at Iceland Airwaves
photos by Scott Holpainen
Today in Reykjavik during the Iceland Airwaves festival, we spent the morning and afternoon at RÚV, the National Icelandic Broadcasting Service, with five Icelandic bands, all of which you can listen to now on demand on our Live In-Studio Performances page.
First up, early in the morning was Seabear, one of the more popular Icelandic bands right now and one you’ve probably heard on KEXP before. Started by Sindri Már Sigfússon (whose solo project is Sin Fang Bous), the folk-leaning collective has grown into a collective of 6 or more members at any given time.
S. H. Draumur (translated in English as “Black and White Dream”) have return to the stage after having last performed 17 years ago! The trio formed in ’82, performed for a handful of years and put out a few releases and supported bands like Einsturzende Neubauten, Crime and the City Solution, Swans, and The Sugarcubes. Their early post-punk sound fits right in with Gang of Four, Wire and The Fall.
Jónas Sigurðsson has one goal: to make you feel good! His eight-piece group, Jónas Sigurðsson & Ritvélar Framtíðarinnar, combines soul, jazz, Afrobeat, rock, pop, and electronica into an ecstatic mix, and Jónas himself is a captivating frontman.
For the past eight years, the three members of Kimono have built a strong following in Reykjavik with their moody post-rock sound, and they’re probably the most accessible to listeners in the U.S. thanks to vocalist/guitarist Alex MacNeil’s English lyrics (he originally hails from Halifax, Canada):
Mínus have been causing a stir in Iceland since 1999 and their aggressive rock sound has made them a natural fit to support band like Metallica, QOTSA, and Foo Fighters. Because their drummer was unable to attend this session, they stripped it down and did a nearly acoustic version of their song, “The Beast”:
