As the mere mortals who (maybe) read this blog headed into their weekend, I hit day four. Easy, easy...!
From here I'll pretty much give up on adding links to every band's music, as I was beginning to work out my new Icelandic favourites and head back for a second listen, so a lot of them were repeat viewing of the same bands. Actually, that's the great thing about the Off-Venue stuff during the day at Airwaves...it gives you chance to see the same bands in different settings and with different set-ups. Oh, and you can get all the links via this page on the Airwaves website anyway (updated archived page).
After a bit of meandering around a grey, drizzly Reykjavik...
..and some lovely traditional Icelandic food at the Islenski Barinn, it was on with the music.
GIG THIRTY THREE. The run of good bands found among the bookshelves at Máls og Menningar was pretty good, so I headed back there again to catch a bit of Klassart.
Sound: a bit folk-sy/country. Quiet slide guitars & slightly reminiscent of Cerys Matthews' US-based music. The singer reminds me of the singer from Scandinavian Music Group, too.
Track: Tvær konur
From: Iceland
GIG THIRTY FOUR was Nora at Nikita. By this point I was getting towards stalking them, but I couldn't get enough of their make-my-happy tunes, and a gig on a skate ramp in drizzle sounded dead-on perfect!
GIG THIRTY FIVE was a bit of a trundle to try and squeeze in to see Rökkurró at Downtown Hostel. Some hope, but I could hear them through the windows which was plenty fine enough for me.
Sound: mournful but lovely. Evocative and quietly anthemic. And joining The Auteurs on the all-too-short 'great bands with cellists' list.
Track: Svanur. Better still, just buy both albums!
From: Iceland
GIG THIRTY SIX another repeat viewing of Utidur at Havari. Along with Nora, these guys are firmly on my 'had-never-heard-of-them-before-this-week-but-have-taken-them-to-my-hearts' list, (And yes, I make a lot of lists).
GIG THIRTY SEVEN was Hjaltalin at Kaffibarinn. Following two emergent Saturday afternoon trends of:
1. second (or beyond) time seeing a band
2. definition of 'seeing' being extended to 'stood outside in the drizzle listening through the open door' (well, you try getting a medium-sized band and their audience into the small front room of Kaffibarinn...)
GIG THIRTY EIGHT was someone I had been wanting to see for a goodly while, and was (if it was possible to be so) better than I could have hoped. The gentleman in question being Mr Nils Frahm and the location being Idno. One man and one grand piano had the audience completely wowed, and sitting on the floor in assembly-like silence (til I knocked a beer bottle over and shattered the dream-state. Oops!)
Sound: classical piano
Track: these are not tracks, but opuses. There's enough online to stream, but buy 'The Bells' as an entry point. I did.
From: Germany
GIG THIRTY NINE involved staying at Idno, because it was Erased Tapes (=record label) showcase night. Rarely have I liked so much of what is curated onto a single label. Codes In The Clouds are proof that something good can come out of Kent, and no mistake.
Sound: chiming guitars laid over a post-rock / lo-fi sound. It's possible that they are the bastard love children of a dark but fruitful collaboration between Mogwai and Broken Social Scene.
Track: Distant Street Lights
From: Dartford, UK
GIG FORTY was another Erased Tapes "stablemate" (always an odd description to my mind) of the previous two acts, Ólafur Arnalds at Idno.
Sound: like Mr Frahm, 'neo-classical composer' would suffice but nowhere near do enough justice. Piano and string symphonies are the core of what he produces, and it's all beautifully calming.
Track: all of the album '...and they have escaped the weight of darkness'
From: Iceland
GIG FORTY ONE was a bit of a "caught the back end of 'em" thing, so I can't really do justice to Mount Kimbie at Nasa. They & the Airwaves website tend to sum them up as Sarf London Dubstep, so if that's your thing...
GIG FORTY TWO became a beautiful but rare opportunity for anyone to see Apparat Organ Quartet. I stumbled across their eponymous first (so far only) album a couple of years ago and had been told they'd effectively gone into a tragically ill-advised retirement. Luckily that was either incorrect information or the decision was reversed. From what they played last night, the soon-to-be-released album is going to be a cracker.
I should also add it was a cracker in two ways... heading down to the very front before they came on, I stacked it down a small flight of steps, rolled over the top of my left foot and heard a cracking sound. PAIN : (
(LATER EDIT: it transpires that the 'crack' was a dislocated big toe. Which I walked about on for 24 hours then caught in my sleeping bag and cracked back in! And when I got home to Walthamstow, a hobble to Whipps Cross for x-rays confirmed two fractured metatarsals on my 1st & 2nd toes)
Sound: Kraftwerk is the easiest and most often-used comparison
Track: Romantika
From: Iceland
GIG FORTY THREE was one of those I couldn't escape from: Hercules & Love Affair, still at Nasa.
Sound: crap
Track: some godawful camp disco shizzle that I would have run away from were I not recently crippled
From: some hell-hole that they should hurry back to
GIG FORTY FOUR...perhaps the reason I stayed (other than the pain in my foot) is now apparent...another fantastically fun and funky set from Retro Stefson at Nasa. Attempting to boogie with a very sore foot was hard, but I found a way! *sings* "Mama Angola, Papa Thule, Portescale...." *and boogies*
GIG FORTY FIVE, being The Amplifetes at Nasa, was another accidental catch that I can't really review (but I'm still claiming it for the count!)
GIG FORTY SIX was a Faroese band called 200 at Amsterdam. By this point my foot was screaming with pain, but the crazy Faroese mentalist rockers were screaming harder. Dressed as rabbits. Wearing bras over their fur and t-shirts. From within a very dense fog caused by a hyperactive dry ice machine. Hilarious, but time for bed, said Zebedee... ;-)
Day Four scores on the doors....Bands 39 - 46 Sets
From here I'll pretty much give up on adding links to every band's music, as I was beginning to work out my new Icelandic favourites and head back for a second listen, so a lot of them were repeat viewing of the same bands. Actually, that's the great thing about the Off-Venue stuff during the day at Airwaves...it gives you chance to see the same bands in different settings and with different set-ups. Oh, and you can get all the links via this page on the Airwaves website anyway (updated archived page).
After a bit of meandering around a grey, drizzly Reykjavik...
GIG THIRTY THREE. The run of good bands found among the bookshelves at Máls og Menningar was pretty good, so I headed back there again to catch a bit of Klassart.
Sound: a bit folk-sy/country. Quiet slide guitars & slightly reminiscent of Cerys Matthews' US-based music. The singer reminds me of the singer from Scandinavian Music Group, too.
Track: Tvær konur
From: Iceland
GIG THIRTY FOUR was Nora at Nikita. By this point I was getting towards stalking them, but I couldn't get enough of their make-my-happy tunes, and a gig on a skate ramp in drizzle sounded dead-on perfect!
GIG THIRTY FIVE was a bit of a trundle to try and squeeze in to see Rökkurró at Downtown Hostel. Some hope, but I could hear them through the windows which was plenty fine enough for me.
Sound: mournful but lovely. Evocative and quietly anthemic. And joining The Auteurs on the all-too-short 'great bands with cellists' list.
Track: Svanur. Better still, just buy both albums!
From: Iceland
GIG THIRTY SIX another repeat viewing of Utidur at Havari. Along with Nora, these guys are firmly on my 'had-never-heard-of-them-before-this-week-but-have-taken-them-to-my-hearts' list, (And yes, I make a lot of lists).
GIG THIRTY SEVEN was Hjaltalin at Kaffibarinn. Following two emergent Saturday afternoon trends of:
1. second (or beyond) time seeing a band
2. definition of 'seeing' being extended to 'stood outside in the drizzle listening through the open door' (well, you try getting a medium-sized band and their audience into the small front room of Kaffibarinn...)
GIG THIRTY EIGHT was someone I had been wanting to see for a goodly while, and was (if it was possible to be so) better than I could have hoped. The gentleman in question being Mr Nils Frahm and the location being Idno. One man and one grand piano had the audience completely wowed, and sitting on the floor in assembly-like silence (til I knocked a beer bottle over and shattered the dream-state. Oops!)
Sound: classical piano
Track: these are not tracks, but opuses. There's enough online to stream, but buy 'The Bells' as an entry point. I did.
From: Germany
GIG THIRTY NINE involved staying at Idno, because it was Erased Tapes (=record label) showcase night. Rarely have I liked so much of what is curated onto a single label. Codes In The Clouds are proof that something good can come out of Kent, and no mistake.
Sound: chiming guitars laid over a post-rock / lo-fi sound. It's possible that they are the bastard love children of a dark but fruitful collaboration between Mogwai and Broken Social Scene.
Track: Distant Street Lights
From: Dartford, UK
GIG FORTY was another Erased Tapes "stablemate" (always an odd description to my mind) of the previous two acts, Ólafur Arnalds at Idno.
Sound: like Mr Frahm, 'neo-classical composer' would suffice but nowhere near do enough justice. Piano and string symphonies are the core of what he produces, and it's all beautifully calming.
Track: all of the album '...and they have escaped the weight of darkness'
From: Iceland
GIG FORTY ONE was a bit of a "caught the back end of 'em" thing, so I can't really do justice to Mount Kimbie at Nasa. They & the Airwaves website tend to sum them up as Sarf London Dubstep, so if that's your thing...
GIG FORTY TWO became a beautiful but rare opportunity for anyone to see Apparat Organ Quartet. I stumbled across their eponymous first (so far only) album a couple of years ago and had been told they'd effectively gone into a tragically ill-advised retirement. Luckily that was either incorrect information or the decision was reversed. From what they played last night, the soon-to-be-released album is going to be a cracker.
(LATER EDIT: it transpires that the 'crack' was a dislocated big toe. Which I walked about on for 24 hours then caught in my sleeping bag and cracked back in! And when I got home to Walthamstow, a hobble to Whipps Cross for x-rays confirmed two fractured metatarsals on my 1st & 2nd toes)
Sound: Kraftwerk is the easiest and most often-used comparison
Track: Romantika
From: Iceland
GIG FORTY THREE was one of those I couldn't escape from: Hercules & Love Affair, still at Nasa.
Sound: crap
Track: some godawful camp disco shizzle that I would have run away from were I not recently crippled
From: some hell-hole that they should hurry back to
GIG FORTY FOUR...perhaps the reason I stayed (other than the pain in my foot) is now apparent...another fantastically fun and funky set from Retro Stefson at Nasa. Attempting to boogie with a very sore foot was hard, but I found a way! *sings* "Mama Angola, Papa Thule, Portescale...." *and boogies*
GIG FORTY FIVE, being The Amplifetes at Nasa, was another accidental catch that I can't really review (but I'm still claiming it for the count!)
GIG FORTY SIX was a Faroese band called 200 at Amsterdam. By this point my foot was screaming with pain, but the crazy Faroese mentalist rockers were screaming harder. Dressed as rabbits. Wearing bras over their fur and t-shirts. From within a very dense fog caused by a hyperactive dry ice machine. Hilarious, but time for bed, said Zebedee... ;-)
Day Four scores on the doors....Bands 39 - 46 Sets
