#airwaves 2016

What do teenagers in 2016 think about musical genres? Not much, if you listen to and look at Let’s Eat Grandma, the project of Jenny Hollingworth and Rosa Walton. At the core, their music is electronic but they add all kinds of acoustic instruments to the mix.

And they play them all live too: following some mysterious choreography, Jenny and Rosa play saxophone, flute, guitar, ukulele, glockenspiel, drum in addition to three keyboards – and I probably missed some. They constantly swap out instruments, sometimes mid-song: one takes over a chord on the keyboard while the other moves to play something else. Certainly, they don’t master all those instruments, they just use them as they see fit, but that makes the show even more impressive and effective. We enjoyed their live show immensely and can not wait to see them live again.

“I, Gemini”, the debut album by Let’s Eat Grandma is out now. Listen on Apple Music or Spotify . Follow Let’s Eat Grandma on Facebook and Twitter.

From all the excellent shows at Iceland’s magical music festival Airwaves, I would not hesitate to name Dream Wife as my favorite. The Iceland/U.K. three-piece of Rakel Mjöll (vocals), Alice Go (guitar) and Bella Podpadec (bass) as well as a live drummer nails it on stage with a perfect show, sonically and visually. Their guitar-driven indie pop brims with energy and they have left their origins as a “fake girl band” far behind: this feels more serious than they might be aware of.

In part, this is courtesy of singer Rakel Mjöll’s extraordinary vocal delivery. She raps more than she sings and she fires every single word into the audience for maximum effect. You get an idea on their recorded music, but live her performance is simply breathtaking.

We saw Dream Wife three times, two times on big stages at Gamla Bíó and Harpa Silfurberg and another time for an intimate show at the Loft Hostel, where a group of children was in attendance. No wonder that so many Icelanders become musicians: being exposed to such great music at an early age must have an effect.

Follow Dream Wife on Facebook or Twitter. Listen to their album EP01 on Apple Music or Spotify .

Gamla Bíó

Gamla Bíó

Gamla Bíó

Gamla Bíó

Gamla Bíó

Gamla Bíó

Gamla Bíó

Gamla Bíó

Gamla Bíó

Gamla Bíó

Gamla Bíó

Gamla Bíó

Gamla Bíó

Loft Hostel

Loft Hostel

Loft Hostel

Loft Hostel

Loft Hostel

Loft Hostel

Loft Hostel

Harpa Silfurberg

== All concert photos by glamglare.com – Elke Nominikat and Oliver Bouchard ==

Listen to  the stunning “Heartbreaker”:

https://soundcloud.com/dream-wife/hey-heartbreaker

Catch Dream Wife on tour:

The festival slows down considerably on day 5, but you fortunately don’t have to go off live music cold turkey: there are still off venue and official shows to see around town.

For example there was still action at Loft at the Sofar Sounds showcase. So much was going on that we could see only a glimpse of Living Arrows and Owl of the Swamp, two folk bands from the U.S. respective Australia.

Same situation at Dillon where we saw Slow Down Molasses in front of a jam packed room. The four-piece from Saskatoon does straightforward alt-rock, which has almost an exotic touch compared with the more than experimental music that dominates Airwaves.

After that we were in for a treat at Kaffibarinn: Kira Kira, an ambient music artist with pop star appeal from Reykjavik, who does music with a laptop and a homemade handheld synthesizer. Only at Airwaves you can experience this kind of music together with a cheering audience.

The capstone of the festival was the PJ Harvey show at Vodaphoehöllin, a huge venue outside of town. Seeing a legend live is always a delight, but I was a surprised that PJ Harvey chose nine men as backing band, all serious musicians and multi-instrumentalists, but none of them was able to play the bugle on stage for “The Glorious Land”.

And that was a wrap: the supposed shuttle busses didn’t run, so we ended our festival experience with a walk though the nightly town of Reykjavik. Takk, Iceland for a wonderful experience and I hope it will not be the last time we can visit Airwaves.

Saturday we started off with a walk to Bryggjan Brugghús, a microbrewery with restaurant where a showcase of Icelandic artists took place.

When we arrived, Hildur was on and showed why the Nordic approach to pop music is so appealing: there is always some restraint and melancholy woven in that keeps it off the bubblegum territory.

Hip Hop is big in Iceland and Emmsjé Gauti demonstrated again that the language works well with the beats. We understood only the English swearwords, but that made the show not less enjoyable. Again there were lots of kids in attendance, which may be a hint why so many Icelandians become musicians.

Next up was Milkywhale, which is a dance as much as a music project. Melkorka Sigríður Magnúsdóttir bounces around the stage and encourages the audience to do the same.

Back in town at our now official favorite (off-)venue Loft we saw the must see act East of my Youth, the duo of Herdís Stefánsdóttir and Thelma Marín Jónsdóttir. They turned issues with their complex setup into an entertaining intro where Thelma told stories and showed off her shiny new sampler. Then we had the pleasure to listen to their single “Mother” (a glamglare song pick) with the actual mother in attendance. The EP is out in two weeks – more here on glamglare.

At this point we had to split forces: I stayed for Canadian dark pop five-piece Doomsquad while Elke went over to BarAnanas for Fufanu (more on this per Elke’s words awesome show later, separately). Doomsquad carry a boat load of instruments on stage to unleash a hell of a spectacle: at some point the percussionist jumped off the stage, where she yelled swearwords into the audience (we met her at SXSW – in real life she is lovely).

They were followed by Australian singer/songwriter Alex Cameron, who travels the world accompanied by saxophone player Roy. Most of the music comes from an iPad, but he makes up for it by telling bizarre stories between the songs. Also, he wears a velvet suit on stage.

The vibe at Loft was too good to leave: suddenly I found myself surrounded by members of my two favorite festival bands Warpaint and Dream Wife. Only at Airwaves!

If you are living in fear that women will take over the music industry rather sooner than later, Airwaves is not for you. At Harpa we saw another case in point: Let’s Eat Grandma are two British teenagers who don’t care about following any established genre rules. Rosa and Jenny play an array of instruments in addition to the electronic core of their music: less to show off musicianship, but rather because they can do whatever they set their minds on.

Meanwhile at Gamla Bíó Kate Tempest finished her show and hundreds of people streamed out of the building. With the American fear of liabilities in mind, this looked like a recipe for disaster, but it all worked out well.

Icelandic supergroup Gangly was on next. If you are asked for the voice of Iceland and you don’t want to be obvious, Jófríður Ákadóttir is a good answer. Aside from Gangly, she sings in a bunch of other bands, including the internationally known Samaris. No wonder as her voice has a certain icy sparkle that can turn any song into an experience.

On day 3 we could finally take advantage of the “off venue” shows, which are free for all and take place in various shops, restaurants and hostels around town. Since those locations are smaller and feature often only makeshift stages, the shows are more intimate and you have a good chance to chat with the musicians.

But first we had to go to Harpa again for a chance to get tickets for PJ Harvey’s closing show on Sunday. Since we were late, we thought to be laughed off, but no: tickets were still available, even though some people waited since 8 am in the morning.

First show was Dream Wife once more at the Loft hostel. We were joined by a bunch of small kids who were in for a rock’n’roll lesson by Rakel, Alice and Bella. After the show we chatted with Rakel and are happy to report that they are planning to make SXSW in conjunction with a U.S. tour next spring.

A short but expensive cab ride brought us to the campus of the Reykjavik university, where a local bank sponsored a show of Icelandic artists, two of which we have featured on glamglare.

Audur does smooth new soul music backed by electronics and guitar. Soffia Björg plays together with a three-piece backing band Americana-leaning rock music. Both acts are on the verge to become known beyond their home country.

Back in town, we caught another bit of a Dreamwife show, this time at the large stage of Harpa Silfurberg. We stayed for Reykjavíkurdætur, a must see show at Airwaves. The “daughters of Reykjavik”, are a hip hop band, but nothing prepares you for seeing 14 women in designer dresses occupying the stage and start rapping. They rhyme in Icelandic but the feminist message was universal and they added enough English words to understand that a parental advisory was in order.

They were followed by Warpaint, a beacon for women in music themselves. They played a somewhat subdued show, but that didn’t bother the jam packed room.

Capping off the night for us were Fews at the Gaukurinn. They overcame sound problems to put on a show brimming of raw energy.

Airwaves is not your typical music festival, so why not starting the day off at one of the 25 wonders of the world? The Blue Lagoon is a natural pool fed by hot springs with healing powers. A couple of hours of relaxation time, because we were up for a fantastic line up in the evening.

At Gamla Bíó, a beautiful event space, CeaseTone opened the night. The band around singer/guitarist Haffstein Þráinsson does catchy dream rock soundscapes.

Next up on the same stage was Dream Wife, a U.K./Icelandic three-piece. While name and lineup suggests some sort of semi-serious punk outfit, the three women (plus drummer) are up to something else: the fierce guitar-driven indie rock would be exciting even without their outstanding singer Rakel Mjöll, who is blessed with the ability to charm an entire room of people with a single smile.

After that we were heading over to Harpa which runs shows in four venues. This time it was packed with festival attendants and felt finally more rock’n’roll than classical music. At Silfurberg Icelandian band Singapore Sling was on. The six to seven piece band plays intense, loud alternative rock. Extra points for the backdrop: during the show a sculpture of a bull’s head grew invisibly from a tiny spot to a menacing monster.

The next band, Fufanu, topped Elke’s must see list, so the excitement was big when singer Kaktus Einarsson and guitarist Guðlaugur Einarsson took the stage backed by a bassist and a drummer. Kaktus made it official (after Dream Wife has proven it earlier that day): a dedicated singer rocks. His bad boy rock show fit perfectly to Fufanu’s dark alt rock and drove the crowd close to insanity.

And there was no winding down from here: Californian duo Go Dark’s heavy electronic beats left a packed Gaukurínn breathless. They brought life-sized neon colored figures to the stage for a weirded-out future hippie vibe.

There was not much of a first impression of Iceland because it is pitch dark when the planes from the U.S. arrive at the Reykjavik Keflavik airport in the early morning. After checkout it took another 50 minutes by bus to make it to the charming capital of Iceland. With not much sleep during the night, we were happy that we could move into our room early and take an intense two-hour power nap.

We needed it, because there is so much going on. Airwaves has two parts: the official one which requires a wristband for admission into one of the designated venues and a free “off venue” part that takes place in shops, restaurants and youth hostels all over town. That’s a similar concept as SXSW, but while Austin’s downtown is pretty much consumed by the festival, you could easily overlook that Airwaves is taking place in Reykjavik, even at its epicenter, the fancy multi-level concert hall Harpa. That contributes to a much more relaxed vibe, where music is more important than party.

For us the first act we saw was German singer/producer [Josin] (https://www.facebook.com/josinmusic/)at the Loft Hostel. We couldn’t ask for a better start. For once, Josin’s beautifully intimate songs fit perfectly to what one would expect from an Icelandic music festival. And the hostel’s bar with people comfortably lounging on the floor.

After the registration we fought our way through the rain to Húrra. First up, Cryptochrome, an international group with a German making the beats plus Icelandic and English MCs. Fantastic stuff and a pick on our must-see list.

Einar Indra is a solo singer/producer, who got the crowd going with soulful electronica.