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Everything you've ever heard about Iceland is true, unless for some reason you've been told it's not one of the most amazing places on earth. I'm in Reykjavik right now for the Iceland Airwaves festival, which boasts a strong Canadian presence this year, with Wolf Parade, Patrick Watson, Islands, and Metric all making appearances.
Wolf Parade; photo by Andrew Rose
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Musically, the festival is about as amazing as you'd expect. There are over 100 bands from all over the world, and a heavy dose of local acts of all kinds. I've been balancing my time between catching bands I would never otherwise get a chance to see and catching bands I've seen play tons of times in Montreal, but never as part of a big Canadian crew halfway around the world. From a personal perspective, Wolf Parade's performance last night (at a venue that should probably hold 200, but contained probably 600 people), while not necessarily their tightest ever, was still one of the most enjoyable sets I've ever seen them play. It's not every day you get to see one of your favourite hometown bands embraced spastically by a room of people who, as Spencer put it, "were descended from Vikings...that's pretty cool."
Islands; photo by Andrew Rose
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Islands played a blistering set earlier in the evening (after spearheading a Montreal venue-booze-theft operation, pre-Metric; shit here is EXPENSIVE). Nick Diamonds is starting to show signs that he's entering another phase in his songwriting, which is really exciting to see. It was my first time hearing a new song called "The Arm," a sprawling epic that could almost be taken as a companion piece to "Swans." Keep your ear out for it; it'll flatten you.
But Norway/Denmark's Whitest Boy Alive (a dance-friendly act featuring Erlend Øye from Kings of Convenience) has never been to Canada and probably won't for a while, and they played my favorite set on the Thursday night. They fit splendidly into the new organic dance sound that bands like Hot Chip and Phoenix are so good at. And judging from their recent release, Dreams, they may actually be the best of the bunch. If you ever catch them, keep your ear out for covers of early-nineties dance classics that actually sound fun and cool without coming off as tacky.
Patrick Watson; photo by Andrew Rose
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I squeezed in Apparat Organ Quartet between Islands and Wolf Parade last night as well. They're just what the name sounds like: a big synth/organ beast of a band that includes Jóhann Jóhannsson (whose off-fest solo set I'm about to run off and see). AOQ just re-released a record originally issued on Icelandic label 12Tónar, which is also Reykjavik's coolest record shop. 12Tónar is hosting in-store performances during the festival as well, which is actually where I took in my favorite show thus far. Patrick Watson's official show is tonight after Jens Lekman, but the band played a killer set to a packed crowd in the tiny record store yesterday afternoon, even drawing Sigur Ros's Jónsi in from the street...there's nothing like the look on people's faces when they get to discover an amazing new band early in its career, and in such a intimate setting.
The only thing better than the music thus far might have been the trips we've squeezed in to the tectonic plates, the geysers, the enormous waterfall, and the blue lagoon. I always knew Iceland was unique for its geothermal activity and its landscape, but I had no idea just how overwhelmingly beautiful it is. Watson put it best a couple of days ago, when we were lying on the moon-like moss at the top of a mountain we'd climbed, in complete silence. "You lie here and take this in, and suddenly all the amazing Icelandic music that's come out of here in recent years makes sense. Imagine the sense of space and patience you'd get living here. It totally translates to the music."
Posted October 2006
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elise commented, on October 24, 2006 at 1:39 p.m.:
wow, sounds really fun. wish i was there!