These kids started their music career early and they were no wonderchilds early on but to my surprise, and great joy, they have developed into a force to be reckoned with. The singer has a strong stage presence, mighty voice, bare feet, fur legwarmers and warpaint on her face.
The flirt with the wild and the untamed force of nature is really clear but it’s a fine line to walk between it being a joke and for it to work.
For most of the time it works but much thanks to the fact that they seem to live in the stage show every second of it and never lose character.
The venue looks like a small and quite house from the outside but inside it turns into a big venue that packs a lot of people. And it’s sweaty. The crowd is enjoying the performance for sure and there is no mistaking just how synced Mammút have become over the years but the next big question is if they are ready to be exported abroad.
And will this work outside of Iceland? I’m not entirely sure, it could literally go either way. Though there is nothing wrong with their music, the audience must be ready for Mammút because there is no compromising. Which is good, a band like Mammút should never make compromises.
There is some developing for Mammút to do, at least I don’t think that this is their peak. I’d like to think that there are still more to come from this group.
One problem is that when I walked away, I still had those fur legwarmers and bare feet on my mind, and not the music. Which worries me. Aren’t the songs more memorable than that?
The übergreat festival on the volcanic island has opened up its glorious field of music. Airwaves, featuring tons of Icelandic bands as well as international acts will be something to remember.
Kentuckyseven is represented by the most competent and super talented Maja Sigfeldt. Her first report, from the island of indie music.
For a Minor Reflection
KEX (off venue)
It’s time to introduce the Kentuckyseven listeners to some Icelandic post rock galore. This weekend there’ll be reviews from the Iceland Airwaves festival i Reykjavik. This is a Mekka for indie lovers from all over the world.
Airwaves opened strong with For a Minor Reflection who treated the audience on a 4 song teaser in the early afternoon. The old biscuit factory turned into a hot, packed shelter from the rain and wind outside. It became evident that this band is something extraordinary and had people on their toes and the press were crazy.
And with all right. These guys have something that other post rock bands seem to lack. There is no simple way of explaining just what that something is but the audience can’t seem to get enough of it.
One way of trying to explain it would be to say that most bands try to put emotion into the music that they’re making. Icelandic bands seem to make music out of emotion.
It’s the sound of emotion. And with FaMR this especially evident. When these guys mangle their instruments everything around you stop. Nothing matters, you just know that your heart is aching and there is no way to deny it. And you know that everyone else in that venue feel it too.
FaMR just released their new EP, that’s actually named EP, with the help of pledgers. It’s an idea built on devoted fans paying for the EP and some exclusive material before the music is even recorded. For this to work you need fans that actually believe in what you do.
There is no doubt that FaMR is among Iceland’s finest. All the fuzz about Icelandic music as something exotic, as the sound of volcanoes, grand nature, harsh winters and so on is so irrelevant. This is music that is beyond those clichées and deserve to be compared to music outside of Iceland. And in that perspective they hold their own very well.
Be sure to catch these guys live if you have the chance. It is truly an experience that you don’t want to miss out on.
This teaser of a concert get 5/7, mostly because we don’t get enough after just four songs.
Kentuckyseven is off to Way Out West. We´ll see ya at:
¤ Fri: 13.00 Edward Sharpe 14.00 Christian Kjellvander 15.10 The Avett Brothers 17.00 Explosions in the sky 17.20 The Hives 18.30 Fleet Foxes 19.45 Robyn 21.00 Thåström 22.15 Prince 00.30 Syket 01.30 Yuck.
¤ Sat: 14.00 Tallest man on earth 15.00 Anna Järvinen 15.30 The Jayhawks 16.40 Noah and the whale 17.40 Säkert 1930 Loney Dear 1940 Pulp 2100 Tiësto 22.20 Kanye West 00.30 Nicolai Dunger 01.30 Me and my army.
A month and a half to go. Then Way Out West will finally kick off in Slottsskogen, Gothenburg, Sweden. This will be the festival to look up this summer.
The starting XI is – as always – great with big-stuff-headliners mixed with folk-rock-gems. And the signing of Swedish Godfather Joakim Thåström – his only gig of 2011 – makes us @ Kentuckyseven go hmpfh.
Check out this great b-side-take of his 2005-song ’Fan Fan Fan’ recorded 03.00, alone in the studio. Pretty stunning.
There are some people who just know. The folks over at Woody West, they are definately those kind of people. Tonight the give they the Swedish Westcoast something really special. A minifestival, a pre-party to Way Out West if you will.
With artists like these, this will be a night to remember. A crowd of a bit over a 1000 will get the chance to meet bands like Band of Horses, First Aid Kit and artists like Dylan LeBlanc, Basia Bulat up close and personal.
Kentuckyseven will be there. For this Limited Edition. Thank you Woody West.
Starts at 17.00 @ Trägårn’ Gothenburg.
Tix: Check out Ticnet, Nudie Jeans Store or Pusterviksbiljetter
Way Out West keeps two feet in front of everyone else this summer. Superstars Prince and Kanye West are joined by our swedish godfather Joakim Thåström, the everlasting Fleet Foxes, instru-gods Explosions In The Sky, fking awesome Yuck, hot Edward Sharpe, oldgold The Jayhawks, folky-vibe Timber Timbre, beautiful Warpaint, and my personal favband The Avett Brothers.
And we still got our hopes up bout The Head And The Heart…
Latest booking is very interesting, iamamiwhoami. Check out this vid:
May 24, 1941 was the day when the world started to spin in a phenomenal way. The day when Duluth, Minnesota became the centre of the world. The day when my personal Jesus hit the streets of America.
Bob Dylan means the world to me. He is one of my closest friends, yet the odds are we´ll never meet. He knocked me out, and still does with the strenght of his music, his lyrics, his appearance.
This man is coolness personalized, he is the one that put all other shit together. When your day seems rough and weary, try his tenderness. Check out this and this and this and this and this and this.
We´ll celebrate his 70th birthday with Nikke Ström, Mattias Hellberg, Daniel Gilbert on Stora Teatern in Gothenburg. It will be a feast, an art- and photoexhibition, lectures, filmscreenings and tonnes more.
Having almost created a genre of their own with the first album, this Seattle-based folk band follows up with greatness. A sophomore album with dignity. I am stunned, just like in 2008.
Mr Pecknold know his way around folk, having created the feeling of the sixties-sound cloaked in a modern wardrobe. The vocals and instruments makes you wait for the next album already. The lyrics are like stories, and wanders from barefoot to heavy workboots. Know this, this album is bound for many late night sessions in the summer to come.
In interviews, Pecknold refers to his feelings for this album, wanting to create something in the vicinity of Van Morrisson’s Astral Weeks. Beeing inspired by Roy Harpers album Stormcock. I say this is nothing less than epic stuff.
Like many follow-ups, the anticipation is great, and having followed Fleet Foxes during the process, on Twitter, I have been more than inpatient. I have to say, the wait was not at all in vain, it exceeded my expactations. Way beyond, that is.
Fleet Foxes will be playing Way Out West this summer, I will be there, believe me, I will be there.
Close to perfection, again. This album is a clear six. A Kentuckyseven-Classic already.
You know that real Americana. The one where you can feel that worn out seat of a rugged pick up. That feeling of really dusty boots with worn out heels. And a broken heart.
That kind of Americana is played by The Far West. No more no less. It’s genuine down to that last longneck, sliding over the steelguitar.
The boys, Lee Briante, Robert Black, Erik Kristiansen and Tony Sanborn are hitting the right notes down the road that is great american folk and country music.
They have been described as something like” Waylon’s band jamming with Wilco” which should be something every band like this would put up on their walls and be proud of.
The Dylan-fan will be feeling right at home in songs like ”White Freightliner”, which sounds like its carved out of a 70’s Dylan record, and molded into The Far West.
The debut album is released today, and the band is headed out to SXSW for two shows, 15th and 16th @ B.D. Riley’s Pub and Waterloo Ice house.
April 3rd they will play @ The Grand Ole Echo in LA, with another of the Kentuckyseven favorites, Maxim Ludvig & The Santa Fe Seven. Now there is a show we would like to attend.
Been waiting forever. Just to get a date. And finally it’s out there. May 2 is the date. The date to mark in your calendar.
Fleet Foxes second album ”Helplessness Blues” will be released May 2:nd. The Seattleband follows up on their superdebut from 2008.
Producer on the new album is Phil Ek (Band of Horses, Modest Mouse and Shins among many). The album is released on Bella Union (Cosmos Music Group)
Twelve new tracks, and one new member. And for those of you who want to see them this summer. You’re in luck. Fleet Foxes are signed up for europe’s best festival. Way Out West.
