Kentuckyseven

Sin Fang og Superband

Hrésso (off venue)

Sindri Már Sigfusson is the singer of Seabear and the voice and mind behind Sin Fang since a while back. Alongside his newly put together super-band he played in a tent in a backyard behind a restaurant. Quite an odd place for a gig and kind of tricky to locate. Despite that the place was filled to the brim with eager listeners trying to get a glimpse of Sindri.

The show started late so early birds could catch Sindri in the audience before the show with his toddler on his hip. It’s at that point that I realize that this is what Airwaves is all about. People flying in from all across the world to a rainy city and watch Icelanders play in their backyard. And it is truly nothing short of amazing.

Sindri’s super-band consists of friends from various Icelandic bands and one of them have homemade guitar pedals made out of tuna cans.

Tuna cans. Airwaves is about making the most out of scarce resources and boy do we appreciate it.

With three mics in front of Sindri he manages to recreate that same peculiar sound-scape that he caught on his last album. This could be one of those gigs where a guy just stands there with his guitar and sings a few sweet tunes but this is more than that. Somehow.

The wind was blowing through the tent and the combined heat of the audience couldn’t keep out the cold. On top of that Sindri’s guitar almost died on him during the second to last song. After a minute or two of nervous fiddling, pleading along the lines ”please guitar, don’t die, I’ve been so good to you” the show could continue.

When Sindri and his super-band play the last song they go out strong and it is clear that both the audience and the band tries to make the most of this small off venue gig as the full scale gig later that night is scheduled at the same time as Beach House.

Despite the make shift tent, the cold, the guitar almost dying, the delay and the short time that they played it was this something extraordinary. Sindri is one of those musicians that manages to create magic so easily, right before our eyes and we have no idea how it happened. But we are spellbound.

5/7

/Maja, K7 correspondent

Mammút
NASA

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?

This is a 4/7

/Maja, K7 correspondent

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.

/Maja, K7 correspondent