Reykjavík Grapevine - 11.11.2016, Qupperneq 42

Music 42The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 17 — 2016Airwaves
Wow. It feels like the starting gun
has just been fired, but: Airwaves
2016 is over. Airwaves happens
fast, and it comes at your from
all directions. In the case of FM
Belfast, it came in the form of a
rain of glitter and ticker tape and
streamers. In the case of Björk, it
came from inside: people spoke of
feeling physical heartache from
her show. This festival generally
has the ability to open people up,
somehow: to activate them, in any
number of ways. It left our writers
asking: What Just Happened?
Jessica Bowe Went
Milkywhale Watching
I’m still basking in a warm glow
from the festival. There was the
lovable rap-weirdness and silver
light-up disco shoes of Krakk og
Spagettí. There were the mor-
bid yet oddly positive lyrics and
beautiful strings of Myrra Rós in
Kaldalón. There was MilkyWhale,
my first real #YASSS moment of
the week: imagine an aerobics in-
structor in a 1960s quasi-futuristic
jumpsuit, with a giant “M” in the
background meant to hypnotise
you—like Zoolander at the Mu-
gatu compound. There was even
more YASSS at Santigold and Julia
Holter. But Kate Tempest won the
festival, for me, by a landslide.
Hannah Jane Cohen Got
Converted To Björk
The title of my Airwaves: That
Time Hannah Felt So Much That
She Missed The Gísli Pálmi Show,
feat. Björk. My high points were:
Trying (relatively unsuccessfully)
to start a dance floor for Krakk
og Spaghettí. Dancing alone at
Paloma unselfconsciously. Feeling
more than I ever thought I could
after watching Björk. Becoming
one of those stupid people who live
in Iceland and love Björk. And the
low point? My bank account.
Grayson Del Faro
Partied Through The Flu
I ventured out with my flu after
a lot of sleep, stone-cold sober,
and went from watching an off-
venue in a tourist shop to seeing
a local indie record label Bedroom
Community performing with the
symphony orchestra in the fanci-
est venue in Iceland. I knew then
it couldn’t be the worst Airwaves
ever because no Airwaves can be
the worst. It’s about experiencing
music in every single form, and
pushing music into every available
space, medium, and experience.
One highlight was aYia—they’re
not just another new Icelandic
electronic band, they’re THE new
Icelandic electronic band.
John Rogers Found A Lucky Cloud
My favourite moments of the fes-
tival were many. The lush, caring
first notes of Björk’s “Stonemilker”
sent a ripple of electricity through
the audience. When múm played
“Green Grass Of Tunnel,” it was
purest magic. DJ flugvél og Geim-
skip being mobbed by toddlers at
her Hotel Alda off-venue was ador-
able—they intuitively responded
to her playful warmth, following
her around like a row of ducklings
as she came offstage. Sam Amidon
playing Arthur Russell’s “Lucky
Cloud” at his Kaffibarinn off-venue
was a joining together of two of my
favourite singers.
Parker Yamasaki Got
Into Wholesome Rap
They’ll tell you not to spend all of
Airwaves seeing your favourite
bands twice. I don’t adhere. The
band that comes to mind as I write
this is Sturla Atlas. Their Harpa
show was packed and splitting at
the seams with energy, but it was
during their humble Slippurinn
set, rich with family wholesome-
ness (there were toddlers and pup-
pies running around the stage) and
everyone drinking hot chocolate
instead of spilling vodka on each
other, that their music sort of
settled in for me. It was the sin-
cerity of this set that got to me. In
Harpa when they charged out with
“101 boys, we came from nothing,”
the cynic in me flared up; but sur-
rounded by hairdresser’s mirrors,
I saw a different side of them.
Read our full Airwaves 2016
roundup at gpv.is/air16.
What Just
Happened?
Grapevine’s Airwaves 2016
Words JOHN ROGERS & THE AIRWAVES 5
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