Iceland Airwaves: Saturday's Picks

pYesterday we met Björk, filmed a session with Ólafur Arnalds in his amazing Reykjavík studio, bumped into Friends at breakfast, caught up with I Break Horses and hosted a stage at Harpa. We can safely say it was the most bizarre and brilliant day we’ve ever had and we haven’t even got to the seeing bands bit yet.

Daughter

Having signed to 4AD earlier this year Daughter have been conspicuously absent from the UK gigging circuit so having sorely missed their arresting acoustic offerings and with the added draw of new material possibilities we headed to the beautiful Fríkirkjan Free Church. The opening strums of early demo number ‘Run’ immediately remind us of just how incredible Elena Tonra’s voice is, having the bittersweet, smooth qualities of a good whiskey with all the fiery after taste you could want. Alongside her Remi Aguilella’s grandiose, sparse drumming emphasises the harsh reality of her narratives while Igor Haefeli takes the lead in engaging with the crowd: “You’ve got a beautiful country” he says “and it smells so nice! Seriously though, this is like a dream come true for us.” The first second of closing song ‘Home’ is recognised by the crowd instantly and greeted with cheers, Tonra giggles with delightful disbelieve. Such a special band.

Philco Fiction

With singer Turid her usual bundle of energy amid the aircraft hanger-confines of Harpa’s Silfurberg room, Philco Fiction brought the fun and the crowd lapped it up. Sitting dead centre on the line up for the Best Fit stage, the Norweigen trio were already buzzed after another show for us earlier in the day, which we filmed for a Best Fit Session.

Dirty Projectors

As the main part of Iceland Airwaves draws to a close, we head to Reykjavik Art Museum to round off the evening in serious style. Serious, experimental pop style. This is the perfect setting for a Dirty Projectors concert, an atmospheric, expansive room – a blank but beautiful canvas upon which Dirty Projectors are able to recreate their intricate sonic visions. As one would imagine, it’s the singles ‘Gun Has No Trigger’ and ‘About To Die’ which provoke the strongest reaction, but nowhere near as strong as the reaction of the crowd when a chiming guitar line turns into the opening notes of ‘Stillness Is The Move’. As the crowd turns into a swaying mass of dancing revellers, the setting, sound and ambience unite, making for a very special spectacle indeed.