Each time we've gone back to Iceland over the past five years, we've been fortunate to discover and share with KEXP listeners quite a few bands who might not otherwise leave their shores. For every Sugarcubes and Sigur Rós, we found dozens of others, like Hjaltalín, Ásgeir, Of Monsters and Men (back in 2010!), Lay Low, Sin Fang, Hjálmar, Mammút and many, many others. But long before we'd even realized the prolific excellence of this arctic nation, we'd been playing Iceland exports múm, ever since their 2000 debut, Yesterday Was Dramatic – Today Is OK, in fact. The quirky orchestral pop group, whose membership seems about as mercurial as their sound, have managed several world tours over the years and have stopped by KEXP twice, but during Iceland Airwaves in 2013, we were lucky to catch them at home in the warmth of Kex Hostel in Reykjavik.
Full Performance:
One of the highlights of last year's Icelandic Airwaves Festival was the live session we did with Icelandic supergroup Drangar, recorded at Sigur Rós' Sundlaugin (or "Swimming Pool") studio. The three bandmates — Mugison, Jónas Sigurðsson and Ómar Guðjónsson — each highly respected musicians with …
"Are you digging our laid-back vibe?" Band of Horses band leader Ben Bridwell asked the audience during their recent concert at Seattle's Moore Theatre. Following their recently released live recording, Acoustic at the Ryman, Bridwell and co. chose to perform very loose, rootsy interpretations from…
Our broadcast during Iceland Airwaves isn't always about the Iceland bands. While we do enjoy spotlighting groups that KEXP listeners might not otherwise hear, we also love to share with our Nordic friends some of our own favorites, like NYC's Caveman, whose lush, dreamy indie pop sound translates …
