We are HAM! If you aren't yet, that's okay. HAM is legend. It took years of inactivity to become the rock icons they are today. Following the Icelandic doom metal band's prolific years, from 1988 to 1994, their legion of fans grew, until finally their members stepped aside from their other careers -- some in politics -- long enough to release 2011's Svik, harmur, dauði (Betrayal, Tragedy and Death), some sixteen years after their last. Still, their performances have been as rare as the spiritual union of two rustic hermits living in separate valleys (apparently what one of their songs is about). It was high honor then, that HAM should turn the comfy space of Kex Hostel into a raging cavern of unholy (and headbanging) debauchery during our broadcast at Iceland Airwaves with "a few songs about friendship and love... and hate!" We are HAM! And now, so are you:
Northern soul? How about arctic soul? That's yet to be a thing, but if young Icelandic singer-songwriter Júníus Meyvant has anything to do with it, you'll be hearing a lot more similarly soul-stirring melodies from way up north. Júníus Meyvant -- real name Unnar Gísli Sigurmundsson -- has yet to re…
The Donkeys are so So-Cal. "There's no getting around it," noted DJ Cheryl Waters, when the band stopped by KEXP this past summer and played songs from their recent album, Born with Stripes. The Donkeys sound brings to mind images of shimmery, hazy days. If you've never surfed San Diego, this is wh…
To call Mammút's live act "emotive" is a huge understatement. Frontwoman Kata Mogensen seems to enter a completely different state onstage, even covering herself in fake blood or painting her face ominously, while the rest of the band unleashes a colossal sound. We've been fortunate to watch the yo…
