Reykjavik’s Airwaves Festival is one of the biggest events on Iceland’s cultural calendar. A celebration of the country’s thriving scene and prolific musical output, Airwaves introduces local bands to an international audience whilst bringing a tantalising selection of cross-genre bands to Reykjavik from around the world.

Our guide Halli was a brave leader, stewarding us through Opal, Viking, Thule and Tópas; the local brews of choice. After mooching around a few warmup shows in downtown Reykjavik (including a memorable early blowout from noiseniks Dr Spock and a couple of folky numbers from Iceland’s current number one-selling artist Lay Lo), the Kimi Records party was the place to catch some of the best Icelandic bands on offer. Continue Reading

I listened to a lot of music at Airwaves, in some pretty extraordinary circumstances.

In a hired 4×4, cruising around a volcano on a flat lava plain, surrounded by sea and sky… driving over a long land bridge or through a seemingly endless tunnel… waking up in Reykjavik 101 with huge, rolling snow-capped cliffs at the bottom of the street… playing records in Kaffibarrinn, my new favourite bar in the world… or listening to my iPod while strolling down Laugavegur, my head buzzing with excitement and optimism.

This mix is made in response to all of that happy overload of stimuli and circumstance. It’s sprinkled with field recordings from Reykjavik and the Snæfellsjökull volcano - church bells ringing, the tide on the black sand beach, skimmed stones skittering over a frozen lagoon, and a harmony sung in the Songhellir singing cave all feature here too.

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Look out for an in depth review of this years Airwaves Festival coming to TLOBF this weekend.

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The wonderful Iceland Airwaves festival returns for it’s 10th year in October and whilst the main headline acts are still to be announced, we are pleased to reveal the first names added to the TLOBF-friendly bill are: CSS, The Young Knives, Crystal Castles and These New Puritans. Also confirmed are the hotly tipped British combination of White Lies and Florence and The Machine.

Also set to perform this year are Final Fantasy, Simian Mobile Disco, Junior Boys, Robots In Disguise, Stars Like Fleas, The Dirty Projectors, GusGus, Miracle Fortress, Handsome Furs, Familjen, and Australia’s Pnau.

The event will take place in downtown Reykjavik between 15-19th October.

The festival’s sponsor, Icelandair, are offering special UK package deals to get festival goers to and from Iceland, and includes entry to the event too. Icelandair flies out of London, Manchester and Glasgow. For more details, click here.