New artists, but where’s the buzz?

Greetings.  It’s been awhile, hasn’t it?  For a variety of reasons, there’s not been much posting.  Life does get in the way, at least my life has anyway.   Other than the busy but not often tremendously exciting life I lead, there’s been a dearth of information on Airwaves.   We’re a month out and the buzz is…not really there.  I mean, is it just me?  Where’s the anticipation?  The build-up?  The attitude?  The HTML emails even?   The last two years I couldn’t wait for the last band announcements.  Felt like Christmas morning, and I’d go to the site, check out listings, start to cross reference them, because 75% I had never heard from before.

This year….pffffft.   No excited prose on the website about which bands were playing and why you will think they were cool.  (And more often then not, they were right.)   There’s a note saying more bands have been added, then the link goes to one Norwegian act only.  This generates about as much excitement as a sale on Skyr at Bonus.

Now’s the to address Vampire Weekend.  I’ll admit right off the bat, I am not a big fan.  I don’t dislike them, but I thought the critical raves were way over the top, which often happens with New York’s next big thing.  (See Strokes, The)   But again, they were one of the “it” acts this year, and Airwaves has them.  Wouldn’t you just want to SCREAM IT OFF THE ROOFTOP THAT YOU BOOKED VAMPIRE WEEKEND?   My non-professional opinion is yes, you would.   Unless…the shine is off, and they aren’t quite as hip as they were at this time a year ago.  Which is entirely possible, but if you make them one of your headline acts, my goodness make of a point of promoting that fact.

Did London Airwaves suck the air out of the organization?  Expansion always puts stresses on a business in ways that cause a loss of focus on the founding enterprise.   And other than promotion in Europe’s biggest media and music market, why do it anyway?  I always believed the charm of Airwaves was the fact that it is in Iceland! There are dozens if not hundreds of HUGE music festivals around the world.   Bonnaroo, Coachella, Roskilde, Glastonbury, etc, etc, etc.   Why franchise your festival to what is probably your biggest audience, and potentially not give them a reason to go?

I’m sure the event will sell out though, and I hope a good time will be had by all.   But it just feels like the wheels have fallen off the bus a bit.   The next event for dorky music bloggers like me is the actual festival schedule, when the strategizing begins for which acts you’ll see, and which ones will be sacrificed at the musical altar.   But please, gods of Airwaves, don’t take that away from us too.

One add

El Perro Del Mar.  A pretty big add, but one add.  Is this a 12M Saturday act, reserved for 4 venue splitting, agonizing decision making type acts?  I don’t think so.

Attempting optimism…really trying, but uh, just not feeling it.  I want to be dazzled, challenged, and excited about the bands and the scene.   Perhaps I’m just on the other side of the fine line between anticipation and delay.  The former builds excitement, the latter gives the impression that things are unorganized.

Still waiting…

Two months out… no new acts named….

Waiting, waiting, waiting…

So really, it’s not just Airwaves

It must be an Iceland thing.

This hilarious, empathy inspiring post from the Iceland Weather Report on Alda’s last concert experience inspired a “yeah, been there,” feeling from moi.

As clockwork as the festival is itself, as in bands start on the hour, every hour, everywhere, and NEVER go past their alloted 45 (or so) minutes, the beverage buying experience leaves a lot of to be desired.

1. Inconsistency is the new consistency. At least there.
2. Prices though, are consistent. You should know that already. And prepare properly, hello Duty Free!
3. Warm is the new cold. I know I know, no ice in Iceland? Very little actually, at least in your drinks. Whiny American? No. Just gimme some ice dammit.

Best: NASA and Lido. Selection, service and ice. Sounds like….an actual bar.

What you’d expect: Grand Rokk, Gaukurinn. Also bars. They can get wall to wall crowded fast. Don’t expect much.

Worst: The Art Gallery. Great venue, but nothing but warm beer. Enjoy.

Don’t recall: Lido. But Lido wins the “best venue to get away from it all” award. Separate chatting/drinking rooms and an actual outdoor patio where you can get some fresh air. Cozy and good acoustics. Hooray..

It’s not like the cocktail and beer buying experience is PARAMOUNT to having a good time out, or at Airwaves. So the alternative is “drinking like an Icelander,” which means at home, or in this case, your hotel. Fine, but you’ll miss the 8p, 9p and 10p bands.  Maybe even the 11p.  So what does a budget conscious music fan do?  (Not go to Iceland Airwaves because it is so damn expensive this year?  That is an option.  Not a good one but an option.)

Go back to your teen years-sneak it in.   Be resourceful, and by all means after you smuggle your stash into the bar, be cool.  Don’t give the bouncers a reason to do their job.

I’m trying, I really am

But damn, is it SLOOOOOOOOOOOOOW in Airwaves land still. Nary a syllable of new info, except threats from Icelandair to book before August 30th or you won’t receive the discount! As has been previously posted, that is not an effective threat, merely another reason for someone to logically say, “I wanna go, but damn, it’s just too expensive.” Perhaps it will be Euro-centric this year, at least from countries that pay in Euros. I do not live in one of them, alas.

But there is another festival, that I would desperately like to attend this weekend-All Points West, in New Jersey. (Not New York, New Jersey.

Check out Friday’s lineup-a veritable Airwaves Alumni Association:

• Grizzly Bear
• Mates of State
• The Duke Spirit (love them)
• The Go! Team (much love again)
• And soon to be alums, CSS

And on Saturday, Metric and Chromeo will be playing the same stage. Feel free to annoy your friends and anyone else for that matter by saying, as often as possible, “yeah, I saw them years ago, in Iceland.”

The now annual appeal

For the Apparat Organ Quartet to play at Airwaves this year.  We first saw the 5-piece, (don’t take Quartet literally) at Airwaves 06, and they were a revelation.   The tallest man in Iceland encouraged us to stay, and this was very good advice.  I wouldn’t say this is normally my style of music, but they were awesome live.

No, I was not high.

They need to make an appearance this year.  Please?

/_\!

“Johnny Rotten”

Is an ass. A pathetic, has-been ass.

I don’t know Kele Okereke, other than the fact that I loved Silent Alarm, despite the inevitable slagging the album and band got after it became a huge hit. (Why slag success? That’s another post.) I did get close at Airwaves 07, at the totally awesome Amiina show at Fríkirkjan, the 1800’s era church Reykjavik. He came in with his girlfriend (I assume) and stood upstairs with the rest of us rabble, and basically was one of the crowd, in a crowded standing room only show. He pulled no star act, no rock star ego bs, but was just there for the music, just like us. It was refreshing.

Johnny Rotten, on the other hand, is still a child craving attention. Devoid of any marketable talent, he’s always resorted to making a scene, calling names, acting the fool in order to get noticed. Hence, the latest incident. We can all go back to ignoring him, or even feeling a bit of sadness that someone who was part of some terrific music can’t stand not being the center of attention forever.

For now, enjoy a Bloc Party video:

$igh…

My friends at Icelandair emailed me again yesterday, pitching the myriad advantages of using their planes to get me where I want to go.

Where I want to go Reykjavik.  In mid-October specifically.  There’s this little music festival that I have become quite enamored with, and I sing (no pun intended, because I can’t sing) its praises often.  But darn that cold, hard, emotionless economic reality.   Airwaves has never been a bargain trip, at least for those of us paying in dollars.  (Hard cold economic fact #2-dollar doesn’t go as far as it used to.  Not Icelandair or Airwaves fault.)   But there was still a sense of value in what you were buying.  Lots of great, under the radar bands, in a compact, manageable location.  An interesting, hospitable urban environment with plenty to do outside of the music, and for the more adventurous and less hung over festival goers, the opportunity to hit the truly unique Icelandic countryside, and be back in town in time for dinner, pre-game drinks and another night of band hopping.   Cool, cool, cool.

But when the costs nears 3 bills, the trip is seen through another prism.  “3k?  What kind of (other) trips can we take for that? “  The list is long.   This is not a happy conversation by the way.  We WANT to do this again.  It’s not become hum-drum, nor are we jaded by the prospect of Airwaves trip #3.   Perhaps we will just bite the bullet and pay, or somehow, miraculously,  it will become more affordable.  I know, very unlikely, but one can hope…

Pkg deals already being advertised

Icelandair is pushing them now, before they even hit the Airwaves site. (North American pkg deals that is)

Prices start at $877, which is way more expensive than last year. I seem to recall that this was the going rate for three nights, and this deal is only for two. I think there was also a “book early” bonus option that also isn’t offered yet.

I promise not to delve into the always riveting topic of the devalued krona, (weakest in 5 years, so they say) but how can this not be a factor?

This is a bummer.

And maybe it is early, but I tried to book a pkg just to see how much it would cost, and discovered a couple more things that had changed.

-Baltimore is not a departure option, but Toronto is  (The pkg I selected was about $2500.  Ouch)

-JFK is still listed, but there are no Sunday flights

-Boston is still available, and there are Sunday departures from Keflavik

I don’t want to rain on the party too soon, but this is about $600 more than we paid last year, I think.

Post-rock

A term that was totally lost on me, until being turned on to the terrific blog Kapritska, a thorough compendium of all things post-rock, with a dose of ambient and electronica. Mogwai and Godspeed You!Black Emporer are two of the more recognizable post-rock acts, which to truly be considered post-rock, you must reject the label. Not a lot of middle ground here. You either dig (or can dig) the long, instrumental jams that usually build up to a finishing crescendo, or think it’s totally self-indulgent twaddle.

So behold a “new to my world” act, Working for Nuclear Free City. Post-rock or not, label it anyway you want.  I don’t know much about them, except that this is a great instrumental track, and my latest candidate for Bands That Should Play Airwaves This Year, or B.T.S.P.A.T.Y.