Have you heard Icelandic folk rock hipsters Of Monsters And Men? They may have only been around since 2009, but already they’ve made their way into the US Top 10, something even their fellow Icelanders Björk and Sigur Rós have yet to achieve. Following in the folk rock footsteps of Mumford & Sons, their debut … Continue reading »
And we have lift off – the 37th Winterthurer Musikfestwochen starts today! Twelve days of sunshine, fab music (incl. lots of free stuff), open air cinema and all-round good end-of-summer vibes. You’ll be there, won’t you? As usual, the festival has a bumper programme, with freebie concerts from likes of Isbells, Max Prosa, The Bianca Story, … Continue reading »
This evening ethereal Icelandic post-rock band Sigur Rós are streaming their new album Valtari (Icelandic for ‘steamroller’, apparently) in full for one hour from 7pm. Click here for the stream. First Twitter reactions can be found under the hashtag #valtarihour. While you are counting down the minutes to the so-called ‘global listening party’, you can … Continue reading »
Well, this is pretty damn exciting – after a three year absence from the stage, epic Icelandic band Sigur Rós are headlining the Winterthurer Musikfestwochen in August 2012, along with Get Well Soon, and Leech. Woohoo! I’ve never seen Sigur Rós, but they’ve always been on my list of must-see bands. I saw Jonsi at … Continue reading »
Danish band Efterklang have been delighting me over and over lately, and I’ve been eagerly anticipating their March show in Zurich next year. However, to whet our appetites and increase our regard for their vibrant, magical music, Efterklang have gone ahead and collaborated again with film-maker extraordinaire Vincent Moon to produce An Island. An album-length … Continue reading »
Against all the odds I managed to secure a ticket to Ólafur Arnalds‘ sold-out show in Zurich on Thursday night, and found myself in the unfamiliarly opulent surroundings of the Papiersaal – red velvet curtains, chandeliers and leather sofas, and chairs set up around the 180° stage. A subdued and respectful audience (as distinct from … Continue reading »
Out and about at the unbearably anti-social hour of 11 am on a Sunday morning, early enough to catch most of Friska Viljor’s jaunty set. Oh, what a happy bunch these Swedish rockers are! Smiles are infectious, you know, so the early birds that had gathered wore big, mostly hungover grins along with their mud-caked … Continue reading »
Nikin Phaser has a great review of HiM‘s new album Screamworks: Love in Theory and Practice. Pretty Much Amazing‘s review of the new Yeasayer album Odd Blood makes me want to rush out and buy tix to their Zurich show. Open Air St Gallen Festival still has the special Nachtschwärmer offer happening, but only until … Continue reading »
