"Iceland on the edge" Festival or Iceland Airwaves in Belgium (2008)

The Program of Iceland on the Edge Festival in Brussels 2008
THURSDAY 14/2 PÉTUR BEN > 10:00 pm > Kultuurkaffee VUB > free

FRIDAY 15/2 AMIINA + JÓHANN JÓHANNSSON + SEABEAR + ÓLAFUR ARNALDS > 8:00 pm > BOZAR > 16 euro
Seabear @ Rafskinna Finlandia Party @ Iceland Airwaves '07 Festival

Olafur Arnalds @ 't Smiske, Asse, Belgium (2007)

FRIDAY 7/3 KITCHEN MOTORS NIGHT feat. KRIA BREKKAN + KIPPI KANINUS + UNNUR ANDREA EINARSDOTTIR > 8:00 pm > AB Club > 12 euro

SATURDAY 8/3 MÚM + KIRA KIRA + SKAKKAMANAGE + PARACHUTES > 7:00 pm > MAIN HALL & CLUB AB > 16 euro

Gunnar & Örvar of mum Interviewed @ Nordic House @ Iceland Airwaves '07 Festival

Skakkamanage 2 times: On stage @ NASA and @ Rafskinna Finlandia Party @ Iceland Airwaves '07 Festival

WEDNESDAY 30 APRIL AN EDGY BAD TASTE EVENING HOSTED BY EINAR ÖRN & SJÓN FEAT. A.O.: MUGISON + RICEBOY SLEEPS + STILLUPSTEYPA + RAGNAR KJARTANSSON (Trabant) + STEINTRYGGUR + GHOSTIGITAL + HILMAR ÖRN HILMARSSON + … > 6:30 pm > Bozar > 16 euro

Ghostigital (Einar Örn Benediktsson & Curver Thoroddsen) @ Sirkus (January 2008)

Steintryggur with friend Ben Frost @ Frikirkja @ Iceland Airwaves '07 Festival

FRIDAY 9/5 SAMÚEL JÓN SAMÚELSSON BIG BAND + SCREENING OF... SCREAMING MASTERPIECE > 7:00 pm > Club AB > 12 euro

SUNDAY 18/5 TYFT FEAT. HILMAR JENSSON + JIM BLACK + ANDREW D'ANGEL0 + SCREENING OF… ROKK I REYKJAVÍK ('83) > 7:00 pm > Club AB > 10 euro

AB Concerts Guide @ www.abconcerts.be/projects/iceland/?l=3#guide

The Beginner's Guide to Icelandic music by AB Concerts:
OR: How do I prepare myself for the exciting 7-dayer that is part of ICELAND AIRWAVES?
OR... Don’t bother, as the programme itself is extremely exciting with more than 30 concerts, performances, visual art, poetry and diverse documentaries and listening sessions. In other words, just let yourself be led/immersed is of course option one.
OR...Make a headstart, as one prepared is worth twice as much.

Let’s just assume that you already have all the CDs from SIGUR RÓS (hopefully not their barely-findable-outside-Iceland bombastic debut Von) and BJÖRK (including early The Sugarcubes work)...

TIP 1: Read the extremely informative book ’Waking Up In Iceland’ (from ’03) by PAUL SULLIVAN, spotlighting the Icelandic music scene with heaps of background information.
TIP 2: Take a look in advance (as it will be screened in AB on 9/5) at the excellent documentary ’Screaming Masterpiece’ by director ARI ALEXANDER ERGIS MAGNÚSSON about the Icelandic music scene.
TIP 3: Read ’101 Reykjavik’ by HALLGRÍMUR HELGASON or see the film version (with the likes of Victoria Abril) of the book by BALTASAR KORMÁKUR. An outstandingly filmed dark adventure that takes place in the heart of Reykjavik (101 is the postcode for central Reykjavik) and deals with a controversial three-cornered relationship.
TIP 4: Convince yourself that Icelanders really do have a sense of humour. Google for the name HUGLEIKUR DAGSSON or go straight to www.myspace.com/hugleikur and enjoy and buy his now translated cartoon book ’Is This Supposed To Be Funny?’ (via Penguin).
TIP 5: Surf to www.icelandairwaves.com check out the programme of the previous edition of ICELAND AIRWAVES and let yourself be overwhelmed by information (with links to their respective sites or MySpace pages) about a series of Icelandic performers.
TIP 6: Browse through the catalogue of the four most important Icelandic labels (www.12tonar.is, www.smekkleysa.net, www.this.is/kitchenmotors and also www.bedroomcommunity.net) and in so doing get to know absolutely everything about the contemporary music scene.
TIP 7: Finally, call Damon Albarn (who, together with director Baltasar Kormákur, runs the popular bar/coffee house Kaffibarinn in Reykjavik) to ask why he thinks Iceland is so cool.

For more information on the Icelandic artists > Go to the Bozar Blog @ www.bozar.be/blog/iceland
And don't forget to Listen to the Cucamonga Radio 1 Shows (broadcasted September 2003)
Iceland on the Rocks @ www.cucamonga.be/iotr/luister/luister.html
Probably the best program about Icelandic music ever Made in Belgium!

OR Just stay tuned to this blog ;-)
Because I have a heart & appetite for Icelandic music. And because most Belgian media hardly focus on Icelandic music, except Mr Dirk Steenhaut of De Morgen Newspaper.
All the photographs of this post are courtesy of Wim Van Hooste.