Airwaves Tonight!

The world's coolest music festival starts tonight. Hope you're ready! This is the eight Airwaves festival and it has never been bigger, with over 180 bands, musicians and dj's playing in seven locations in the city centre. The festival features most of Iceland's best known artists as well as brand new, up-and-coming artists.

About 40 international artists are on the schedule, including Kaiser Chiefs, one of UK's best live bands and they will present some new sounds, the Canadian rockers in Wolf Parade, The Go! Team, Brazilian Girls (US), We are Scientists (US), Metric (CAN), Love is All (SE), The Cribs (UK), Klaxon (UK), Tilly and the Wall (US), Jens Lekman (SE), Tilly and the Wall (US), Gojira (FRA), Mates of State (US), Fields (UK), Islands (CAN), Spektrum (UK), Datarock (NO), WhoMadeWho (DK), Amanda Blank (US), Dälek (US), 120 Days (NO), Hot club de Paris (US) and The Whitest Boy Alive (NO/DE).

The largest part of the schedule however, consists of Icelandic bands and features the hottest trends in Icelandic rock, pop, and indie music. Among the local artists and bands performing at Airwaves are Mugison, Mínus, Jeff Who?, Jakobínarína, Benni Hemm Hemm, Pétur Ben, Apparat Organ Quartet, Hermigervill, Evil Madness, Stilluppsteypa, Dr. Mister & Mr. Handsome, Brain Police, Stórsveit Nix Noltes, Sign, Reykjavík!, Seabear, Changer, Skakkamanage, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Wulfgang, Lay Low, Worm is Green, Ske, Fræ, Mr. Silla & Mongoose, Langi seli og skuggarnir, Hairdoctor, Ghostigital, Kira Kira and Daníel Ágúst to name a few.

There is great interest abroad and this year's Airwaves will be covered in press around the world. Spex, one of Germany's largest music magazine, the Scandinavian publication of VICE magazine, the heavy-metal magazine Kerrang!, MySpace and the British Clash Magazine are among the publications that will host their own Airwaves nights and stages this year. Other publications covering the festival are to name a few, BBC, DR Denmark, NRK Norway, Euronews France, URB Magazine and the respectable webzine Pitchfork.com that will for the first time cover Icelandic music by visiting Iceland Airwaves. Music industry people will also flock the fesival as well as representatives from CMJ, Roskilde, Berlin Festival and By:Larm.

The Iceland Airwaves team welcomes music journalist David Fricke from the Rolling Stone to his second Airwaves experience. Last year Fricke described Airwaves as "the hippest long weekend on the annual music-festival calendar" and was very excited about the Icelandic artists he saw at the festival. He was also excited to hear and discover a lot of the international artists that perform at Airwaves, such as Swedish troubadour José González and Clap Your Hands from Fricke's hometown New York. In his Rolling Stone article „Iceland Festival Rocks" about last year's festival Fricke especially mentioned Jakobínarína, Benni Hemm Hemm, Ghostigital, Daníel Ágúst, Kira Kira, Apparat Organ Quartet and My Summer as a Salvation. These artists will all play at Airwaves 2006. Fricke continues to write about Icelandic music and has helped Jakobínarína gain international recognition.

The Reykjavík Grapevine will publish daily issues in cooperation with Mr. Destiny and Icelandair. Like last year journalists from renowned music magazines such as Rolling Stone, New York Magazine and NME, will join the Grapevine staff to ensure that Iceland Airwaves gets the coverage it deserves. Issue will be published on Friday, Saturday and Sunday where Airwaves visitors can read reviews from the night before.

Happy Airwaves 2006!