TRANSPARENT
Independent music magazine

Junk Email Filter dot com
Spam and virus filtering service for your existing email server.

Official Google Blog: Spot on
OK, I can finally blurt it out: JotSpot is now part of Google, and I couldn’t be more excited.

My Chemical Romance – Angels and Airwaves – Killers – Music – Report – New York Times
By saying they want to be important, groups like My Chemical Romance and The Killers are also saying they want to be popular.

Ghost Media: Getting Some Feeling Back: The Iceland Airwaves Edition
Well, so much for the daily blogs from Iceland Airwaves 2006. I tried. I honestly tried. There’s just something about the city of Reykjavik that keeps me wrapped up in a state of perpetual bliss.

Think Progress » Bush says he uses “the Google.”
President Bush loves him some Google Maps

Captain Underpants costume foils students school fun – Newsday.com
Long Beach high school students Ashley Imhof, Eliana Levin and Chelsea Horowitz were kicked out of school for dressing like Captain Underpants during Superhero Day at school

NME.COM – News – Jack White joins The Rolling Stones!
The White Stripes Jack White, Christina Aguilera and Buddy Guy all joined The Rolling Stones onstage at their New York City theatre show last night (October 29).

Umbra ‘magino’ Stool By Karim Rashid – Umbra – Karim Rashid – Home Furnishings – Unica Home
designed by karim rashid for umbra, this low stool has a stunning appearance and doubles as a magazine rack.

You ever get a really intense food craving? Like you start thinking about strawberry shortcake at about 11:50pm and you know you can’t go out and buy it this very moment, but you keep thinking and thinking about it? So you go to sleep straight away just so that when you wake up, you’ll be that many more hours closer to being able to go outside and eat a piece of strawberry shortcake? And when you wake up you decide you should really have your cake after lunch, because you’ll probably get a stomach ache if you try to eat it for breakfast. Once you eat your lunch and you finally FINALLY get to eat the piece of strawberry shortcake after all that waiting it tastes so sweet and good and you just make a sort of satisfied sighing sound? “Aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…!” That’s kinda how I’ve felt about seeing The Kooks for the very first time this weekend at North Six in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Ever since I first heard “Eddie’s Gun” off their EP, I’ve been totally in love with The Kooks from Brighton, England. Their blend of soulful groovy pop rock was such a refreshing sound from all the whiney indie rock I often find myself listening to. I’ve been constantly talking about them any time someone asks me what good music I’ve discovered recently. Some people have commented that The Kooks aren’t very cool in the UK, as if being uncool has ever stopped me from liking something (helloooooo Coldplay!). Sometimes certain bands just click with your emotions–it’s not an intellectual thing whatsoever. Sometimes you just don’t know why you like a song or an album so much, you just do, and for me, The Kooks’ Inside In – Inside Out was just one of those albums I immediately liked without knowing anything about the band.

Anyway, enough defending, back to the live show biznizzle:

The gig was absolutely insane. I positioned myself front and center a few rows back in order to take photographs. As soon as the band broke into their first cords of “Seaside”, a number of larger British men bum rushed the stage and I was squished into the people in front of me. All of a sudden I was in the second standing row with what felt like a 1,000 pound jumping gorilla on my back.

Every time an up tempo song started, like “See the World” or “Eddie’s Gun” I got a little scared for my life, fearing that the shouty, jumpy men behind me would become too aggressive and I would find myself to be the first Kooks-related fatality in the United States. Fortunately for me, that didn’t happen–despite their best efforts. It was so hot, sweaty, and cramped that busting out dance moves wasn’t even an option for me. I even got hit a couple times on the head with the bottom of a beer bottle as the fellas behind me pogo-ed.

Lead singer Luke Pritchard is an absolute dynamo, jumping and gliding on the stage with incredible fluidity–like a later-day Mick Jagger. He could not keep still for more than 3 seconds at a time, often bending down to sing into the crowd, or leaping on top of the monitors and flailing his arms like a tightrope walker to gain his balance. Luke was also a fan of the one-foot hop, bouncing from stage left to stage right on the strength of one leg. Dressed like a neo-hippie with a loose-fitting white tunic with bell sleeves, accessorized with long-chained necklaces with cute bobbles at the end, which swung to and fro as he swayed. His curly mop of hair had perfect, shiny ringlets, making him look like a very rock and roll living Frize-ease ad.

Ok before I go on to say anything else, I have to get this off my chest. How HOT is Paul Garred?!?! When I first saw Paul at a pre-show party I didn’t know who he was, but my heart skipped a beat. Then my friend informed me that he was the drummer of the Kooks. Holy mother of god, he’s a hunky piece of man. He kinda looks like an mixed up indie version of a…er… Evan and Jaron and James Marsden. I know that’s not the most appealing description of a man to the rock ‘n’ roll set, seeing as how both references are…well…kinda wholesome and Wonder Bread, but Paul has that whole wide-eyed, still young enough to be corruptible look.

Pete (bass) and Paul (drums) paid homage to NYC by both wearing t-shirts of the famed now-closed punk rock club CBGBs.

The band sounded spot on, and tight as a drum pushing out the songs one after another with a certain ease. The crowd was basically wrapped around their little British fingers, shouting and cheering along to all of the songs, at times the audience’s volume reaching the level of Luke’s amplified vocals. The young kids in the front, all marked with giant black “X”s on tops of their hands, all looked up at the band with saucer eyes, soaking up all they could of the lads–and perhaps creating some of their first memories of gig-going in the process. The older concert goers, some of them already clad in Kooks t-shirts, hollered out song titles like they were badges of honor–the more obscure, the better–with their unrecorded track “Looby Loo” garnering the most shouts.

And with the same amount of style and flare they first came to the stage with, they exited, the crowd clapping and cheering as they retreated backstage, still wanting a little bit more–just the way it should be done.

And some video of the boys doing “Ooh La”:

More photos on Flickr.

the mass is secretly obsessed with nipple dream: Before You Wake Up: Iceland Airwaves with Patrick Watson and more…
It’s hard to believe that in the span of 30 days we released the Patrick Watson album, plunged into Pop Montreal, and then took off for Iceland Airwaves in Reykjavik, from whence I’ve just returned.

EMI gives rock star wannabes a new place to sing
EMI says it wants to streamline its talent-scouting process and reduce the cluttered inboxes of its employees by allowing pop-star wannabes to upload their publicity stills and mp3 samplers directly to Parlophone’s interface.

7:50 PM
Hiya everyone. So right now I’m sitting here at a table at Roseland Ballroom waiting for the Woodie Awards to start. There are eager fans lining the floor of the venue directly in front of me, and the artists tables are to my right. Tegan and Sara’s version of “Walking with a Ghost” is playing on the PA. Lady Sovereign, clad in an oversized yellow tshirt and sunglasses, just walked by me. I’m doing double duty tonight–so for the more emo version of events, head over to SMS.

To my left is Jeff, blogging for Gothamist.com. He’s dancing in his seat to the music. I wonder how long it will take for him to realize I’m blogging about him as I sit inches away from him.

7:55 PM
Ok, the gig is up, Jeff just looked at my computer screen while I was showing someone else.

7:58PM
Merlin Bronques, of Last Night’s Party fame/infamy just walked by sans his trademark bad Warhol-esque wig. Someone alert the hipster fashion patrol. Actually, he looks less creepy and more like a normal person w/out that ridiculous synthetic hair, so it’s all good.

8:04PM
Wow, the show is about to start, I can’t believe this thing is running on time. Maybe I brought some Icelandic promptness back with me.

8:07PM
Imogen Heap just began singing. She’s got her hair up in some crazy-ass do with a feather in it, and she’s accessorized by a pink furry vest, with pearl strings hanging around her neck. Do you think she got some award show fashion advice from Helena Bonham Carter?

More after the jump

Continue reading ‘I’m the Oldest Person Here: Live from MTVU’s Woodie Awards 2006’ »

Tonight I’m going to be liveblogging directly from Roseland Ballroom, location of MTVU’s Woodies Awards. The fun starts around 8pm. Here’s a preview of what I’ll be talking about:

CONFIRMED ATTENDEES:
Beck*
TV on the Radio*
Gym Class Heroes*
Imogen Heap*
Lupe Fiasco
Ghostface Killah
Lady Sovereign
30 Seconds to Mars
Angels & Airwaves
Feist
Plain White T’s
Cage
Atmosphere
Murs
The Academy Is
Gogol Bordello
The Subways
Nightmare of You

*Performing

Every year at the end of October, hundreds of journalists (around 600 this year) and thousands of international music lovers break out their heavy winter jackets, hats, and gloves and flood the city of Reykjavik, Iceland for the Iceland Airwaves music festival. Although Reykjavik is the capital city, the population hovers just under 200,000 people–which is actually 60% of the entire population of the country. (Compare that to the population of the island of Manhattan, over 1 million people.)

A view of the crowd at Reykjavik Art Museum, the main venue of the festival. (Click for larger image.)

Whereas some towns mildly loathe their annual music festival, filling their neighborhoods with unwanted congestion and unbearable lines to venues (Austin, TX for SXSW; NYC for CMJ), Reykjavik welcomes the annual event with open arms. Because the city is so small, the influx of extra bodies seems to nicely plump up, not overstuff, the venues and streets. Bands perform in every available space–coffee shops, cafes, and small shops; even the city’s art museum serves as a venue. Posters (this year designed by Sveinbjörn and monkeymama) touting the biggest bands playing the festival are plastered all along walls and bus stops and it seems as though every wrist I looked at was accessorized with the red wristband that served as the pass to all Airwaves events. Unlike CMJ, the Iceland Airwaves festival is not just an industry event–it’s actually attended by locals, who can purchase wristbands at a reasonable price, so the crowds are largely made up of fans with a sprinkling of professionals.

The main meeting place for those attending the festival is cafe Hressingarskalinn, or “Hresso” for short, the Airwaves Information Center. It’s a hop skip and a jump from where all the venues are so it’s very centrally located. This is the place where everyone checks in and picks up their passes, bands do interviews with journos, and where you can buy CDs, books, and t-shirts associated with the fest. There’s free wifi for all the customers to use, so it’s a highly recommended place to plunk down and get some emails written while you chow down on any of their great-tasting dishes.

By New York standards, the price of food is a bit steep, with a hamburger with fries running you 990 ISK, or just under 15 USD, but by Icelandic standards, that’s normal. In fact, anyone who visits Iceland will quickly realize that EVERYTHING is expensive there. After a while I didn’t even bother calculating how much money I was spending, out of fear that I might have thrown myself on top of a geysir when I realized how much dough I was blowing. The good news is that tipping is not necessary, service is included in the prices. Another place fashionable locals can be seen eating is Prikio, which has tasty sandwiches. But be warned, service is far from speedy at this location, so if you are in a rush to a gig, it might not be the best option.

During Airwaves live music can be found all around. In the early evenings bands schlep their gear through the streets, often suffering from jet lag and/or rough hangovers, to do off-venue in-stores at places like record store 12 Tonar (think Reykjavik’s answer to Other Music) or hip bars like Sirkus and Kaffibarinn all around the downtown area. Realizing the importance of mass exposure to the international cross section of tastemakers and concert-goers at the festival, some bands, like the British pop rockers Hot Club de Paris (below), seem to work overtime, doing no less than 2 in-stores the same night they play their main Airwaves gig.

Hot Club de Paris play inches away from spectators at 12 Tonar record shop. (Click for larger image.)

People pile into the often cramped spaces, standing inches away from the performers as the musicians do their best to impress the crowd. Those unable to get inside stand outdoors, listening to the music through open doors or peering through windows to get a better look at the action going on indoors. Short 25-minute-ish sets give everyone a sampling as to what the bands could do, and the groups hope that these informal gigs will lead to good word-of-mouth and draw out larger crowds to their big show.

The main shows start going around 8pm with up-and-coming bands, and the biggest draws going on around 10-12. Early on in the evening it is very easy to bounce to and from venues–lines are not long, or non-existent at that point. But come 11pm long lines form, sometimes stretching far down the block to get into even the largest of venues. But amazingly, it seemed as though everyone gets in. Usually by the time the band is on, everyone who wants to get in has been stuffed into the venue, fire marshal be damned.

Line outside Gaukurinn during Vice magazine’s party.

I was flabbergasted by all of the venue’s ability to run show schedules with punctual zeal. When the schedule says a band is supposed to go on at 10pm, they are going on at 10pm. The latest I saw a show go off schedule was by 10 minutes. I saw bands actually unplug their equipment at the very last second of the song and SPRINT off stage with their gear in order to keep to their allotted time.

Crowds in Reykjavik are attentive and very polite–perhaps even to a fault. During Kaiser Chiefs‘ set on Saturday night–arguably the biggest show of the entire festival, not a crowd surfer or mosh pit was to be found. In fact lead singer Ricky Wilson had to take it upon himself to get the crowd into a tizzy during “I Predict a Riot” by stage diving into the audience…twice. Yet I did see a couple crowd surfers during Go! Team–which was pretty dangerous considering there weren’t any security guards to catch them in the photo pit–so it’s beyond me to figure out what would get Icelandic kids excited.

The Icelandic crowds are pretty happy to pogo in their own little personal space, as well as do the most organized clapping rallies I’ve ever been a part of. Someone will start a clapping rally and quickly everyone will join in, maintaining a steady 4/4 time without getting faster or slower until the performers come back for an encore.

The lights have come up, and the cops are in van outside, but the crowd at Gaukurinn claps for an encore from The Whitest Boy Alive.

If you want to muscle your way up from the back of the crowd to the very front, it’s entirely possible–there’s usually a good deal of room in the front, especially in the largest venues–but you’ll have to put some elbow into it because once planted, the locals do not like to budge from their spot. There were times when I was leaving from the front of the stage to get out of the venue and people were hesitant to let me pass them. You just gotta push on by and not fret it.

For those of you who have gotten used to the smoking ban in NYC, you will understand immediately that they have no such law in Iceland, puffing on death sticks inside of the venue is permitted. So be forewarned, anything you wear will end up smelling like a dirty tube sock. On the bright side, look out for free coat check areas–available at places like the Reykjavik Art Museum, behind the men and women’s bathroom. There’s a wall full of hangers for you to use to hang up your coat at your own risk.

If you’re a studious little traveler like myself, you would have already read the “Insider Tips” to the festival on the official Iceland Airwaves site before leaving. But I have some clarifications to make to this list based on my experience this year. The first item in the list is to “always go up the stairs.” I stepped inside 4 of the venues participating in the festival, and to my knowledge, only one (the Reykjavik Art Museum) actually had an upstairs. The Art Museum has a limited seating area that directly faces the stage on the opposite side of the building (see the first photo of this post–it’s a view from the front of the stage, you can see the seated area way in the back). So basically anyone on stage will appear teeny teeny to you. The rest of the balcony, which runs along the sides of the building on either side of the stage is quarantined for press and guests of the artists only.

Another item says that you should save room in your bag to bring home loads of CDs. Well yes, you should save some extra room in your bag to bring back the wares you purchase in Iceland, but I do want to point out that the CDs are quite expensive there, running you somewhere in the ballpark of 25-30 dollars per disc. So unless you’ve got loads of cash to spend on music, I would suggest picking your very favorite bands in the festival and purchasing their CDs. Or, if you haven’t noticed, it’s the digital age, so you very well might be able to find free MP3s of the bands you like on their official web sites.

CDs for sale at 12 Tonar record shop.

Like everything else in Iceland, alcohol is very expensive in clubs and venues–costing around 9-12USD for a beer. Most locals get drunk at home before going out, so by the time 11pm rolls around you are surrounded by fully inebriated Icelanders. In Reykjavik the nights run long, with bars closing around 6am on weekends. As you walk down the main streets from 2-5 the mood is of jovial drunkenness. You will hear the sounds of a beer bottle being smashed to the ground ever so often and see crowds of drunk hipsters huddled around hot dog trucks parked by the harbour hoovering the oblong pieces of meat into their mouths (a Reykjavik rite of passage).

Although drinking on the street is officially illegal, the law is not enforced as long as you are not bothering anyone, so it’s a typical site to see folks swigging from bottles as they amble down the main stretch of Bankastraeti/ Laugavegur (nick-named “Pull Street” by the Brits).

Locals are happily drunk on Lagavegur street on Saturday night.

If you are too wasted to walk home, you can always hail a taxi along the main roads. They lurch by in the hopes of people giving up on the night and heading back to their hotel. Of course, taxis are expensive as well–in New York terms, a ride from the East Village to Chinatown would probably run around 20USD. Tipping is not required.

Although the festival runs from Wed-Sunday, the main nights are Thursday-Saturday–the same nights covered extensively by the English-language Icelandic free newspaper, Grapevine. It’s a snarky, alternative paper with young, opinionated writers in the vein of NYC’s Village Voice, and they do a daily publish reviewing the previous night’s concerts, as well as interesting commentary about the Reykjavik music scene and how it pertains to the festival. Copies are delivered to hotels and cafes in the area around 10am Friday-Sunday.

All of the parties happen Thurs-Sat as well. The scene at the airport is pure chaos on Sunday afternoon, so if you can stay an extra day, you’ll have a much more relaxing journey home if you leave on Monday afternoon instead, although you probably will not have as many musician sightings. Sunday usually has some low-key showcases and even movie screenings running in the evening, so it’s a nice way to pace down from the go-go-go atmosphere of the preceding days.

The Iceland Airwaves festival started out as a labor of love in 1999 and has garnered a reputation of being one of the premire concert series in the world just eight years later. According to those who have attended in the past, every passing year the festival gets bigger and better organized, continuing to draw big-name acts and providing a platform to some of the best homegrown talent. Right now the festival is somewhat of an unknown in America, so when you’re at Airwaves seeing bands, it really feels like you are discovering something new and exciting on your own, as opposed to watching a bunch of bands you’ve already heard the hype about with about 40 other people from NYC standing behind you. I’m sure as the concert series continues to grow in size and reputation, that might change, but in the meantime Iceland Airwaves is one of the most interesting and unique festivals around. Enjoy the magic.

PRACTICAL STUFF
For those of you in the US who are interested in attending the Iceland Airwaves Festival in the future, you can book all-inclusive packages (airfare, festival ticket, and hotel) via Icelandair. But if you want to save a little money and don’t mind doing some footwork of your own, you can book a flight on Icelandair (around 500 USD with taxes) and find a hotel on your own (travel services like Expedia or Yahoo! Travel contain listings in Reykjavik). Perhaps not as well known is the fact that you can buy a festival ticket a la carte via Icelandair for around 120 USD by calling up the airline, so if you will not be coming directly from Iceland, or you just don’t feel like giving Icelandair an extra few hundred dollars, that’s a viable option. Those flying in from the UK have the option of purchasing ONLY airfare + festival pass, or an all-inclusive package.

I would recommend a hotel that’s located in the 101 area code. The closer to Austurvollur square the better. Think Hotel Borg, Radisson Sas 1919 Hotel, or Hotel Reykjavik Centrum. That said, accommodations are far from cheap in the city, but you will be thankful when you are rolling out of a bar at 5am and your hotel is only a block or two away. If you cannot afford one of the pricey hotels in the center of it all, a hotel in the 105 or 107 area code would be close enough to walk (about 15-25 minutes). And although it’s a beautiful boutique hotel (complete with a Pizza Hut restaurant), the Icelandair Nordica Hotel is way too far out to be walking to late at night.

Press credentials must be requested about a month and a half in advance (AT THE LATEST) of the festival through the Mr. Destiny team. If you have been selected to cover the festival, they’ll send you a confirmation email toward the end of September and you will be given a press pass at check-in in Reykjavik. The pass allows you go to to all of the shows, access to the photo pit, and invitations to special parties, as well as a free trip to the Hangover Party on Saturday at the famous (and absolute Iceland must-see) Blue Lagoon geothermal pool near Keflavik Airport.

If you don’t mind missing some of the parties and in-stores during the day, I would highly suggest either going on a tour (Reykjavik Excursions is the main tour operator in the area) or renting a car and taking a day trip out to see some of the sights. The main thing that most people see while in Reykjavik is the Golden Circle, which is composed of seeing Gullfoss waterfall, Geysir, a hot spring that spouts out water up to 30m every 7-10 minutes, and the Thingvellir National Park where you will see the birthplace of the world’s first democratic parliament, Althing. You can book in advance through their web sites or have your hotel book it when you arrive. If you book a tour, remember to have your hotel re-confirm the pickup while you are in Reykjavik.

You basically only need one day or two half-days to see the entire city and all the tourist sites, so I would definitely recommend getting out of the city one day and looking at all the beautiful and otherworldly nature the country has to offer.

When you’re going to a country called “Iceland”, you figure it’s going to be pretty cold, right? The truth is that the weather in late October is almost identical to that of a typical day in New York during winter time. Bring a warm coat (I brought a North Face down jacket), a hat and gloves and you will be fine. You may choose to layer up, wearing thin layers of clothes (like a long-sleeved tee under your shirt, or leggings under your jeans) in order to keep extra warm when the wind starts to blow. Although the guidebook I bought (Best of Reykjavik by Lonely Planet) listed October as being one of the rainiest months of the year, I experienced nothing but blue skys and sunny weather. You’ll want to bring at least one pair of insulated hiking boots for any excursions you do that involves visiting glaciers or walking up hills/through rocky areas. Grassy areas near waterfalls can also get pretty muddy due to the exposure to moisture, so make sure to wear gear that is waterproof.






Holla. I’m sitting right outside my gate at the airport in Iceland. FREE WIFI. A stewardess just rolled by on a Razor. This country is awesome. See you back in NYC.

Ok I’m still alive, but so so tired. I saw a freaking geysir today! I also saw this awesome band last night at NASA called Æla, and you should check them out. They sing in Icelandic, but they rock. I am falling asleep but I just wanted to say I’m still alive and kicking it. Oh and I met James Looker in the photo pit right before Go! Team tonight at the Rej Art Museum.

PS I think the receptionist is watching Buffy on TV now.