I packed a scarf and a very warm hoodie for my holiday in the Pyranese. You never know what it will be like, and it was freezing for our honemoon, also at this time of year. Well, anyway, I could have saved valuable space (for say, a big box of wine), because as I sit out her on the sunny roof terrace of the cottage (www.casa-campana.com), I am wearing shorts and T-shirt. I don’t think I even managed that for the whole English “summer”.   

One of the highlights of the Iceland Airwaves festival was seeing Hjaltalin in a Pentecostal church. Fortunately Katie had the presence of mind to start videoing just before the end…

On the last night we saw them again backing the brightly dressed Mr Pall Oskar. It was fun seeing a band including french horn and bassoon playing disco. Skip to 2:00 in the video…

Iceland is an incredible place. It has mountains, volcanoes, hot springs, Sigur Ros, gysers, and waterfalls. One of these is not a geological feature, but a rock band. Out of a tiny population of 320,000, half of which lives in the capital Reykjavik, they manage to produce a massive amount of amazing music. I wish people knew them for this more than their dodgy banks (apparently they now have a greater per-capita national debt than Germany after the First World War). One of the consequences of the economic collapse meant that even battered Sterling is worth something in Islandic Kroner, so I came home from the Iceland Airwaves music festival with a shopping bag full of CDs and vinyl. For those of you who may be interested, below is what I came back with with some links…

Mugison – Mugiboogie
Skúli Sverrisson – Sería
Rökkurró – Það kólnar í kvöld… (It gets colder tonight)
Eberg – Antidote
hjaltalín – sleepdrunk seasons
Lights On The Highway - Lights On The Highway
Hjálmar – IV
Hafdis Huld – Synchronised Swimmers
múm – Sing Along To Songs You Dont Know

And here are a couple of videos, from Eberg and Hafdis Huld. The Hafdis Huld video appears to have had lots of views for some reason, so maybe some people do appreciate Icelandic music after all.

I’ve been getting a bit into Native Instruments Reaktor recently as a way to design crazy looping tools and other live shenanigans. If I’ve just dipped my little toe into the water, Tim Exile’s busy swimming solo across the Atlantic…

Finally, the much anticipated (by me) Avon Calling happened last night at Warwick Arts Centre. Lou did an amazing job, having written the show, to perform in a really honest, direct way. I use the word perform, but it was more like a theatrical therapy session (appropriately, as she is a dramatherapist). This was the first showing of the full show, and I hope they work on it some more, and perhaps take it onto the road.

They were sharing a double bill with Kings of England. Lou had done her show about her Mum, who for reasons that are obvious from the show, could not be there. The chap from Kings of England invited his Dad to perform with him on stage, and we learnt all about life in a way that tried to show that past, present and future aren’t all that different.

I’ve just put together a driving compilation. It has made me realise that I don’t really buy music to drive to. Still, it’ll serve to remind me of the kind of stuff that I was listening to in the autumn of 2009.

The Bamboos – The Bamboos Theme
Vetiver – Swimming Song
Emiliana Torrini – Me And Armini
Sigur Rós – Inní Mér Syngur Vitleysingur
Tunng – Bullets
Grizzly Bear – While You Wait for the Others
Little Sister – Rolling
Espers – Rosemary Lane
Davy Graham – Cocaine
James Blackshaw – Cross
Beirut – La Llorona
A Hawk And A Hacksaw – The Sparrow

Playing four notes every beat, at 120ish beats per minute for forty minutes would mean that James Blackshaw played about 20,000 notes tonight, not counting the bass notes. This, combined with the altered tunings on his 12-string guitar made his guitar sound almost like a harp, or even at times a sitar. The effect was mesmerising and melancholy. Despite touring all over the country several times, tonight was his first visit to Brum. I hope he returns.