Iceland Airwaves Concert Highlights Country’s Own Björk

Björk performed at the Iceland Airwaves on the fourth day of the outdoor festival.

ICELAND AIRWAVES BJÖRK AND CONTEMPORARIES

The others who performed read like a list of potential Björk collaborators – a lot of experimental individuals performing nordic music. Bára Gísladóttir performed her own compositions with the double bass in an artsy manner. She intertwined her unique bass playing with digital sounds, from creaking doors to someone gasping for breath.

Next was Hermigervill, a bearded man who used the computer for his whole set, creating a sort of instrumental disco rave. Kelsey Lu is an avant-garde cellist from North Carolina, and who sang meaningful songs about grief atop a fur rug. SG Lewis performed a soulful bit of dance music, with a live drummer combined again with digitally created sounds. Gunnar Jónsson Collider was another musician present who created ambient electronic tunes, but did so alongside a drummer and a guitarist. Various other Icelandic and Nordic groups came and went on various stages throughout the region.

Björk appeared at 5 p.m. on Saturday to kick off her part of the show. Her set was twofold, the first part was a reworking of her 2015 album Vulnicura about her doomed relationship with Matthew Barney, and the second was a set of her greatest hits. The first part was surprisingly non-electronic for Björk, who sang sweetly about the different aspects of her failed marriage. Her sets, of course, included a variety of interesting dress, the last piece which reminded some of a burka for an extraterrestrial, which seems fitting for the strange performer.