Photos: Iceland Airwaves Festival [Reykjavik, Iceland; 10/15-10/19/08]

Photos by Leó Stefánsson; Above: The Mae Shi

Iceland's economy may be in a slump, but the island nation's music scene is as vibrant as ever. Plenty of promising locals mingled with relative big shots like Vampire Weekend, CSS, Handsome Furs (PDA alert!), Fuck Buttons, Thomas Fehlmann (The Orb), and the Mae Shi at this year's Iceland Airwaves Music Festival, which ran from October 15-19 at a bunch of Reykjavík venues. Full feature coverage is on the way, but in the meantime get a taste of this unique event and the creative community it celebrates in the photos below.

Vampire Weekend

CSS

The Mae Shi

Fuck Buttons

Thomas Fehlmann

Handsome Furs

Sam Amidon

White Denim

Ghostigital

Ane Brun

Benni Hemm Hemm

Hjaltalín

Retro Stefson

Retro Stefson with Sprengjuhöllin

Sprengjuhöllin, Ultra Mega Technobandið Stefán, Motion Boys

Sprengjuhöllin

Sykur

Reykjavik!

Bob Justman

Jan Mayen

Vicky

Boys in a Band

<3 Svanhvít!

Esja

Naflakusk

Parachutes

Iceland Airwaves