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Subscribe To The Reykjavík Grapevine And Help Us Print The Next Issue!
Hello loyal readers! We know you love us, and want to see us thrive. As our way of saying thank you, we’re now offering a new and fun other way to support us: the High Five Home Club. On that site we…
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Grapevine Playlist: Ómland, Leyla Blue, Jose Luis Andervel & More!
It’s Halloween. You’re at home. It’s quiet. Change that with these Grapevine-approved tracks. Ómland – Skýjaborgir Ok, this is so cute. We’re smiling, squealing, rocking back and forth, and feeling our best folky feelings and then—OH MY GOSH! WHAT? Yes, you think…
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Grapevine Playlist: Auðn, Magnús Jóhann, Countess Malaise & More!
It’s October 23rd, 2020, and you have no idea what to listen to. Thankfully, the Grapevine is here for your weekend tracks. Countess Malaise – That Bitch “I’m too hard. I’m too bad. I’m too sad… but I’ve always been that bitch.”…
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Death Begets Life: Krummi On The Pandemic, The Future & Frozen Teardrops
“It’s a strange and scary time,” Krummi Björgvinsson says—over FaceTime, to be safe—when talk inevitably turns from his newest solo single “Frozen Teardrops,” which the Grapevine initially reached out to chat out, to the current pandemic. “But it’s inspiring in a weird…
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Track By Track: ‘Phantom Plaza’ By RYBA
RYBA’s debut release ‘Phantom Plaza’ was a two-year effort that ended up with a seven person supergroup featuring Heimir Gestur Valdimarsson on guitar, Andri Eyjólfsson on samples, Baldur Hjörleifsson on bass, Elísabet Birta Sveinsdóttir on vocals, Kormákur Jarl Gunnarsson on MOOG synthisiser, Laufey Soffía…
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Grapevine Playlist: Jónsi, Sólstafir, The Post Performance Blues Band & More!
Stuck on what to listen to? Here are some of our favourite songs of the past month. Jónsi & Robyn – Salt Licorice “Salt Licorice” is an aggressive take on ballroom house, with a thumping beat contrasted by eerie vocals. In it,…
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Iceland’s Most Ambitious Mixer DJ Árni Kristjánsson Is Back To Boogie
On Saturday, October 17th, Reykjavik based DJ Árni Kristjánsson will release a brand new mixtape, ‘Boogie Mixx 11’. The recording is the latest in a series of mixes that he initiated in 2008. Árni, a DJ and record collector of many years,…
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Track By Track: ‘Patient’ By Birkir Blær
Birkir Blær is an up-and-comer from Akureyri who made waves with his R&B debut ‘Patient’, which dropped at the end of August. Here, he goes through the album, track by track. The album is not just a collection of songs put together…
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Sombre Sparkle & Ghostly Glamour: Mighty Bear On New EP ‘Tveir’
One of the most ethereal faces of Iceland’s electronic music scene ironically hardly shows his face at all. That enigmatic figure, Mighty Bear a.k.a. Magnús Bjarni Gröndal, embodies both eerie darkness and sparkling glamor through extravagant cloaks and intricate masks, all underscored…
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Ask An Expert: What Was The First Guitar Solo In Icelandic History?
Iceland has certainly made a name for itself as a seemingly boundless source of great music, starting with its full-armed embrace of the rock revolution of the late 1950s. The early days of Icelandic pop music are sometimes a bit murky, though,…
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A Feast For The Soul: MSEA’s Most Intimate Album Yet
“It’ll be my first gig of 2020!” MSEA—real name Maria-Carmela Raso—says of her album launch concert, which is set for October 16th at Mengi. The album, ‘I Turned Into a Familiar Shape,’ will drop the same day, but it’s been ready since…
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Newcomer Dr. Pill On His Eclectic Debut Album ‘Ottersitting’
Today, Dr. Pill—real name Phil Uwe Widiger, himself a Grapevine alum—dropped his debut release ‘Ottersitting’, a genre-bending melange of industrial, shoegaze, indie rock, acoustic ballads, and even a Nine Inch Nails tribute. We sat down (virtually, don’t worry) with the Doctor himself…
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Track Of The Day: “Salt Licorice” By Jónsi Feat. Robyn
Just a few days before the drop of his upcoming album ‘Shiver’, Jónsi is here with a new track, featuring the unrivalled Swedish pop icon Robyn. Talk about a dynamic duo. The song, entitled ‘Salt Licorice’, is described by the two artists…
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Track By Track: ‘Undir bláu tungli’ By Logi Pedro
Two years after his debut solo album, Logi Pedro is back with his second effort ‘Undir bláu tungli’ (‘Under The Blue Moon’.) We sat down with the artist to learn more about the release, track by track. Here’s what he had to…
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Hekla Magnúsdóttir Harnesses The Power Of A Unique Instrument
In a small garage on Öldugata, a humble studio houses the equipment that Hekla Magnúsdóttir uses to create the type of music that gets under your skin, crawls around, lays eggs and then hatches into spiders that bite you until you listen…
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Grapevine Playlist: Lions, Dog Runs And Some Eerie Minimalistics
Supersport! – Dog Run (EP) Just what the summer needed: a shiny new EP from Reykjavík’s most charming indie pop group. All four band musicians are active members in post-dreifing, an anarchic grassroots music collective that we couldn’t be bigger fans of…
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Track By Track: ‘My My’ By ROKKY
ROKKY first burst onto the scene in 2018 with her electro-pop banger “My Lips.” Now, she’s back with her long-awaited first EP. We sat down to talk with the Berlin-based chanteuse about it track by track. My Lips This song is the…
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The Core Of The Winter: Bára Gísladóttir On Her Newest, Most Claustrophobic Release
“The funny thing is that I wasn’t even planning on releasing this album,” Bára Gísladóttir says, a wide, animated smile taking over her face. The composer and double bassist is only weeks away from releasing her newest solo album, ‘HĪBER,’ a piece…
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Les Enfants Terribles: Víkingur Ólafsson Brings Rameau and Debussy To The Harpa Stage
It’s 1918. World War I rages on as French composer Claude Debussy lies on his deathbed. His last few days are but a fever dream, but as the renegade artist waits for the end, one lament remains on his lips: in the…
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The Wait Is Over: Ra:tio Drops Their Debut Album ‘DANS’
Production duo Ra:tio—winner of the ‘One To Watch’ award at the 2020 Grapevine Music Awards—just dropped their first solo album entitled ‘DANS’ today. Composed of team Bjarki Sigurðarson and Teitur Helgi Skúlason, the duo burst onto the scene in 2018 with their…
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Coming Soon To A Fjörð Near You: The Elja Ensemble’s Summer Tour
The Elja Ensemble are hitting the road, delighting Icelanders from Kirkjubæjarklaustur to Ólafsfjörður with their musical mastery all summer long. Known for energetic performances and exciting programmes, the ensemble features some of Iceland’s finest young classical musicians, many of whom are well-established…
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Content In The Darkness: Teen Trio Dymbrá’s Mystical New Album
The Dymbrá girls seem right at home posing on the grassy field and between the trees beside Ásmundarsalur, smartly clad in matching outfits of sleek cobalt fabric of the sort that they often make when performing or appearing as a group. Made…
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Track By Track: ‘Otito’ By snny
Ivory Coast-born, U.S.-raised, Reykjavík-transplant snny serves up a melange of synthy goodness in his newest EP ‘Otito’. Abidjan “Abidjan” is an ode to the city I was born in. I actually wrote it right before I went back there for the first…