Author: Bob Cluness
Rafsteinn: Rebirth
by Bob Cluness
In a break from their usual psychedelic/garage rock recordings on offer from Ching Ching Bling Bling, this five-track EP from…
Run, Fatboy, Run!
by Bob Cluness
One night last November in a 101 Reykjavík bar, I was enjoying several drinks with some friends. Everything was normal…
Arnar Ástráðsson: State Of Mind
by Bob Cluness
Arnar Ástráðsson is a songwriter best known for having a song, “Ástin Mín Eina” (‘My One And Only’), that reached…
Múgsefjun: Múgsefjun
by Bob Cluness
Complexity and experimentalism in rock and pop are to be enjoyed if done with the right level of panache and…
Sin Fang: Half Dreams
by Bob Cluness
I’m not a natural summer person, so when a piece of music comes along that actually raises my endorphin levels…
Blood Feud: Hiding Behind The Light
by Bob Cluness
After 2008’s EP ‘Adjustment to the Sickest,’ the former metal covers band known as Blood Feud have finally released their…
Louder Than Hell And Twice As Nice!
by Bob Cluness
So Eistnaflug 2012 has been and gone. Amongst all the fun and frolics, the growing consensus from both the fans…
Eistnaflug 2012 Saturday REVIEW
by Bob Cluness
As Saturday dawned and our final musical journey began, the combination of three days of illegal hard liquor, scorching sun…
Eistnaflug 2012 Thursday REVIEW
by Bob Cluness and Rex Beckett
“Hey Eyþór! What’s that strange shiny thing up in the sky there?” “I don’t know man, but it’s doing weird…
All Hail To The Technobaron
by Bob Cluness
The word “legend” is thrown around a lot these days, especially to hype up various over-the-hill groups riding the retro…
Subminimal: Microfluidics EP
by Bob Cluness
In purely drum and bass terms ‘Microfluidics,’ the second EP from Reykjavík producer Subminimal, does not re-invent the wheel. It’s…
Of Monsters and Men: My Head Is An Animal
by Bob Cluness
In 2012, Of Monsters And Men rose above all to the status as Iceland’s number one musical export, especially in…
The New Local Hotshots: Tilbury
by Bob Cluness
One of the hotly anticipated local acts at this year’s Music Mess is Tilbury. Originally founded by Þormóður Dagsson as…
The International Up-And-Comer: Man Made
by Bob Cluness
Niles Marr, who performs under the moniker Man Made, is one of the foreign acts appearing at this year’s Reykjavík…
Intro Beats: Half Time
by Bob Cluness
One of the more interesting aspects of Möller Records is the way they seem to act as a refuge for…
Low Roar: Low Roar
by Bob Cluness
Ryan Joseph Karazija’s self-recorded debut album as Low Roar details his struggles as an American to acclimatise to a new…
Þórir: Janúar
by Bob Cluness
Þórir Georg’s second solo album under his own name displays both ends of Þórir’s increasingly diverse and expanding musical palette…
Black Metal Coffee Evening
by Bob Cluness
“Do you have any tea?” “Sorry we don’t have any tea bags. We only have coffee.” Damn… I really don’t…
Music Battle Royale 2012!
by Bob Cluness and Rex Beckett
Since 1982, The ÍTR, Reykjavík’s sports and youth council, has put on The Battle of the Bands (Músiktilraunir) as a…
Elephant Poetry: Trash Can Honey
by Bob Cluness
Elephant Poetry’s second album, ‘Trash Can Honey,’ is pretty much your bog-standard test card rock, complete with bullshit swagger, monochrome…
Helgi Jónsson: Big Spring
by Bob Cluness
‘Big Spring,’ the second album from Helgi Hrafn Jónsson, contains probably the worst lyrics I heard from an Icelandic album…
Up To Ears In John Cage
by Bob Cluness
Thursday March 1 was the opening day of the inaugural Tectonics music festival, which would focus on the music and…
Bringing The Breakbeat To Book
by Bob Cluness
It’s a Wednesday afternoon and I’m passing the time at Prikið while waiting for Karl “Kalli” Tryggvason, DJ and member…
Making Digital Waves Across The World
by Bob Cluness
Yatra Arts seeks a wider audience for Icelandic electronic music in 2012. That can’t be a bad thing, can it?…
Björk: Biophilia
by Bob Cluness
As most people on Grapevine’s Facebook will know, I recently had the misfortune of losing my cat. True, in the…