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Bass And Guitar +1: Ingibjörg Elsa Turchi And Hróðmar Sigurðsson Release Their First Collaborative Album
The Reykjavík Grapevine has diligently followed the career of Icelandic bassist and composer Ingibjörg Elsa Turchi. The latest release featuring Ingibjörg is her most intimate. Titled +1, the record celebrates the creative partnership with her husband, Hróðmar Sigurðsson, who also played on…
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Escapist Fantasies: Inside Avant-folk Band Emma’s Debut
Emma’s phantasmagoric debut Halidome embraces opposites Avant-folk collective Emma talks about their journey from Músíktilraunir to the sterling debut album Halidome. Paraphrasing Brian Eno’s philosophy, the best songs are made when the creator is short on money and time. In early 2023,…
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This Bus Is On A Diversion: BSÍ’s Defiant EP Progress
Disobedient duo BSÍ talk about their new EP triptych, DIY culture and living in the moment Because honestly by BSÍ The music of the Reykjavík-based duo BSÍ seems to draw from contrasting realms. In a yin-yang fashion, Sigurlaug ‘Silla’ Thorarensen and Julius…
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Man-made Mechanical Wilderness: Supergroup Osmium Releases Eponymous Debut
OSMIUM by OSMIUM The latest project featuring Icelandic composer and Academy Award winner Hildur Guðnadóttir, experimental group Osmium self-titled debut is out June 20. Imagine entering the jungle. Dark, suffused with the heavy humidity of the passing monsoon. Outlines of palm…
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In The Mood For Experiments
Young punks Geðbrigði talk their Músíktilraunir win In early April, the final night of Músíktilraunir (Icelandic Music Experiments) brought forth a winner, following four nights of semi-finals. Four-piece pungarokk collective Geðbrigði won first place, followed by the second and third places given…
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Spacestation Live Review: Nothing But Stomps And Chants
Tuning Into A Local Station Over the last couple of years, Spacestation transformed from a jingle-jangle unit with stylishly scruffy outfits to one of the coolest bands in town. Their debut album Reykjavík Syndrome, exploring the quintet’s uneasy relationship with their place…
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HAMPARAT Live Review: “A Yellow Weather Alert Experience”
On March 21, perennial rock band HAM teamed up with the synthesiser-based group Apparat Organ Quartet for a once-in-a-lifetime performance dubbed HAMPARAT. This is what it felt like. A female voice semi-whispers through the layers of white noise sounds as if it…
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Machine Gun Etiquette
Trailblazers HAM and Apparat Organ Quartet Melt Into HAMPARAT On March 21, members of HAM and Apparat Organ Quartet join forces as Iceland’s newest supergroup: HAMPARAT. When two cult collectives unite, the effect might be akin to a suddenly occurring natural phenomenon.…
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A Journey Through The Steam
Icelandic composers Benni Hemm Hemm and Bára Gísladóttir explore death on their collaborative album Gufa. Sometimes the most idiosyncratic and intense Icelandic music comes out of sudden collaborations. Both Benni Hemm Hemm and Bára Gísladóttir have respectively rich scopes of work, and…
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The Spice Of Life: Magnús Jóhann And Óskar Guðjónsson On Fermenting Friendship
Musicians Magnús Jóhann and Óskar Guðjónsson create beautiful connections on Fermented Friendship Being idiosyncratic artists with a distinct body of work, Magnús Jóhann and Óskar Guðjónsson share connections that extend beyond the realm of music. Such details were discovered during the year-long…
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Irina’s Thursday Iceland Airwaves Diary: Guitars of all Shapes and Sizes
Occasional predictions signposting the disappearance of guitar bands have been pervading the music landscape since the late 60s. One who attends Iceland Airwaves on Thursday is assured the format is alive and kicking. Guitar collectives thrive in Iceland where craving for the…
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Oyama Makes A Comeback With “Everyone Left”
Go With The Flow In April 2020, Icelandic independent mavericks Oyama released their EP Opaque Days — a title that accidentally outlined the themes of the subsequent pandemic and the band’s hiatus. In the respite between lockdowns, Oyama’s songwriters Úlfur Alexander Einarsson…
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Wide Awake: Punk Pioneers Purrkur Pillnikk Star In A New Documentary
In August 1982, punk rock four-piece Purrkur Pillnikk played their final show at the Melarokk festival in Reykjavík. Their short, tight set featured five new songs emanating a power and drive that “had rarely been better,” as the newspaper Tíminn would write. …
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Happy Songs For Happy People: Dr. Gunni Keeps The Fun Going
Gunnar Lárus Hjálmarsson, aka Dr. Gunni, is a true local legend. Initially the driving force behind Icelandic cult indie collectives S.H. Draumur and Unun in the 1980s and ‘90s, he’s also a renowned tastemaker whose audience has no age limits. His children’s…
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Kaktus Einarsson Talks Love, Healing, And His Second Album ‘Lobster Coda’
Three years after his debut solo album, Kick The Ladder, Kaktus Einarsson returns with a record that gives his prolific career a new start. Named Lobster Coda, the collection of eight tracks can be treated as a transition from one phase of…
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A Slow Motion Firework: The Story Of Emilíana Torrini’s ‘Miss Flower’
Emilíana Torrini is on a family holiday in Wales when she speaks with The Reykjavík Grapevine. She radiates joy and swiftly declares her love for the country. “Wales is my favourite place,” she says. “Everything is bursting with flowers. It’s just so…
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Merging Worlds With Sandrayati
Sandrayati contemplates identity and homecoming on her debut album Safe Ground In 2023, songwriter Sandrayati Fay, known simply as Sandrayati, saw the release of her debut full-length album Safe Ground. With guitar and vocals as the primary expressive means, the collection of…
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Ísafjörður Calling
New York composer Ellis Ludwig-Leone returns to the Við Djúpið Music Festival This year’s edition of the Ísafjörður-based Við Djúpið Music Festival sees the return of composer Ellis Ludwig-Leone. Building off his long standing relationship with the festival, the American artist ventures…
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No Man Is An Island
Faroese artist Elinborg Pálsdóttir on the creative bond between Iceland and the Faroe Islands Each year the connection between the artistic communities of Iceland and the Faroe Islands grows stronger. Through personal and professional connections between the two countries, the confluence of…
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Common Ground: Pavement In Iceland
The Reykjavik Grapevine attend the show by the trailblazing American indie collective. It begins with the drums. As Pavement’s percussionist Steve West sets the pace for “Our Singer”, the opening track of the two-hour set at Eldborg, other members, Bob Nastanovich, Stephen…
