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Go East! A Trip To The Wild And Imaginative Eastfjords
Without fail, a drive across Iceland delivers a sharp shift in perspective from life in more populous places. In fact, one of the oft remarked-upon characteristics of a road trip through the Icelandic countryside is just how small it makes the visitor…
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Better Drinking With Mikkeller & Friends
As anyone who frequents Reykjavík’s downtown bar scene will have noticed, Icelandic drinking culture has been undergoing a facelift. Over the past few years, the range of beers on the average bar’s taps has gone from a handful of simple, similar lagers…
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Icelandic Drag-Punks Æla Rise To Puke Again
Icelandic punk-rock-noir quartet Æla (translated to English: ‘Puke’) have self-released their long-awaited second album ‘Vettlingatök’, along with a characteristically surreal and playful video for the track ‘Your Head Is My Ground.’ Conceived by Emil Asgrimsson (director) and Oskar Thor Arngrimsson (producer &…
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Video: The Colourful Houses of Reykjavík
Reykjavík’s colourful, quaint, iron-clad houses are a source of constant fascination to visitors. But as well as being decorative, the material has a very practical use. The iron was first imported from England in the late 1800s for use in roofing, but…
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The Must-See Icelandic Acts At ATP + Festival Schedule
ATP Iceland is three this year, and we at Grapevine couldn’t be happier to see this discerning festival putting down some roots over in Keflavík. After memorable performances from previous headliners Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and Portishead, ATP Iceland has…
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Great Expectorations: Ragnar Kjartansson’s Mother Spits In His Face Every Five Years
“I never look forward to seeing a film when I’m in it,” says actress Guðrún Ásmundsdóttir, 79, as she pours coffee and lays out cheese and biscuits on the dining table of her Vesturbær home. “But it will be okay, I’m sure.”…
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Airwaves Announce Mercury Rev, Arca And Lots More
This year is passing so fast, huh? A minute ago it was new year, and now we’re already past midsummer… With that in mind, the Airwaves festival will be here in no time, and today they unleashed another mouth-watering lineup announcement. The…
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Run Towards The Light: The Spaced-Out World Of DJ Flugvél Og Geimskip
On a recent Saturday afternoon, amongst the bustling circus of Reykjavík 101’s summer street life, an unusual spectacle grabbed the attention of the throng. Under the blue sky, one of Iceland’s most exciting young musicians, DJ flugvél og geimskip, aka Steinunn Harðardóttir,…
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Download This: DJ Flugvél Og Geimskip’s “Hjari veraldar”
As you might have noticed as you passed your eyes over this issue’s cover, we’re currently all about the new DJ flugvél og geimskip album, ‘Nótt á hafsbotni’ (trans: “Night at the Bottom of the Ocean”). For anyone who’s found Iceland’s recent…
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10 Must-See Icelandic Acts At Secret Solstice + Festival Schedule
Secret Solstice is upon us! So, for those of you who want some HOT TIPS on the mass of Icelandic acts playing the festival, we decided to pull together a little guide to our favourite homegrown performers on the lineup. DJ flugvél…
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DJ Flugvél Og Geimskip: Facts & Favourites
Born in: “I was born in Reykjavík. But there’s been all this proof appearing that I might be from Atlantis, or at least have visited there in a previous life. Like, people near me keep mentioning Atlantis, or some café has pictures…
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Master At Work: This Man Makes Your Einstök
On an industrial estate by the Akureyri harbour, one building stands slightly taller than the rest. With its tall grain bins, steaming chimneys and hulking fermentation tanks, the Vífilfell brewery dominates the area, pouring the tempting smell of fermenting hops across the…
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Björk Unveils Vulnicura Remix Project
Björk‘s latest album, ‘Vulnicura,’ met with many positive reviews earlier this year. But one of the critics’ more common observations was that it’s a very dense, challenging piece of work. This makes it perhaps the most ripe for remixes of any album…
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After Dark: The DJs Of Reykjavík
There’s a certain time of night in Reykjavík’s bars when the atmosphere starts to change. The blinds come down, the lights are dimmed, and the volume of the music creeps up as daytime playlists give way to something more propulsive. The after-work…
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Inside The Factory: We Visit Claus Sterneck
Claus Sterneck is celebrating his tenth summer in Djúpavík, a minute coastal hamlet in a remote part of Iceland’s Westfjords. A former busy fishing village based around a dramatic abandoned fish-processing factory, Djúpavík is also home to a sole hotel, renovated from…
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OMG! #GVpics! The Week’s Best Iceland Instagrams
Wow! Can you believe that a week passed since the last #GVpics winner was announced? Time is FLYING round here. It’s terrifying! Where did this week go? We’re all gonna die! WTF! Aaaaaaa! But hey uh, in the meantime, Instagramming sure is…
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Iceland Airwaves To Tour The Country This Week
Iceland Airwaves will go on tour to some of the country’s more far flung regions this week. DJ flugvél og geimskip, Emmsjé Gauti and Agent Fresco will hit the road from a string of dates that take them to the tiny towns…
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12 Hours In Akureyri: Swimming, Culture, Nature & Nightlife
Akureyri, the self styled “capital of the North,” is Iceland’s second-largest settlement. Often called Iceland’s ‘second city’, the 18,000-strong population falls slightly short of the international standard for a ‘large town,’ but as Iceland often proves, size isn’t everything. Akureyri’s imposing, austere…
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Weekly #GVpics: The 10 Best Iceland Instagrams
We had a nice visit yesterday from Julia, the winner of last week’s #GVpics Instagram competition, who dropped by with her eight-year-old son Ágúst to pick up their two t-shirts. Here’s what went down: Our #GVpics winner @juliamai popped in the collect…
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Beach House For Airwaves! And 24 More Bands Announced
Iceland Airwaves continue to tease us by trickle-feeding out lineup announcements. The big news this time is that the wonderful dream-pop band Beach House are coming back, having played at Reykjavík Art Museum a couple of years back. Also added are the awesome…
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Gone Skying: Helicopter Tours Are A High-Flying Treat
There’s something about the position of Reykjavík’s city centre—perched on a hill, with the sea and mountains on all sides—that invites daydreams about seeing it from above. Standing at the top of Skólavörðustígur, the flat top of Mount Esja seems just a…
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The Bearable Lightness Of Being: Kathy Clark’s Maximalist Installation
Hafnarhúsið, on Reykjavík’s waterfront, is a beautiful building. Once home to the city’s harbour offices, it’s now the largest of the Reykjavík Art Museum’s three sites, dedicated to contemporary art in its manifold forms. Past the large sliding doors and airy lobby…
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This Week’s Iceland Instagram Hitz: #GVpics Contest Round 2
After last week’s inaugural #GVpics Instagram contest, it’s time for round two. The first week had a joint winner featuring maximum sheep, with Grapevine t-shirts now on their way to @ingibjorgolafs and @hannes_nrm. This week, the prize is modeled by part-time comedian…
