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Every Day Is Halloween When You’re Sóley
Spooky songstress Sóley has just released her second album, ‘Ask The Deep’, via the German indie label Morr Music. First seen as a Sin Fang’s captivating, schoolmarmish keyboardist, playing with large glasses perched on the end of her nose and one hand…
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Inside Langjökull’s Ice Cave: The Glacial Cavemen
Just outside of Reykjavík, past the snowy bulge of Úlfarsfell and the small satellite town of Mosfellsbær, lies the way to the northern reaches of Iceland. The road passes the hiking trails at the feet of mount Esja before arcing up past…
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Introducing Dream Wife’s Poolside Pop
A lot of bands throughout history have started in art school – fewer have started their life as actual art. But that’s the story of Dream Wife, a new trio featuring Icelandic singer and artist Rakel Mjöll, whose face might well be…
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ArtsFest Q&A: Fríða Björk Ingvarsdóttir, Rector of Listaskóli Íslands
This years Reykjavík Arts Festival focuses on gender issues in the arts, as well as censorship and rights struggle more generally. This week, we’re talking to prominent women in the Reykjavík arts scene about Reykjavík Arts Festival, and about their opinions on…
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This Week’s Instagram Contest – 177 Entries And TWO Winners!
Last week we launched the first #gvpics Instagram competition – asking you, dear readers, to use the #gvpics tag on your best Instagram photographs of Iceland. But not just the oft-seen aurora and landscapes shots – we asked for characters, towns, wilderness,…
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Sing Fang Remixes Australian Artist Gordi
Sin Fang doesn’t produce an awful lot of remixes, but when he does, they’re pretty great. His latest reworking is of Australian artist Gordi, who has long been obsessed with Iceland. “A lot of the music coming out of Iceland at the…
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Reykjavík Arts Festival Is Kicking Off! Cool Stuff Happening Today!
Readers! Hello. As you may have noticed in our new issue, today is the opening of this year’s Reykjavík Arts Festival. So the streets of downtown are about to get pretty interesting. The theme of the festival this year is gender equality…
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Arts Fest Artistic Director Speaks On Gender Equality
Sitting in the Reykjavík Arts Festival’s sunny downtown white-cube offices, Hanna Styrmisdóttir, the festival’s artistic director, is in a relaxed and confident mood. The 2015 festival is bearing down, and she’s recounting a story from an interview earlier in the day. “I…
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ArtsFest Q&A: Erna Ómarsdóttir, Iceland Dance Company
In the third of our series of interviews with women working in the Icelandic arts, we talked to Erna Ómarsdóttir, the creative director of the Iceland Dance Company. This year’s focus is women in art. Do you think there’s still some way…
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Artsfest Q&A: Katrín Jakobsdóttir, MP & Former Culture Minister
This years Reykjavík Arts Festival focuses on gender issues in the arts, as well as censorship and rights struggle. This week, we’re talking to prominent women in the Reykjavík arts scene about the festival’s history, and about equality in the arts. Yesterday…
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ArtsFest Q&A: Ragnheiður Harpa Leifsdóttir, Artist
With Reykjavík Arts Festival bearing down fast, we thought we’d talk to some prominent figures in the city’s arts scene about the festival, and this year’s focus on gender, censorship and rights struggle. First up: Ragnheiður Harpa Leifsdóttir, one of Iceland’s brightest…
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American Food Chain Dunkin’ Donuts Is Poised To Appear Around Iceland
Stepping out onto the main street of most European capitals these days, it would be plain odd not to see a Starbucks or a McDonald’s. American food chains have become widespread to the point of ubiquity over the last few decades by…
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Twelve Hours In Reykjavík: Sunny Day Edition
So the sun is out, the sky is blue, and Reykjavík is your oyster. And while the downtown area is more than compact enough for you to wander the side streets, discover favourite spots, and wend your leisurely way across the city…
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Hashtag Your Way Into A Free Grapevine Shirt! #Wow
Everyone loves getting things for free, right? And photographing stuff, everyone loves that. And lately, it seems pretty much everyone loves Iceland, too. If you happen to love all of those things, maybe this is for you. We’re holding an ongoing weekly…
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Farao Unveils New Iceland-Made Single
Farao, aka Norwegian singer Kari Jahnsen, might well be familiar to keen-eyed followers of Iceland’s music scene. She’s played in Iceland more than most, whether supporting Ásgeir on a sold out Christmas-time tour, performing at Harpa Norðurljós at Airwaves ’14, or warming…
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Of Monsters And Men Release New Video
Breakthrough Icelandic indie quintet Of Monsters And Men have unveiled a new video for the track ‘I Of The Storm.’ It’s taken from their forthcoming album, ‘Beneath The Skin,’ slated for UK release on June 8th via Island Records. The striking video…
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Music Champions Rythmatik Embrace Musical Diversity, Play For The Love Of It
It’s not often that a music journalist is picked up for a ride to an interview by the band’s mother. But the short story of Rythmatik is already one made up of firsts. Perhaps most significantly, they’re the first band from the…
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Download This: Rythmatik – “Tiny Knots”
This issue’s track of the issue comes from Rythmatik, the recent winners of Músiktilraunir, Iceland’s national Battle of the bands. This young four-piece, from the tiny town of Suðureyri up in the Westfjords, clearly haven’t let the brutal winter dim their spirits—their…
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Go West: Aldrei Fór Ég Suður Is A Festival To Remember
A trip up to Ísafjörður, the seat of Westfjörds’ municipality Ísafjarðarbær, is always a treat. It’s one of those towns where you feel like you’ve exited the real world, somehow. Even getting there is slightly surreal, whether winding around the narrow road,…
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GusGus To Launch New Fan Channel On Creators World
Icelandic techno dons GusGus are planning something interesting. Their website has been replaced by a big countdown and a trailer for a new service, promising exclusive content such as behind-the-scenes video footage for fans of the band. This new web platform has…
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Iceland’s First Lady Dorrit Moussaieff Announces Eyrarrós Prize
The winner of the annual Icelandic arts award Eyrarrós, dedicated to celebrating projects taking place in the rural regions of Iceland, was announced yesterday at a ceremony in Ísafjörður. A total of 44 projects applied via open submission, out of which the…
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Hundreds Gathered To See Eclipse At Blue Lagoon
The Blue Lagoon opened early this morning for today’s total solar eclipse. Floating in the milky water with anticipation as the sky slowly darkened, nearly 200 early risers donned specially provided dark glasses in an attempt to glimpse this rare celestial event.…
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Hold On To Your Visa Cards… Björk Is Playing Airwaves
Björk has been announced to play at Iceland Airwaves 2015. If that’s all you need to know to go and buy a ticket, then yep, cool, we feel you. You can do that here. We’ll wait for you. No, really, it’s no…
