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Sea Change
Angelica Aquino moved from the Philippines to the East Iceland fishing hamlet of Djúpivogur over a decade ago. Enticed by a job in a factory owned by a fishing and fish processing firm called Vísir, Angelica, whose name has been changed for…
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In A Van Down By The Ocean, Touring to Vík
Nearly 200 kilometres of road lay in front of us. From Reykjavík to Vík í Mýrdal in two days, that was our mission. That’s not at all that much, you might note, but we had to make some stops on the way…
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Something In The Water
If you’re a carbon-based life form, you probably need water. If you’re a perpetually dehydrated carbon-based life form, like me, then you probably need a lot of water. And if you’re a perpetually dehydrated carbon-based life form who recently moved to Reykjavík,…
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Over The Edge
On May 17, a massive torfæra rally briefly turned Hella into one of the most action-packed corners of Iceland, attracting 18 drivers and some 3,000 spectators. Organisers used the event to raise money for the local search and rescue team; the drivers…
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Kaleo
If you think Kings of Leon, the Black Keys and the White Stripes are all purveyors of derivative trash, then there’s a new purveyor on the scene for you to hate. If, on the other hand, you think they’re refreshingly straightforward examples…
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Gone Fishin’ With Illgresi
Talk about that high lonesome sound. The boys of bluegrass quartet Illgresi have searched every hummock and holler in Iceland looking for likeminded musicians, all to no avail. “We were on a radio program a couple years ago,” recounts Guðmundur Atli Pétursson, a…
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Homeward Bound
In 2007, Iceland’s economy was still in its pre-crash boom days, cruising along to an eventual 4.9% GDP growth rate. Eiríkur Hauksson, the country’s Eurovision ambassador, failed to qualify for the final round of the contest entirely. “Eyjafjallajökull” was not yet an…
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“It Doesn’t Have To Be Warm To Be Exotic”
The songs on My bubba’s new album, ‘Goes Abroader,’ were written during the long, dark nights of a Scandinavian winter. Guðbjörg Tómasdóttir (‘Bubba’) was in her native Iceland; My Larsdotter Lucas (‘My’), who hails from Sweden, was camped out in Denmark. The…
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Louder, Brighter, Bigger
In the wake of several live venues closing down in the past few years, news of Gamli Gaukurinn not only staying open, but working on improving its stage, lights and sound system was music to our ears (pardon the pun). To finance…
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My bubba’s New “Island” Music video
The lyrics of My bubba’s single “Island” offer listeners a visual feast—full of cannons, clamshells, seahorses, and windswept beaches. In an interesting twist, the song’s music video shies away from these strong images, channeling instead the somewhat subdued emotional state of the…
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Brain Police Combat Public Displays Of Aggression
My colleague and I arrived at Dillon to find ourselves stuck in the agonizingly sober limbo of Purgatory. Happy hour, the barkeep told us, had ended twenty minutes earlier, but Brain Police wouldn’t begin their set for another three quarters of an…
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Track of Issue: My bubba’s “Island”
All isn’t quite right in paradise. On My bubba’s new single, ‘Island,’ the soothing maritime baseline evokes the sound of gently pounding surf, while a strumming guitar conjures images of coral reefs and colourful fish. The forlorn narrator, however, is too busy…
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Pay Per View
In June last year, something unprecedented happened here in Iceland: a group of private landowners erected a barrier fence and started charging people to gain access to Kerið, a volcanic crater lake located on their property in Grímsnes, South Iceland. Their claim…
