Author: - The Reykjavik Grapevine

Author: Sindri Eldon

Jarboe

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Jarboe’s magnificent Hindu-apocalyptic concept album Mahakali is nothing short of spectacular in its gloom, hopelessness, and sense of impending insanity;…

David Byrne & Brian Eno

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It is amazing how two incredibly talented and interesting musicians can conspire to make something as inherently dull and commonplace…

Sparks

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Sparks’ 21st studio album is not exactly a return to their seventies golden age values and energy, but it comes…

Electric Six

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Flashy is, frankly, anything but. After four albums of rollicking, spectacular cock-rock that have gone sadly unnoticed, Electric Six’s fifth…

Fucking Expensive Karaoke

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I recently paid $60 to make a fool of myself. I and about eight other people went to an Indian…

Wavves

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After a somewhat unnecessary intro begins the most shockingly direct and vital American rock album in years. All playful drums,…

Steed Lord

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“Temptation is a bitch / Get on your knees and suck my dick, girl” …indeed. Steed Lord’s brilliantly named 15-track…

Perversity, Desperation and Death

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After the swaggering binge that was Life Is Killing My Rock & Roll and the crisp urgency of Taste The…

Jóhann Jóhannsson

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It’s all very nice and atmospheric, but what’s the point? An unfair question, to be sure, but somehow one has…

I Am Not An Icelander

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I am an Icelandic person, living in New York. I don’t much care for the term ‘Icelander’. Not for any…

Skorpulifur

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So this is interesting. It’s carefully machinated party rock, seemingly designed to have the impact of an incredibly fat man…

Agent Fresco

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This musically flat but well-performed EP sounds a bit too much like twenty other bands I could name to make…

Weapons

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It’s amazing how many singers Eddie Vedder has subliminally inspired to suck. Hreinn of Weapons probably wasn’t going for Vedder’s…

Ingi

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The title should have tipped me off. Call it folky, call it country, call it whatever you want, it’s still…

Oops.

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Ratatat fucked up. Well, it wasn’t their fault entirely. There were other fuck-ups involved. And maybe theirs wasn’t even the…

“Please Do Not Refer to Me as an Entertainer”

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Jón Gnarr is most famous for his radio show Tvíhöfði, and his award-winning comedy TV show Fóstbræður – shows that…

The Day the Hippies Took Over the Park

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The Sigur Rós show in Miklatún was a success, of sorts. They are probably the first Icelandic band to arrange…

The Green, Green Golf Course of Home

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Stefán Þorleifsson, 90-year-old sports instructor and gym coach, is sitting on the couch in his two-storey house in Neskaupstaður. He…

192-Hour Party People

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Grapevine goes to the Roskilde FestivalIt would take a die-hard stalwart of a Guns ‘N Roses fan to be satisfied…

An Open House for Politics in Action

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One of the most distinct and controversial buildings in Iceland, the Reykjavík City Hall surprised a nation when it was…

The War Against Frugality

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On June 8, 1986, Bad Taste, Inc. was formally established. Intended to be a creative outlet for those artists and…

A Splinter of History Straight into Your Eye

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Most nations in the world enjoy celebrating their heritage in some form or another. On some date on every national…

JÓNI JÓNS AT TURPENTINE

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“In the continent of personal dreams that lie beyond the reality of the mirror stands a vast area of conflict,…

A Tuba

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Tónastöðin Seeking new and amazing ways to irritate your friends and neighbours? Want to study an instrument, but afraid that…

A Really Wild Safari to the Brink of Human Endurance, Sort of

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Adrenaline: the product of the adrenal gland, trigger of the ‘fight-or-flight’ response to dangerous situations where one’s physical safety is…