New Music & Discovery
The Reykjavík Grapevine presents Icelandic music news along with new Icelandic albums and/or tracks.
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Grapevine Playlist: New Music From Kristín Anna, Högni, MIMRA & More
Like a sudden flurry of shooting stars entering your house through an open window, here are the latest cosmic emissions from the scene—it’s your weekly new music update. Kristín Anna – I Must Be The Devil Kristín Anna Valtysdóttir, the artist formerly…
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Grapevine Playlist: Good Moon Deer, Seint, Andy Svarthol, LDN Ting & More
Like eighty-five ravenous polar bears simultaneously disembarking from icebergs and charging towards Akureyri, here are the latest fearsome barrages from the Icelandic music scene. Good Moon Deer – Aloner The choppy, glitching, tumbling electronica of Good Moon Deer jumps into warp speed…
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Music News: Bræðslan Festival, Pussy Riot At Secret Solstice, Sólveig Matthildur
The tiny rural music festival Bræðslan has announced the lineup for its 2019 edition. Located in the far-flung village of Bakkagerði in Borgarfjörður Eystri, it’s one of Iceland’s most remote music festivals—the town hit the news a few years ago when locals…
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Grapevine Playlist: Bjarki, Mighty Bear, Örmagna, Kælan Mikla, Sunna & More
Like seventeen huge, gleaming icicles breaking off simultaneously and smashing into iridescent fragmented gems, here are the latest frigid emissions from Iceland’s frozen winter music scene complied into one playlist. Mighty Bear – Burt (Acoustic) Mighty Bear presents a bare rendition of…
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Music News: Riceboy Sleeps Awakens, Iceland Airwaves, Jóhann Retrosopective
Jónsi and Alex Somers will perform their collaborative album ‘Riceboy Sleeps’ with the London Contemporary Orchestra on July 8th at London’s Barbican Hall. It’s the first time the album, which turns ten this year, will be performed in its entirety. The album…
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Track By Track: ‘Celebs’ By Axis Dancehall
Imagine blasting an old school video game soundtrack in a dirty Berlin basement while having a realisation of your own mortality. Welcome to the genre bending ‘Celebs’ by Axis Dancehall, explained here in full by the band. If you like their vibe,…
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Grapevine Playlist: dj. flugvél og geimskip, Unè Misere, Tinslit, Kuldaboli & More
Holy moly! It’s Grapevine playlist time! Here are the latest Icelandic tracks burning up the office stereo. Kuldaboli – Ég elska þig eilífa stríð Translating as “I love you, endless war,” this heavy techno EP has slow, dark, almost robotic singing. Verging…
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Track By Track: ‘Psychoplasmics’ By Psychoplasmics
Psychoplasmics is the collaborative project of Lord Pu$$whip and Alfreð Drexler. Their first song, ‘101 Reykjavík,’ came out in in 2014, and they’ve finally followed it up with a long-awaited eponymous debut album. Here, the two take us through the album ‘Psychoplasmics’…
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Track By Track: ‘BIPOLAR’ By Ragga Holm
Ragga Holm might be best known from Reykjavíkurdætur, but her newly-released ‘BIPOLAR’ shows she can easily stand on her own two feet. The album, inspired by Ragga’s experiences with bipolar disorder, is a melange of pop, hip-hop and electro. We sat down…
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Grapevine Playlist: Hermigervill, sillus, HATARI, Psychoplasmics, ZAKAZ & More
A lot of great music sneaked out over the Christmas period, whilst your eye was off the ball, and on the egg nog. If anyone actually drinks that stuff. We don’t really know. We mostly see it in movies. Hermigervill – II…
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Track By Track: ‘Love, Lust, and Greed’ By Great Grief
Great Grief has been playing worldwide for five years, so calling their newly released debut album, ‘Love, Lust, and Greed,’ long-awaited would be an understatement. Singer Finnbogi Örn walks us through the new album, track by track. Fluoxetine (Burden Me) This song…
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Music News: Jónsi Triple Album! Vök’s World Domination! Kiasmos NYE Blowout! More!
Oh lord! It’s all going off in the Icelandic music scene. Here’s a summary of what’s new. Jónsi has released a triple-album of experimental material collected under his Frakkur solo moniker. After a limited vinyl pressing sold out at last year’s Norður…
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Grapevine Playlist: Post-Airwaves Music Flood Edition—Great New Stuff Galore
Much like the collapse of a Greenlandic ice shelf being caught on camera by an amateur photographer making a time-lapse, Airwaves 2018 precipitated a disorientating landslide of new releases. However, rather than being a chilling reminder of the inevitability of global warming,…
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Track By Track: ‘Night Music’ By PORT
Above all else, PORT seeks to dive deep into alienation and escapism. Their first EP, ‘Night Music,’ came out in September and proved without a shadow of a doubt that these boys—veterans of the Reykjavík metal scene—can serve up contemplative ambient music…
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Grapevine Playlist: Wood/Work, Commander, Svartidauði, Sólveig Matthildur, Hugar & More!
Very much like a torrent of aurora glimpsed through the clouds, rippling the surface of our planet’s atmosphere like a pebble dropping into a puddle, here are the latest majestic plumes to erupt from the wonderous geysir we call the Icelandic music…
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Track by Track: Bistro Boy – Píanó í þokunni (‘Piano in the Fog’)
Bistro Boy – ‘Píanó í Þokunni’ ‘Píanó í þokunni’ (‘Piano in the Fog’) is Bistro Boy’s third LP. The album is a dreamy tribute to Bistro Boy’s long-lasting relationship with his piano; a musical journey from past to present. “On this album I…
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Music News: Airwaves Album Flood Begins, Icelander Wins Industry Award, Sónar First Lineup
A host of Icelandic bands have announced new releases around the Airwaves festival. The long-dormant Benny Crespo’s Gang have announced a new self-released album, “Minor Mistakes,” available to pre-order now on their website. Árstíðir, who released an album earlier this year, will…
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Grapevine Playlist: Berndsen, GYDA, Vök, aYia, AAIIEENN, Jón Jónsson, Sólveig Matthildur & More
As Airwaves approaches, more and more new music starts to appear. Here are the tracks we’ve been enjoying… or, in one case, not. GYDA – Moonchild Gyða Valtýsdóttir, who initially rose to prominence as a member of múm, reemerges from a long…
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Music News: Airwaves Complete Lineup, Hugar Sign With SONY, RVKDTR Are Winning
Iceland Airwaves has announced twenty more bands to complete the 20th anniversary edition of the festival, which will happen in Reykjavík between November 7-11th. From the U.K., The Rhythm Method join the bill, and in a nod to the anniversary, three bands…
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Grapevine Playlist: ROKKY, RONNY, GusGus, Berndsen, Fufanu & More
Like thirty seven orcas breaching in unison under the swirling aurora at the exact moment that geysir goes off, here are the latest magical offerings from the Icelandic music scene. Berndsen – Alter Ego Iceland’s bushy-bearded hunk of synth-pop lovin’, Berndsen, has…
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Track By Track: ‘Influence Of Buildings On Musical Tone’ By Þráinn Hjálmarsson
Composer Þráinn Hjálmarsson’s debut effort, ‘Influence Of Buildings On Musical Tone’, is one of cultivated emotion. Containing five recent chamber works, it’s a thorough exploration of what Þráinn offers—beautiful music based in ruminative academia. We sat down with him to chat about the…
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Grapevine Playlist: aYia, SiGRÚN, GYDA, Emilíana Torrini, Júníus Meyvant, PORT & More
Like the beautiful geysir exploding hot, stinky earth water all over a group of damp, blissed-out lookers-on, here are the latest steaming exhalations from Iceland’s sulphurous music scene. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4TzcQusPSY&feature=youtu.be aYia – Sparkle A breakthrough project of recent years, the video for aYia’s…
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Music News: Power-Goth Trio Kælan Mikla, Disco Hunk Berndsen, Hvalur Festival
Two popular Icelandic bands of different stripes have announced notable album releases for late 2018. The first is Kælan Mikla, who have had a stellar year topped off by an invitation to open for The Cure in London’s Hyde Park. Their third…