New Music & Discovery
The Reykjavík Grapevine presents Icelandic music news along with new Icelandic albums and/or tracks.
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Track By Track: ‘This Is My Shit’ By Páll Ivan
Our cover star Páll Ivan walks us through his debut album, ‘This Is My Shit’. “The album’s title is the closest analogy to this music,” he says. “It’s stuff that comes out of me, fairly involuntarily, at semi-regular intervals. I like shit.” Farðu…
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Grapevine Playlist: Úlfur, Mammút, CYBER, Sin Fang, Sóley & More
With Airwaves approaching, Icelandic bands are throwing out new material at a rate of knots. Here are the tracks that have caught our eye over the last two weeks. Sin Fang, Sóley & Örvar Smárasson – Used And Confused The latest addition…
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Music News: Sigur Rós, Valgeir Sigurðsson, Iceland Earthwaves
The Sigur rós-curated Norður og Niður festival—to be held at Harpa over the Christmas period from December 27-30—has released more names for the lineup. Joining such luminaries as Jarvis Cocker, Dan Deacon and Kevin Shields will be ambient-techno star Blanck Mass, Hot…
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Track By Track: ‘Fjallaloft’ By Moses Hightower
Moses Hightower is known for skillful playing, soothing voices, and advanced compositions. A live review from the Grapevine once said their performance, “[made] the audience feel like they were right in the band’s living room.” The group recently released their third album,…
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Grapevine Playlist: Alvia, CYBER, Björk, EinarIndra & More
From the queen of Icelandic music to the latest rap kids exploding out of their bedroom and into the charts, here’s the Grapevine’s playlist of new tracks from the last few weeks. Alvia ft. CYBER – Cybergum Do you remember the Sims?…
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Track By Track: ‘GerviGlingur’ by JóiPé & Króli
Young rappers JóiPé and Króli burst onto the scene only weeks ago with their banger ‘B.O.B.A.’ Luckily, they also have a new album out called ‘GerviGlingur.’ To learn more, we sat down with them to discuss the album, line by line, track…
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Music News: Sigur Rós Festival Announces Names + JóiP og Króli & More
Sigur Rós have announced some of the performers who’ll take part in their Christmas time festival, Norður og Niður. The festival will run at Harpa between December 27-30, with performances from Pulp frontman and solo artist Jarvis Cocker, elusive My Bloody Valentine…
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Grapevine Playlist: Páll Ivan, FM Belfast, Gyða, Úlfur, GANGLY & More
It’s been good month for new Icelandic music—here are some of the recent faves that have been spinning on the Grapevine stereo, from orchestral folk, to weird trap, to renovated ancient compsition. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmmUkT-Pw6A Páll Ivan Frá Eiðum – Expanding We loved this…
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Music News: Final Airwaves Lineup + Kiasmos, Grísalappalísa & Björk Return
One of Iceland’s best live acts, the furiously energetic punk-poetry collective Grísalappalísa, has returned. They dropped a new video last week, premiered at grapevine.is and directed by the band’s drummer, Sigurður Möller Sívertsen. The song is called ‘Kvæðaþjófurinn,’ and it’s the band’s…
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Track By Track: Mammút’s ‘Kinder Versions’
Mystical and intimate post-rockers Mammút recently dropped their newest album, ‘Kinder Versions’. To get the meaning behind each emotional tune, we sat down with the band. 1. We Tried Love This is our love song. We created two different worlds for it—one…
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Music News: Sama-sem, Hórmónar, Milkhouse
Milkhouse just released their first LP, ‘Painted Mirrors.’ The Indie dreampop band’s 12 new songs feature captivating lyrics in Icelandic and English, sung by 21-year-old Katrín Helga Ólafsdóttir, whose style is reminiscent of a young Björk. “The songs are about how we…
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Music News: Björk, Daði & Jóhanness LaFontaine
Björk has announced via her social media feeds that a new album—her first since ‘Vulnicura’ in 2015—is coming soon. Few details have been announced so far, other than that regular collaborator Arca will have a hand in some tracks, and that it…
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Grapevine Playlist: Stereo Hypnosis & Futuregrapher, Hafdís Huld, Daði Freyr And More
Stereo Hypnosis & Futuregrapher – Toqqissiviq Ambient band Stereo Hypnosis has teamed up with electronica and dance music artist Futuregrapher to create a new LP called ‘Toqqissiviq.’ It’s a Greenlandic word that translates to “calm,” which might give you an idea of…
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Track By Track: Bróðir BIG’s ‘Hrátt Hljóð’
‘Hrátt Hljóð’ translates to ‘Raw Sound,’ and that’s exactly what you get from Bróðir BIG. To get the lowdown on his new boom bap rap release, we talked to the man himself. 1. DJ Bricks in deep concentration (Intro) ‘Hrátt Hljóð’ is…
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Track by Track: Une Misère’s ‘01.07.17’
Fresh off taking first prize at the Wacken Metal Battle, the hardcore boys of Une Misère dropped their first full release on July 1. Entitled ‘01.07.17’’, the mixtape features two “sides,” with Side A featuring 2.5 original songs and 0.5 cover songs,…
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Music News: Högni, JFDR, Kælan Mikla, Úlfur Úlfur, Melodica & Airwaves
Singer, songwriter and all-round star Högni—who you may know from Hjaltalín and a stint as a vocalist in GusGus—has signed a record deal with the Erased Tapes record label. He joins musicians like Ólafur Arnalds, Nils Frahm, A Winged Victory for the…
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Grapevine Playlist: Högni, Sturla Atlas, Indridi, Sólveig Matthildur & More
With festival season in full flow and new releases coming thick and fast, here are some of the latest Icelandic tracks that have been catching our attention. Indridi – Undiraldan The debut album by solo artist Indridi, ‘Makril’, has been out for…
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Track by Track: HAM – ‘Söngvar Um Helvíti Mannana’
Icelandic rock megaliths HAM recently dropped their newest album, ‘Söngvar um helvíti mannanna’, or “Songs about the Hell of Man.” We sat down with the group to hear more about their hellish world. 1. Eldur (“Fire) HAM: This is one of many…
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Music News: Ásgeir Plays For 24 Hours, Innipúkinn Lineup, Record Records Is Ten
Icelandic indie label Record Records celebrated its tenth birthday this month. Started in 2007 by record store clerk Haraldur Leví Gunnarsson, the label evolved over the years from a passion project to a full time job, releasing music by many of Iceland’s…
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Grapevine Playlist: Gus Gus, Skólarapp, Bróðir BIG, Sóley, Sin Fang, Örvar Smárason
Here are a few of the latest Icelandic tracks that have been rattling around on the Grapevine stereo. GusGus – Featherlight After reinventing themselves as a techno outfit in 2009, shape-shifting electronica collective GusGus have never looked back. With the group back…
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The Front Line: Underground Under-21 Icelandic Hip-Hop
If you’ve followed the last 2 years of Grapevine’s coverage on Icelandic rap and hip hip, you’ll know that the scene is just crazy right now. (BTW: Every different word in that sentence links to a separate article about the scene.) But…
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Music News: Night + Day Festival, Iceland Airwaves & Solstafir
The big music news this week was the cancellation of the inaugural Night + Day festival, which was to be curated by The xx and held in the area around the Skógafoss waterfall on the South Coast. The festival raised eyebrows in…
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Track by Track: ‘Joey’ by Joey Christ
Joey Christ burst onto the scene with dream team collab track “Joey Cypher”. The Costco-themed video racked up 150,000+ views, and on July 10 he’ ll release his debut mixtape ‘ Joey’ . To get the T, we sat down with the…