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194 Young People Who Just Wanted to Rock
The main concept of tourism for young people in Brazil is the search for cheap places that are completely different from the typical national identity. This New Year’s holiday I thought it would be perfect to fly to Buenos Aires, a city…
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Gavin Portland – Views of Distant Towns
Gavin Portland released two short EPs in 2006, which gave clear hints to what one could expect from their first album. So, it was not really a surprise to learn that Gavin Portland released the best album of 2006. Period. Hardcore influenced…
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5ta herdeildin – Skipið siglir
5ta herdeildin make playful folk-punk with a big dash of country. Articulate and funny Icelandic lyrics accompany the songs, which are well thought out and performed with a skill that can only be acquired by someone who truly enjoys what he is…
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Bent – Rottweilerhundur
Back in 2001, XXX Rottweilerhundar changed (or maybe created) Icelandic rap. One of their members, Bent, is now back with a solo album. Internationally, rap is for the most part in a sorry state. Endless rhymes about bitches and guns, Escalades and…
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Future Future – Insight
Future Future were born from the metalcore band Snafu who had a sizeable following and influence in Icelandic underground rock a few years back. Future Future ventures into traditional rock with its first release. It is polished and well played, the recording…
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Jóhann Jóhannsson: A User’s Manual
He used to play in some pretty rough rock bands. These days, Jóhann Jóhannsson doesn’t employ loud, distorted guitars to get his points across, yet reaches more ears than ever before. The following interview details the story of a certain transformation, one…
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Pétur Ben – Wine For My Weakness
Pétur Ben is best known for being the accompanying guitarist to Mugison. On his first solo album, he steps out of Mugison’s shadow with his own songs and lyrics. It is a slow, introspective album for the most parts – citing Dylan,…
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Amiina: The Word for theFemale Soul
There was a nice cosy atmosphere when I stepped into Tjarnarbíó. Candles were burning, lamps were lit and foreign exchange students, who looked like philosophy majors, gave the place a cool underground vibe. I had been told that this concert was a…
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Dýrðin – Dýrðin
January is a fucking grim month. After that, we get the even grimmer February. And after that, it does not really get any better for a long time. I am dreading it already. Dýrðin arrive to the rescue with the most sugarcoated…
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Brian Jonestown Massacre In Reykjavík: You Could Have Had It So Much Better
I had been looking forward to seeing The Brian Jonestown Massacre perform for the longest time. Throughout the years, their albums have given me hours of enjoyment and some of their songs have touched me in a way most rock songs do…
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Counting in the New Year Across the Globe
Jill Waterman, a New York-based photographer, hasn’t exactly been out of ideas for what to do on New Year’s Eve for the past 23 years. Since 1983, she has travelled to various cities all over the world to document different New Year’s…
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Bríet Sunna – Bara ef þú kemur með
Sena, the biggest record label on the market, seems to have an endless supply of former Icelandic Idol contestants to put in front of a microphone, covering old songs like Always on My Mind, all yielding the same results. For the most…
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Biggi – id
Maus were a popular, great and influential indie band back in the late 1990s. Frontman and singer Biggi was charismatic in a weird way, sometimes out of tune and not really cut out to be a singer. He even acknowledged this in…
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Benni Hemm Hemm – Kajak
Benni Hemm Hemm has been named Golden Boy of Icelandic pop in this publication. Judging by his self-titled debut, released last year, the title isn’t far off, winning two awards at last year’s Icelandic Music Awards. The music sounds something like indie…
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Magga Stína – syngur Megas
Megas, a cultural icon around these parts, sure seems popular this year. Two albums have surfaced where artists try to put their mark on his songs and lyrics. Magga Stína, a talented and sometimes quirky musician, backed by some of the best…
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Jóhann Jóhannsson – IBM 1401, A User’s Manual
An album inspired by recordings of electromagnetic waves emitting from an obsolete computer the size of a large refrigerator. Sounds fun? Not really but this actually is a highly enjoyable CD. Originally composed for a string quartet as the soundtrack to a…
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The Foghorns – New Low
The Foghorns have been pretty active in the music scene the past couple of years, playing numerous shows but never drawing a big crowd. The brainchild of former Grapevine editor, Bart Cameron, this release was partly recorded live in Reykjavík and partly…
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An Appreciated Invasion of Flying Stars and Inflated Santas
Detroit native Sufjan Stevens has built quite a fan base in Iceland, so it was not surprising that his two shows last month sold out in a matter of minutes and more dates would surely have been appreciated. Those lucky devotees who…
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Sugarcubes Reconnect and Eventually Triumph
Some artists are only discovered posthumously. So it seems to have been with the Sugarcubes who returned to perform a concert last Friday in celebration of the 20th anniversary of their first single, Birthday, despite the band announcing its death in 1992.…
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Youth Is Wasted On The Young
The first thing that greeted my companions and I when we entered the sometime-concert venue Broadway on that fateful Tuesday night (after being dutifully frisked by the security staff, of course) was the sight of a dead-drunk 17-year-old boy vomiting furiously on the…
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Lay Low – Please don’t hate me
Lay Low’s country blues is a breath of fresh air into Icelandic music life. Especially considering the fact that girls of her age hardly ever produce anything this original. Lay Low’s strength lies in composing fine tunes but it’s the lyrical department…
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Hildur Vala – Lalala
Hildur Vala, the winner of the hugely popular TV show/singing competition Icelandic Idol, is back with her second album and this time it’s not an album of covers but all new songs by various Icelandic musicians. It’s called Lalala. Here’s an Icelandic…
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Birthday’s Birthday
Seeing that the legendary Sugarcubes (Sykurmolarnir) haven’t played in public together since November 1992, the news on the groups’ November 17th reunion came as a pleasant surprise to fans in Iceland and around the globe. The reason for the reunion show is…