Bob Cluness
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kimono: This Will Hurt You More Than It Hurts Us
Over the past fifteen years, kimono have slowly become one of Iceland’s more venerated guitar bands, their small but powerful collection of music marking them as a band that runs a slightly different course to its peers. However, things have been fairly…
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Revolution in the Elbow of Ragnar Agnarsson, Furniture Painter
‘Revolution in the Elbow of Ragnar Agnarsson, Furniture Painter’ is that most maligned and misunderstood of musical entities: the concept album. Written by Ívar Páll Jónsson, it tells the story of Elbowville, a small nation that lives in the elbow of said…
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Söngvar elds og óreiðu
A friend of mine once said to me, “You know, black metal is a lot cleverer than it thinks it is.” And while many black metalheads, in their quest to be the tr00est ov cvlt, would run for a mile at the…
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You Will Be Assimilated, Resistance Is Futile…
It’s the May Day bank holiday and everyone in Iceland is taking it easy in the warm sun. At Lucky Records there’s a release party that includes local house DJ and producer Viktor Birgiss performing an energetic house music live set with…
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Grapevine Live Blog: ATP Iceland – Saturday!
It’s the end… the Bitter End! 14:00 – Media Hotel – Bob Cluness (BC) It’s 2pm and at the hotel, things are muffled and a little subdued. Last night, beer was brought back and there was a small party so several of…
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Grapevine Live Blog: ATP Iceland – Friday!
Our ATP Iceland Friday blogging starts…. NOW! 16:55 – Media Hotel, Keflavik – Bob Cluness (BC): Hi-De-Hi campers! i trust everyone is suitable refreshed today and ready to get right on it. Right now the media hotel is empty and calm as…
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Dis Is Da Sounds Of Da Solstice Massive… WHOOP!
You probably read Tyler’s more comprehensive coverage of the Secret Solstice festival on the preceding page, but because there were so many acts, a lot of stuff will have gone by completely unnoticed. So I went there as punter, but The Grapevine…
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Chili And The Whalekillers: Turn
OK kids, some marketing semiotics 101 for you. When you see the cover of `Turn,’ the debut album from Chili And The Whalekillers, you’ll see a rather pernicious trend known as the “indie band in a field” syndrome. Scrubbed up boys plonked…
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Adda
‘My Brain,’ the crowdsourced debut EP from singer/songwriter Adda (AKA Arnþrúður Ingólfsdóttir), is a wonderfully austere, haunting body of folk songs. Playing fingerpicked acoustic guitar, Adda sings a lot about her turbulent mind (referring to her brain as a third person entity),…
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Höfuðsynd
It should be noted that when you first play ‘Höfuðsynd,’ the debut album from new band Atónal Blús, you quickly realise that despite the cool name, that they’re not really Arnold Schoenberg does John Lee Hooker. But that’s not to dispute that…
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Fyrir Herra Spock, MacGyver Og Mig 2013
Sveinn Guðmundsson’s debut album is pretty much your standard issue bread and butter lo-fi Icelandic folk twiddle. A deferential mix of gently strummed guitars, soft chewy bass notes, comfy melodica wheezes, and trombone (the Comic Sans of instruments) splayed across the board.…
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Top House Tunes Make You Go On And On (And On And On)
Saturday night at SONAR started off pretty much the same way as the night before. Everyone seemed to be at home or in the local bars, preferring to wait until a bit later before coming to Harpa (steep beer prices and heavy…
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Electric Iceland
Today we live in a truly globalised Bass Culture. Whether it’s dubstep from Santiago or drone techno from Kazakhstan, our digital interconnections ensure that the entire canon of dance music, past and present, is at our fingertips. Local sounds and flavours on…
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Kaldalón Attacked By Canadian Gay Pirates!!!
The first half of Harpa Kaldalón’s Saturday line-up felt incredibly random, as if the organizers pulled names out of a bag. I spent most of the night alternating between being deeply moved, annoyed, and confused. GUÐRIÐ HANDSDÓTTIR had a band on stage…
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WINDY DAY TIDBIT! Musicians & Their Pets!
Stay inside, get some milkbones and catnip and cuddle up with a furry-friend! Compiled by Rebecca Louder & Bob Cluness While being a touring musician and a pet owner can’t be easy, there’s one thing that’s for sure – your pet will…
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All Killer, Fuck All Filler….
Bob Cluness’ Seven Bands To Catch At Airwaves 2012! Even though it was probably the most inexplicable decision of their careers when the editorial team at the Grapevine made me music manager for the paper, they apparently gave me this title…
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Zip Zip, Zun Zun!: Zun Zun Egui bring the fun (and their shades) to Airwaves
There’s eclectic, and then there’s Zun Zun Egui. Formed from the cultural primordial soup of Bristol’s avant-garde music scene, they started as a 14 person strong collective, but have since pared down to a strong but flexible quartet. Taking musical flavours from…
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Independent In Music and Mind: With Árstíðir, you too can transport your mind to a better place
Árstíðir are a classic lesson in poise and perfection. Their music takes in numerous influences, from folk and ‘60s pop, to modern classical music, all the while with their gliding vocal harmonies and mournful strings, they’re truly the balm to sooth your…
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GRRRRR!
“Ok Bob now please don’t get angry with what I’m about to tell you…” One of the more fascinating things about my wife (other than she has never cooked a fish in her entire life) is that she has an innate ability…
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Civilisation?
I just returned from a little jaunt to London. It was my birthday and my brother, in his infinite generosity, bought me a return ticket to spend time with him and friends. I admit that as the plane left Keflavík I was…
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Rock Da Vote! (or maybe not…)
I always make sure, against my better judgement, to take every opportunity to assimilate myself with Icelandic customs and culture. Attend a Þorrablót? Been there, chewed on the gristle. Handball game? One of the first phrases I learnt was “Áfram Ísland!” Another…