Grapevine Playlist: Retro Sadness And Alien Hip-Hop

Sunna Margrét – Art Of History EP
Listening to this song is like turning on a radiator in an old house after hours spent in the cold outside. It starts off sparse, with just some interesting sounds to let you know it’s on, and those sounds get progressively faster. Then the melody kicks in, and you feel that warmth. Much like an old radiator, though, this song only gets so warm before it shuts off. That seems to be the point in this unhappy tune. SPO

Keelrider – Sun
I’m not gonna lie, this is a great headbanger. It’s 2020, so I can understand your reluctance to relate to the anger of a group of young white men, but I met admit that (in this case) I do. This is a melodic and angry good old rock/Metal tune; a great one to listen to with your dad so he can remember the times when he was cool. You know, before he had you and had to go corporate. IP

Bjarki – Psychotic_Window
Bjarki is truly a busy guy. He released the EP ‘Psychotic_Window’ in December 2019, following up on the success of his brilliant album, ‘Happy Earthday,‘ which dropped in February. The new album is as diverse as its predecessor, perhaps skewing a little bit darker. The soundscape is as unique as ever, giving listeners the sense that this guy hasn’t just evolved as a musician, he is close to achieving some kind of an Electro Nirvana. VG

Prins Póló/FM Belfast – Ekki Nokkuð
“Ekki nokkuð” (Not a thing), is a hilarious sarcastic take on a famous and silly quote from an Icelandic alt-right advocate and a professor at the University of Iceland who is scared of Greta Thunberg and is, of course, sceptical about global warming. The song was written for the annual Áramótaskaupið sketch comedy review, and is an instant classic like everything Prins Póló produces. VG

K.óla – Plastprinsessan Vaknar
K.óla burst onto the Icelandic music scene with a bang last year with her semi-hit song “Nýir draumar’’ on her excellent album, ‘Allt verður alltílæ’. With her new song, “Plastprinsessan vaknar” (Awakening of the Plastic Princess), K.óla sings about sadness in her oddly retro style that reminds this writer sometimes of the magic of The Sugarcubes. Sprinkle that with heavy violins and you have a melancholic weirdness of a plastic princess. VG

Geimvera – JóiPé x Króli
“Geimvera” the Icelandic word for “Alien” is a great addition to this new stoner wave of Icelandic pc hip-hop, with a dash of R&B sexiness. I know, I know, it sounds like these words were randomly selected but I can only make sense of how good it sounds by adjectivizing with all the words I like. IP