Músíktilraunir
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Teenage Kicks And Funky Licks
Prog-folk trio Falinn Gjóður wins the cumbersome Músíktilraunir As spring rolls around, nothing encapsulates the turn of the Icelandic music season as well as Músíktilraunir. Since the 1980s, the perennial battle-of-the-bands style competition has been platforming musically inclined adolescents and slingshotted some…
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Escapist Fantasies: Inside Avant-folk Band Emma’s Debut
Emma’s phantasmagoric debut Halidome embraces opposites Avant-folk collective Emma talks about their journey from Músíktilraunir to the sterling debut album Halidome. Paraphrasing Brian Eno’s philosophy, the best songs are made when the creator is short on money and time. In early 2023,…
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Punk Band Geðbrigði Wins First Place At Músíktilraunir
On April 6, the annual battle of the bands competition Músíktilraunir showcased its finalists at Harpa. Following four nights of preliminary rounds, totalling 42 artists, only 10 made it to the final night last Sunday. Punk band Geðbrigði, pictured, won first place,…
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Grapevine Events: Músíktilraunir Finals, SnjóFest & More
Spring has come and gone in Reykjavík after what felt like a very short weekend. But while snow is forecasted for the upcoming days and some might consider it gluggaveður, there’s plenty happening in town. As always, we’ve got you covered. If…
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When Old Meets New: Reviewing and reflecting on Músíktilraunir 2023
Even though the first day of summer is April 20, the first days of spring truly roll in during Músíktilraunir. An incubator of new music, its role is to celebrate the up and coming diversity and creativity of the local music scene.…
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Music News: Battling Bands, Music Awards & Chilling To The Extreme
Músíktilraunir, once again It’s that time of year again, where young musicians are lauded for their dedication to crafting their work. Músíktilraunir is the annual battle of the bands competition, where 32 bands and artists demonstrate their ability spanning four semi-finals. Ultimately,…
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Grapevine Events: Misþyrming, Reykjavík Art Book Fair, Her Voice & More
You all know what Thursday means. Another fresh set of events guaranteed to quench your socialite thirst. With Easter rolling in next week, make sure to stock up on yummy chocolate eggs and think about Jesus. Stockfish is still going strong until…
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Content In The Darkness: Teen Trio Dymbrá’s Mystical New Album
The Dymbrá girls seem right at home posing on the grassy field and between the trees beside Ásmundarsalur, smartly clad in matching outfits of sleek cobalt fabric of the sort that they often make when performing or appearing as a group. Made…
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Band Named After Blood Pudding Wins Icelandic Music Experiments Band Contest
Músíktilraunir (“Icelandic Music Experiments”) saw one band come out on top: Blóðmör, which is also the name for Iceland’s version of blood pudding. The results of the contest, which seeks to find new and upcoming music talent in Iceland, were posted on…
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If You Can Dream It, You Can Do It: Teenage Band GRÓA Is Beating All Odds
You know that dream you had of starting a band in high school? Of singing your heart out while confidently moving the strings of the bass along to the beat? That same dream that came crashing down the moment you realized that…
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Claiming The Rock Scene: Feminist Punk Band Hórmónar Releases Its First Album
It was on a dark New Year’s Eve that a group of five young friends decided to make a resolution: participate in and win the “Icelandic Battle of the Bands,” also known as “Músíktilraunir.” The newly formed band, which the friends called…
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When Is Life? Omotrack Seize The Day
Fifteen years ago in a remote village in Ethiopia, two Icelandic toddlers started writing rap songs. The brothers, Markús and Birkir Bjarnason, then five and three years old, could not speak the local dialect of Daasanach and would only sometimes play games…
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Straumur: Mountains Between Mountains
Músíktilraunir, the annual Icelandic Battle of the Bands, was held a couple of weeks ago. The winning band was Between Mountains: an impressive duo comprising two young girls from the Westfjords, Katla Vigdís Vernharðsdóttir (16 years old) and and Ásrós Helga Guðmundsdóttir…
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Teen Girls Rule This Year’s Music Experiments
The duo Between Mountains, featuring Katla Vigdís Vernharðsdóttir and Ásrós Helga Guðmundsdóttir returned to the Westfjords, as the victors of this year’s Icelandic Music Experiments (IME) this past weekend. The Icelandic Music Experiments, known in Icelandic as Músíktilraunir, is an annual music…
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Músiktilraunir: Where Young Musicians Learn To Fly
“Nobody is born an artist. You need to practice, and have a venue to do so.” So says Ása Hauksdóttir in her calm and soothing voice, in between sips of a double cappuccino of her own making. Ása is the head of…
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Music Champions Rythmatik Embrace Musical Diversity, Play For The Love Of It
It’s not often that a music journalist is picked up for a ride to an interview by the band’s mother. But the short story of Rythmatik is already one made up of firsts. Perhaps most significantly, they’re the first band from the…
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Download This: Rythmatik – “Tiny Knots”
This issue’s track of the issue comes from Rythmatik, the recent winners of Músiktilraunir, Iceland’s national Battle of the bands. This young four-piece, from the tiny town of Suðureyri up in the Westfjords, clearly haven’t let the brutal winter dim their spirits—their…
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Iceland’s Next Big Thing Is Influenced By Big Country: Rythmatik Won Músíktilraunir 2015
A band from Suðureyri by Súgandafjörður, a remote Westfjörds fishing hamlet, won the 33rd annual Músíktilraunir battle of the bands-style contest last night, That band is called Rythmatik and its members are all young Suðureyrians who have up until now stuck to furiously…