Seven Saunas and a La-Z-Boy
“You are going to a spa,” my editor said with a sly smirk on his face, obviously enjoying the idea of sending a man for whom the word “bouncer” is […]
The Acoustic Black Flag Disciple (from the land of Abba)
/// Your first album (Veneer) was released in 2003; when can we expect the next one? – I am working on it on and off. I have been so busy […]
Flight of the Valkyries
Without warning or introduction, two young women marched onto the stage and took their positions behind the two standing drums, dressed in semi-military garb. Their faces frozen ex
MAMMÚT – MAMMÚT
The singular, sharp and stunningly explicit and concentrated voice of Katrína Mogensen drives Mammút’s debut so that at first, were it not for the patient, buzzing unpredictabi
GHOSTIGITAL – IN COD WE TRUST
“How abstract can we get”….indeed. While a criminal who confesses is no less guilty, it does make one more inclined to be easy on him. Saying that In Cod We […]
SILVER JEWS – AMERICAN WATER
Wait long enough, and things come around. Once known only as Pavement’s side project, Silver Jews are now garnering media attention for Tanglewood Numbers and the first-ever tour
The Foreign Monkeys Will Definitely Be the Next Arctic Monkeys
The results are in, the facts are solid and the bands have been consigned to their fates. The Foreign Monkeys, a straightforward, zero-bullshit rock band from the wayward shores of
Bovine Colostrums
Who needs protein supplements when you can buy colostrums? The protein-rich form of milk, produced by the mammary glands in the first days after birth, is an original and inventive
Free Legal Aid
Orator, the Law Student Society at the University of Iceland offers free legal aid every Thursday night from 19:30-22:00. Call 551-1012 or visit www.islog.is. Although this is not
Draumalandið
Draumalandið – Self-help Book for a Frightened Nation. Writer Andri Snær Magnason takes a close and critical look at the discourse behind the most discussed issue in Iceland’
An Evening of Listening and Restraint
José González’s reputation may well have preceded him, given that he recently played a show at the Iceland Airwaves festival, which has become an “I was there” sort of mome
Heady Days in Austin, Texas
The South by Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas is now the American music industry hotspot for signing the next media darling. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Shins, Clap Your [&he
No Tears Over These Lost Jobs
I have only been on one military base in my life, and when I tell my war-protesting friends about that experience, I feel I have to give an aside. Visiting […]
The Phantom Menace
Well, it’s official now: the event we predicted last November (The Base Bows Out, on www.grapevine.is) has finally happened. Not that we were the first, of course. The signs had
The Unspeakable Brought to the Living Room
When the news network NFS was founded late last year, it had a lot to prove. Replacing the newsrooms of both Stöð 2 and Bylgjan, it was to become the […]
The Fatter, the Funnier?
Huge Hollywood money-makers like Big Momma’s House and The Nutty Professor, both so popular that they had sequels, tell us that fat comedy works. Big Momma’s enormous, jiggling
No Blood for Oil! Now, Where Did We Park?
The 18th of March is the anniversary of Iceland’s declaration of support for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. This year, two Icelandic anti-war groups chose to stage events in protest
Save the Water!
You may have heard of the new water laws that clogged parliament with filibustering and heated debate for days on end. According to the outraged opposition parties, this controvers
The Ghost Town on the Coast
On March 15th, the US State Department made an announcement that brought a decades-long chapter in Icelandic history to a close and left its future even more uncertain: effective O
Aldrei Fór Ég Suður
The third annual Aldrei Fór Ég Suður music festival will return to the remote town of Ísafjörður, Saturday the 15th of April. The festival’s name, which translates to ‘I