Vor
As anyone who spends much time in downtown Reykjavík will attest, finding a good, affordable place to have lunch can be a gruelling task. After a while, all those sun-dried [&hell
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 [&he
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 […]
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 t
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 [&
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 traditi
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 […]
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 […]
Bread Cakes & Heartbreaks
A pleasant surprise at last fall’s Reykjavík International Film Festival was the screening of Icelandic filmmaker Ísold Uggadóttir’s début short, Family Reunion The bilingu
Filling the Klink & Bank Gap
With 140 artists working under the same roof for almost two years, Klink & Bank was 5,000 square metres of artistic energy. Later, the house was sold. What happens now? [&helli
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 p
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
Sour Grapes
Thank you very, very much Sveinn Birkir Björnsson for the article about the Sugarcubes reunion gig in November. I wasn’t aware it had happened and so was devastated to have [&he
The Stories That Shaped the Year
In the year that passed, these news stories stood out above others. Heavy Industry to Increase Despite Growing Opposition The government’s plans for continued heavy industrializa
Defending the Welfare System
Steingrímur J. Sigfússon, leader of political party the Leftist-Green Movement, recently released the book Við öll – Íslenskt velferðarsamfélag á tímamótum (All of Us &
Is it Time for Iceland to Join the EU and/or Adapt the Euro?
Sæunn Stefánsdóttir Candidate for the Progressive Party The Progressive Party has emphasised open and honest debate regarding European matters. At our last national convention,
A New Worldview
Discussing the impact of global warming from the perspective of environmental planning with Trausti Valsson “It seemed that whenever I wanted to discuss global warming, people wo
Religion by Numbers
In 1949 artist Dan Robbins birthed a concept allowing millions of Van Gogh novices into the sacred portal of the creative world. It is called Paint by Number. Each painting [&helli
The Floating World An Extract
I was frying eggs in the kitchen when the phone rang, just before six on a Friday afternoon. I had grabbed a beer from the fridge, not knowing if there’d […]
The Most Bizarre News Stories of 2006
In an attempt to bring to light the unbearable lightness of being, we bring you the funniest, oddest and most amazing news stories from our website in 2006. Friday, January [&helli
The Thirty Best Icelandic Albums of 2006
“I was quite pessimistic for the most part of the year, feeling that most domestic releases were quite mediocre, but the last three months of the year have proven a […]