Music News: Myrkfælni, Airwaves, The Return Of Vaginaboys
Iceland Airwaves have announced a new crop of bands for the 2017 festival, including Russian new-wave band Glintshake, Aldous Harding from New Zealand, and Jo Goes Hunting from the
Punk Is Dead, Long Live Tófa’s Yoga Punk
There doesn’t seem to be any place better to interview the lead guitarist of a punk band than midnight at a bar in downtown Reykjavík. Árni Þór Árnason is a […]
Track By Track: Endless Dark’s ‘Hereafter Ltd.’
Endless Dark are the post-hardcore stars of the Reykjavík scene. If you’re into poppy choruses mixed with heavy breakdowns, they might just be your thing. Here they talk us thro
Kalifornía Dreaming: Icelandic Music Goes To LA
“Welcome to Iceland. Don’t like the weather? Wait fifteen minutes.” So goes the clichéd joke about Iceland’s capricious meteorological tendencies—windy and wet one momen
New In Town: Perlan Kaffitár
Perlan, the iconic dome overlooking Reykjavík, may be officially closed for renovations, but that hasn’t stopped a Kaffitár coffee shop from opening by its viewing deck. Mind t
Making of an Artist: Elín Hansdóttir
Elín Hansdóttir is a prolific Icelandic sculptor who recently concluded a solo show at the i8 gallery. Here, she talks us through some artists, books and films that had a [&helli
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 fro
Wonder Women: The Ambitious And Delicious Julia & Julia Café
Reykjavík’s “second street” of Hverfisgata has been undergoing a renaissance in recent times. A few years ago it was a run down area known as “the Reykjavík ghetto,” bu
Far North: An Eyjafjörður Itinerary
The greatest luxury in Icelandic travel: turning off the Ring Road, pausing that inexorable vacation countdown timer, and burning one of your precious days discovering the answer t
News In Brief: Trapped Frenchmen, Arson, And The “Kattarshians”
We’ve had a spate of stories lately involving tourists, and the wacky shenanigans they get up to. Amongst the most popular of these stories was that of a French man […]
Stay Weird: Four Emerging Acts Take Over Húrra
Iceland’s music scene is a lot more diverse than many people imagine. It’s easy to understand why: the dreamy, spaced-out sounds of múm, Samaris and Sigur rós, the restless,
SiGRÚN’s Perfect Day In Reykjavík
Sigrún Jónsdóttir is a musician and composer. After touring the world in the bands of Björk, Sigur rós and Florence and the Machine, last year she released two EPs that [&hell
Katla Sends Out “Uncomfortable” Tremors
The infamous volcano Katla was recorded emitting two tremors this morning, both measuring over 3 on the Richter scale. Small aftershocks followed in their wake. Kristín Jónsdótt
Time Capsule: Hótel Holt’s Bar
Hótel Holt, built in 1965, has changed little over the decades. You can feel it the moment you walk into the lobby, with its low-slung ceilings, warm polished wood walls […
Ask A Scientist: Where Did Inhaling While Saying “Já” Come From?
What a lot of newcomers to Iceland may notice, when listening to Icelanders speak with each other, is that they will sometimes say “Já” while inhaling. This quirk of speech, [
Seven Easter Eggs Manufactured For Each Icelander
Easter egg production hit an all-time high this year, as Iceland churned out enough of them for every single Icelander to get nearly seven. RÚV reports that all told, about [&hell
Reader Letters: What Do Icelanders Eat?
Hey Grapevine! I visited Iceland last month and really enjoyed the nature and the city. But when we ate it seemed like there were loads of burger joints like back […]
Icelandic Facebook Groups: Vegan Ísland
Vegan Ísland was selected for this issue’s spotlight due to some beautiful drama that went down there only last week. Drama that will illustrate better than anything why Iceland
Sjavargrillið: A Date With The Dated
One could almost mistake Iceland for a lost piece of the Australian continent, given how seriously grilling is taken here. For evidence, look no further than almost every balcony a
Seaweed City: A Trip To The Sjávarsmiðjan Spa
The crossing from the capital region to western Iceland happens suddenly. Past the wind-whipped Kjalarnes coastal road that winds north from Reykjavík, Route One traces a path nor
“Don’t Give Up! It Is Possible!”
Last week, Icelanders woke up to find that the front page of the newspaper Fréttablaðið was now a full page ad. This was not unusual in itself, but the ad’s […]