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Reykjavík Pride

Here in Reykjavík more than anywhere else, the power of unity has grown to be embodied in the ultimate annual action for the Queer community since the first Pride Parade in 1999. Twenty years ago, Reykjavík Pride was attended by a tiny group of people who proudly showed their faces – themselves as who they really were – to the city for a weekend. Now, it’s ten days of pure energy, humour, respect, glowing enthusiasm and camaraderie, which mostly takes place within Reykjavík’s 101 postal code. 2019’s Pride included a variety of organised festivities, including but not limited to the opening ceremony, a cruise, educational events, the Icelandic Royal Drag Competition and, of course, the Reykjavík Pride Parade. Let’s not forget a couple of the wonderful hosting venues, Gaukurinn and Kiki Queer Bar, true staples of the Queer community that have been instrumental in bringing more and more people from… Keep Reading

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Iceland’s progressive rock, go on!

(This article was featured on “Tengivagninn” on Rás1 Icelandic National Public Radio on Tuesday, 2 July 2019.) I took part the other day in a discussion about Icelandic music in which I heard that Björk wasn’t particularly popular in Iceland when her music career was starting to take off abroad. At home, her music wasn’t described as ‘mainstream’. That made me think about how one’s perspective on Icelandic musicians depends on one’s vantage point – from abroad or from Iceland. Outside the island, Icelandic musicians are seen as a phenomenon, and many people believe that living and creating in Iceland must be a wonderful experience. I observed this and came to the conclusion that one of the most beautiful aspects of following the local music scene is witnessing how projects in Iceland sprout, grow and blossom and get well-deserved attention abroad – sometimes more often than in Iceland itself. To… Keep Reading

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Þrjár söngelskar íslenskar sírenur

Pistillinn var skrifaður fyrir Tengivagninn á Rás1 og birtist þar, föstudaginn 2. ágúst 2019, og á vefsíðu RÚV, laugardaginn 10. ágúst 2019. Sumir trúa á engla, aðrir á álfa, og enn aðrir á fegurð sírenusöngsins. Hefurðu fengið gæsahúð þegar þú heyrir fallegt lag? Það gerist stundum hjá mér, sérstaklega þegar ég hlusta á lifandi tónlist. Svo nú loka ég augunum og rifja upp minningar frá tónleikum, töfrandi raddir íslensks tónlistarfólks sem hafa kallað fram gæsahúð hjá mér. Það býr til himneskt andrúmsloft og í mínum huga er þetta tónlistarfólk sírenur. Á ég að setja í mig eyrnatappa eða frekar bara að fara af stað í leiðangur og kanna söngmeyjastrandir við eyjuna sem við í þessum pistli köllum… Ísland? Stundum á tónleikum fæ ég þessa katharsis-tilfinningu – eins og ég hafi dáið og fæðst upp á nýtt með sömu melódíuna í höfðinu. Marteinn Sindri Einn þeirra sem kafa ofan í gríska… Keep Reading

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Þrjár vanmetnar rafsveitir íslenskra kvenna

Pistillinn var skrifaður fyrir Tengivagninn á Rás1 og birtist þar, miðvikudaginn 17. júlí 2019, og á vefsíðu RÚV, sunnudaginn 21. júlí 2019. Að vera milli svefns og vöku um bjartar sumarnætur minnti mig á tónlist sem ég heyrði í fyrsta skipti í vetrarmyrkrinu. Þrjú spennandi raftónlistarverkefni. Í huga mínum kallaðist fram minning um tóna sem yljuðu mér á langri dimmri leið minni í vinnuna. Ekki misskilja mig, ég sakna ekki vetrardimmunnar, en samt er eitthvað sjarmerandi við tónlist sem sogar til sín hlustendur. Stundum hljómar tónlist best þegar maður hlustar ekki í mikilli birtu. Þá finnur maður hvað hún er sjálf glóandi. Í mörgum tilvikum er íslensk tónlist skilgreind sem dularfull og fíngerð, og utan Íslands er því trúað að á einhvern hátt endurspegli hún íslenska náttúru, hún er skreytt með leyndarmálum, óvissu og undri sem mörgum þykir stórkostlegt. Skaði Síðastliðinn vetur hefði ekki verið samur án plötunnar „Jammið“ eftir… Keep Reading

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Áfram framsækið rokk Íslands!

Pistillinn var skrifaður fyrir Tengivagninn á Rás1 og birtist þar, þriðjudaginn 2. júlí 2019. Um daginn tók ég þátt í umræðu um íslenska tónlist þar sem var sagt frá því að Björk hefði ekki verið sérstaklega vinsæl á Íslandi þegar tónlistarferill hennar í útlöndum var að hefjast. Tónlist hennar var ekki skilgreind sem hluti af meginstraumnum hér heima. Þetta kom mér í skilning um hvað sjónarhornið á íslenskt tónlistarfólk er ólíkt eftir því hvort sá sem talar er Íslendingur eða ekki. Utan Íslands má segja að íslenskur tónlistarmaður sé ákveðið „fyrirbæri“ og margir spá í hversu yndislegt sé að búa og skapa á Íslandi. Ég velti þessu fyrir mér og komst að þeirri niðurstöðu að ein af fallegustu hliðum þess að fylgjast með staðbundnu tónlistarlífi er að sjá hvernig tónlistarverkefnin spretta upp, stækka og blómstra á íslenskum vettvangi en fá líka verðskuldaða athygli utan Íslands, stundum oftar en hérlendis. En… Keep Reading

Articles

Iceland Airwaves 2018 by Jeff Obermeyer

I still remember our first Iceland Airwaves like it was yesterday. My wife and I landed at Keflavík in darkness after an overnight flight from Seattle, and when we stepped outside to board the bus to Reykjavík, we were greeted with rain attacking us at a 45-degree angle as the wind blew in off the Atlantic, half-soaking us before we could scramble on board. Welcome to Iceland in October! That was in 2009, and we’ve been back for every Airwaves since. Over the years, we’ve approached Airwaves in many different ways. We’ve rented cars so we could go do touristy stuff; we’ve done enough record shopping to get us on a first-name basis with more than one shop owner; and we’ve made a tradition of soaking at the Blue Lagoon on Sundays. But at the end of the day, Airwaves is about the music, and one of the things we’ve… Keep Reading

Live

Major Pink’s ‘Hope’ won in Miami

Icelandic art conquers the United States. Even better, the Icelandic art made by an alternative electronic pop/rock band Major Pink conquers the United States. The band’s video for song ´Hope´ received an award for ´Best Editing: Music Video´ at the WideScreen Film & Music Video Festival in Miami, Florida, earlier this year. Congratulations! The project kicked off in 2012 first as a duo consisting of Gunnar Ingi and Daníel Guðnason. After their participation in Músíktilraunir they teamed up with famous Barði Jóhannsson (Bang Gang, Starwalker) who produced their first single in August 2014, called ´Hope´, which made the charts right away. Watch the awarded video below: Facebook Instagram (more…) Keep Reading

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Magic of Indridi

There's something absolutely magic about singles from up-coming album of Indridi. Rising into public awareness through the overdriven might of his guitar playing with Icelandic punk-hardcore kings Muck, as a solo artist Indridi has found his songwriting developing into sparse, tactile and magical territory. This newfound aesthetic of softly woven acoustic guitar, voice, and subtle arrangements began its path on his 2016 debut Makril, and now, through ding ding, is elevated to a deeply touching new level of melancholic and delicate expression. Check out 'December' and give a listen to 'Amma' <3 Ding Dong is out on May 18th! Keep Reading

News/NEWS

Lizardfest 2018

Are you in Reykjavík on May 15th and have no plans for the evening? Let Lizardfest suck you in! It’s a rock music festival that takes place at the well-known concert venue Gaukurinn (Tryggvagata 22). The festival is held to honour the memory of Bjarni Jóhannes Ólafsson, who was the frontman of stoner/party rock band Churchhouse Creepers. They flooded it’s way into the Icelandic music scene like a tsunami in 2015. Bjarni had been figthing depression and anxiety for some years, and lost that battle in April 2017, nevertheless, we want to keep this awesome party going (that he started), like Bjarni himself would have wanted wrote Dagur Atlason, member of Churchhouse Creepers, in the statement about the event. We´ve managed to put together a pretty awesome line-up with bands consisting with most of his best friends including one of his all time favourite band, Elder which was founded in… Keep Reading

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ISSUE 03 IS OUT TODAY

ISSUE 03 IS OUT ON WEDNESDAY, PRE-ORDER IT NOW!! Our new issue celebrates the darkness of winter and introduces you to Icelandic post-rock’s variety, since it’s the best music to fill gloomy days with atmosphere during this season. This time, we’re focusing on Stafrænn Hákon, GlerAkur, Katla., VAR and, of course, Sigur Rós. Additionally, we present Elíza Newman and Mosi as rays of sunshine in the middle of winter. The third issue of Reykjavík On Stage also reflects the best way to experience music and a great way to beat the winter blues – live shows. We’ve all been counting the days until the upcoming Icelandic shows. Let’s start with the fever of Iceland Airwaves Music Festival caught by the lens of Marcus Getta. Then we got involved in waiting for Kaleo to come on stage in Russia and SÓLSTAFIR in Poland and Germany, where 11.01.1978 followed the band step by step. But we didn’t just explore those music feasts in the midst of winter. Juliette Rowland also presented the first very special edition of Norður og niður festival in pictures. In addition, we had a peek on the other side of the fence of live performances as Egill Björnsson of VAR shared his story of touring Japan. It wouldn't happen without music of other wonderful artists such as: Epic Rain, FM Belfast, Kira Kira, MIMRA, Pink Street Boys, aYia, Bára Gísladóttir, SEINT and WARMLAND. Cover photo by Ómar Sverrisson (Ólafur Örn Josephsson of Stafrænn Hákon and many others). Great pleasure to welcome Jeff Obermeyer of Life in the Vinyl Lane in the writers team! Thanks for making it happen again to Bartek Wilk, Wim Van Hooste and Aleksandra Tskhovrebova. Graphic design and all the care in the final phase in hands of Anna Wilk. Takk fyrir okkur í Reykjavík On Stage <3 Keep Reading

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