Reykjavík Grapevine - 12.09.2014, Blaðsíða 2

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The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 1 — 2011
Hafnarstræti 15, 101 Reykjavík
www.grapevine.is
grapevine@grapevine.is
Published by Fröken ehf.
www.froken.is
Member of the Icelandic Travel Industry Association
www.saf.is
Printed by Landsprent ehf. in 25.000 copies.
Editor In Chief:
Haukur S Magnússon / haukur@grapevine.is
Editor:
Anna Andersen / anna@grapevine.is
Journalist:
John Rogers / john@grapevine.is
Journalist & Listings editor
Tómas Gabríel Benjamin / gabriel@grapevine.is
Editorial:
+354 540 3600 / editor@grapevine.is
Advertising:
+354 540 3605 / ads@grapevine.is
+354 40 3610
Publisher:
Hilmar Steinn Grétarsson / hilmar@grapevine.is
+354 540 3601 / publisher@grapevine.is
Contributing Writers:
Björn Teitsson
Davíð Roach
Haukur Már Helgason
Helgi Hrafn Guðmundsson
Hildur María Friðriksdóttir
Holden Jaffe
Jessica Solt
Jess Spoto
Kári Tulinius
Larissa Kyzer
Lawrence Millman
Magnús Sveinn Helgason
Mark Asch
Matthew Eisman
Nathan Hall
Óli Dóri
Paul Fontaine
Ragnar Egilsson
Rebecca Scott Lord
RX Beckett

Editorial Interns:
Melissa Coci / melissa@grapevine.is
Saskia Vallendar / saskia@grapevine.is
Art Director:
Hörður Kristbjörnsson / hordur@dodlur.is
Layout:
Hrefna Sigurðardóttir
Photographers:
Axel Sigurðarson / www.axelsig.com
Magnús Andersen / www.magnusandersen.co
Matthew Eisman / www.mattheweisman.com
Nanna Dís / www.nannadis.com
Sales Director:
Aðalsteinn Jörundsson / adalsteinn@grapevine.is
Helgi Þór Harðarson / helgi@grapevine.is
Óskar Freyr Pétursson / oskar@grapevine.is
Distribution manager:
distribution@grapevine.is
Proofreader:
Mark Asch
releases:
listings@grapevine.is
Submissions inquiries:
editor@grapevine.is
Subscription inquiries:
+354 540 3605 / subscribe@grapevine.is
General inquiries:
grapevine@grapevine.is
Founders:
Hilmar Steinn Grétarsson,
Hörður Kristbjörnsson,
Jón Trausti Sigurðarson,
Oddur Óskar Kjartansson,
Valur Gunnarsson
The Reykjavík Grapevine is published 18 times a year by Fröken
ltd. Monthly from November through April, and fortnightly
from May til October. Nothing in this magazine may be repro-
duced in whole or in part without the written permission of
the publishers. The Reykjavík Grapevine is distributed around
Reykjavík, Akureyri, Egilsstaðir, Seyðisfjörður, Borgarnes,
Keflavík, Ísafjörður and at key locations along road #1, and all
major tourist attractions and tourist information centres in the
country.
You may not like it, but at least it's not sponsored (no articles
in the Reykjavík Grapevine are pay-for articles. The opinions
expressed are the writers’ own, not the advertisers’).
On the covers:
GusGus and karlssonwilker
Covers by:
karlssonwilker
(www.karlssonwilker.com)
Editorial | Anna Andersen
Halló, I’m Back!
…Playing catch-up
I went on a vacation last
month. It was wonder-
ful. I left the country. I
spent very little time sit-
ting behind a computer. I
stopped following Icelan-
dic news. I browsed our
website and Facebook a
few times. It was really
wonderful. I tuned out
(and all but turned on,
tuned in, dropped out).
To say that nothing
much happened while
I was gone would be an
understatement. The
Icelandic media seems
to be in shambles (turn
to page 16 for the scoop
on that). The office ate
Thai food last print week
(we usually subsist on
burgers and pizza). They
also threw a party with
a Bouncy Castle (thanks
a lot for waiting, guys!). Justin Timberlake was here.
The Fljótsdalshérað municipality’s ‘Truth Commit-
tee’ declared that the (formerly?) mythical Lagarfljót
worm is REAL (go to grapevine.is to read that story).
And then a bloody volcano threatened to erupt, didn’t
erupt and then erupted elsewhere (turn to page 6 for
a geophysicist’s overview of what happened and how
it might play out).
A bunch of other things probably happened too,
but I’m still playing catch up. So, as I thought about
what to write, my feelings about being back in the
country inevitably came to mind. I often find it dif-
ficult to jump back and forth between two drasti-
cally different lives (the other being in the Land of
Opportunity, where I grew up). But after the initial
jolt of returning to this small, cold rock wears off, I
go back to being content
and find myself wonder-
ing, ‘Could I really leave?
Will I miss it too much?’
One of the aspects
that I most appreci-
ate about living here in
downtown Reykjavík
(and busting my ass for a
magazine with silly long
hours) is how closely con-
nected I get to be to all
kinds of people doing ex-
citing stuff. It’s the kind
of place where a drink
after work turns into a
many-hour adventure
in which you run into
all kinds of people that
you didn’t realise you
missed or wanted to see.
And a farfetched request
on Facebook for a photo
of Möðrudalur turns up
all kinds of help (turn to
page 28 to find not only a photo of the seemingly ob-
scure church that I was looking for, but also a photo
of the altar painting in which Jesus Christ is sliding
down Mount Herðubreið!). This is what it’s like to live
in a small, tight-knit community. Somebody knows
somebody who knows somebody who knows.
Now I’ll probably have found my bearings by
next issue and have more to say about what’s going
on, but there’s no shortage of interesting articles to
read here. In addition to the above mentioned ones,
there’s an interview with Björk on pages 10-12. An-
other couple of big ones with Gusgus and the design-
ers who worked on their visuals (and made our cover!)
on pages 21-24. And a whole bunch of other stuff, too.
Until next time...
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The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 14 — 2014
North Iceland
northiceland.is
North Special Inside
TRACK OF
THE ISSUE
If garage rock from the mid-90s is your kind
of thing, then you, my friend, are going to
love Sindri Eldon. Although the artist may
be in his late twenties, he channels his in-
ner cynical teenage self through his mu-
sic, as can be clearly heard in “Honeydew.”
The lyrics focus on a quintessential teen-
age problem: whether to make someone
feel better by saying you love them when
you don’t. The sound may be garage-y, but
the arrangement is anything but sloppy, as
the ever-so-slightly lazy bass, lightly dis-
torted guitars and snappy drums all get a
chance to shine before coming together in
the chorus. Take a trip down memory lane,
and check out the song’s video, too, as it is
absolutely smashing in its early-MTV-esque
purposeful amateurishness. It also portrays
Sindri in his three true forms: shaved, stub-
bly and bearded.
You can download the song on our web-
site www.grapevine.is.
Sindri Eldon “Honeydew”
from ‘Bitter & Resentful’
Anna’s 47th Editorial