Reykjavík Grapevine - aug. 2019, Síða 42

The Reykjavík Grapevine
Best of Reykjavík 2019
42
/hjahollu www.hjahollu.is
Hjá Höllu is a cozy restaurant located in the town
of Grindavík where you can enjoy many healthy
dishes in just five minute drive from the Blue Lagoon.
Fresh fish from the harbour, chicken, salad and
vegetarian/vegan options.
Wood-oven pizza
ready 5 minutes
Fresh local
health food
Healthy meal
for your flight
We are also located in Keflavík Airport where you
can get a healthy meal to enjoy or take away in time
before your flight.
Summer is here, and with it
comes road trip season. Here’s
our essential Icelandic playlist.
Roll down the windows, turn up
the volume, and off you go.
Buddies and beats
There’s nothing like cruisin’ in
the sun with your buddies and
some beats. On those days,
you gotta set the vibe with Joey
Christ’s legendary track “Joey
Cypher.” It’s basically a time cap-
sule of Iceland’s legendary 2017
summer, back when times were
simpler, Costco was just opening,
and Iceland’s rap explosion was in
full flow. In three short minutes,
Joey cemented himself into the
zeitgeist of Icelandic pop history
with a chorus that fans and hat-
ers alike can recall at a moment's
notice. Warning: this is a serious
earworm. If that track wets your
whistle, throw on “Tarantúlar”
by Úlfur Úlfur to follow. HJC
Sofia Coppola
road-movie
There are few Icelandic songs
more summery in this life than
Prins Póló’s instant classic “Lifið,
Ertu að Grínast?” ( “Life, Are You
Kidding Me?” in English). Never
mind sunny—it’s positively trop-
ical. In fact, despite their kind of
world-wise-and-weary quality,
there are a bunch of Prins Póló
songs that belong on your road
trip list—“París Norðursins”
for the open road, and “Niðra
Strönd” for that riverside barbe-
cue. You’ll want to learn Icelandic
just to sing along. I’d also throw
in the euphoric, dreamy shoegaze
of Oyama’s “The Right Amount”
for that Sofia Coppola road-mov-
ie quality, and a couple of tracks
by Samaris, Sykur, GusGus, Her-
migervill, Berndsen and M-Band
will keep the mood high. JR
Hay on a tractor
If you ever wanted to hear liter-
ally the most Icelandic song ever
written, a strong contender for
that spot would be Bubbi Morth-
ens’ 1983 ballad “Afgan”. Driven by
acoustic guitar, harmonica and
voice, the relaxed waltz rhythm
of this tune may evoke imagery
of being out to sea, or bring-
ing in the hay on the back of a
tractor under the summer sun.
The lyrics are a bleak portrait
of love lost and heartbreak, but
the tune is undeniably Icelandic.
On a more upbeat note, there’s
200.000 naglbítar (“200,000 pli-
ers”), who—as the name might
suggest—are a rock band. While
“Vögguvísur fyrir skuggaprins”
(“Lullabies for the Prince of
Darkness”) is their second al-
bum, it vastly overshadows the
first, including the quintessen-
tially summery “Stopp NR. 7”. AF
Fights, crying and
‘80s vampires
If you’re going with your friends
to Flúðir or wherever Icelanders
meet to get overly drunk and
beat each other up, you need to
go native. The first track on the
trip has to be “Ísbjarnarblús” by
the legendary Icelandic singer
Bubbi Morthens. It's mandato-
ry to scream your lungs out to
the line about a thousand cod on
the conveyor belt while you burn
through the raining heath. After
you arrive in Flúðir, you’ll get into
your first fight, and you’ll play
“Rómeó og Júlía,” also by Bubbi
Morthens, then everybody will
be friends again and cry in each
other's arms. When it rains—it
always does—you need to play
“Mér Finnst Rigningin Góð” (“I
Love The Rain!”), from SSSól.
But to really get into it, play
“Hey Kanína” by Sálin Hans Jóns
Míns. When you play this song
on a campsite there’s a 50/50
chance that you’ll either attract
some aggressive tweakers—
there’s always one group roam-
ing around like a band of ‘80s
vampires—or you’ll meet your
future spouse. Either way, drink
some Gull, and leave your tent be-
hind. Who needs it anyway? VG
Find the playlist on Spotify at
gpv.is/roadtrip19
MUSIC
Now That's What
I Call A Summer
Road Trip Playlist
Classic and new Icelandic music to accom-
pany you around the Ring Road this summer
Words: The Grapevine Music Dpt.
Photo: Timothée Lambrecq