Reykjavík Grapevine - 22.03.2019, Blaðsíða 8

Just this February, Icelandic gin came
out of the shadows. Emerging proudly,
bare chested, banging on pots and
pans in woollen sweaters, they smugly
howled, “HÚH, bitches, I’m here to stay!”
While that particular sentence
might be an alternative fact, the gin—
Old Tom Gin from Himbrimi—did win
Best Compound Gin at the 2019 World
Gin Awards in London. Bravó, martini-
maker.
Different &
interesting
The panel of alcoholic experts at the
competition described the spirit as
having, “plenty of tree bark and orris
root, as well as nutmeg, hazelnut, and
cumin. Just a whisper of juniper, and
maybe a touch of thyme.” They contin-
ued on to call it, “Different and inter-
esting.” Different and interesting, huh?
It may not be sexy and cool, but we’ll
take it.
It’s a truly prolific win for the five year
old Brunner Distillery, who produces
the gin. Óskar Ericsson, the director
of the company, originally made it for
fishing trips. He used herbs that grow
along rivers and still handpicks them
himself every summer. Each bottle is
still labeled by hand and will continue
to be, despite his newfound celebrity.
A big win
“This is a hugely significant recog-
nition for us,” Óskar told reporters
after the win. “To compete in Britain
with an Icelandic gin is like compet-
ing in Japan with Icelandic sushi or
in Scotland with Icelandic whisky.”
We agree, and highly anticipate
that next year Iceland will dominate
at the Westminster Dog Show and
the next season of ‘Strictly Come
Dancing.’
More Gin More Grins
Rollin down the street, smokin’, sippin’ on victory
8 The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 04— 2019
LÓABORATORIUM
We love the smell of gin in the morning
Listen, watch & hear
more tracks:
gpv.is/play
Good Moon Deer -
Aloner
The choppy,
glitching, tumbling
electronica of Good
Moon Deer jumps
into warp speed
with this excellent
new single,
featuring fractured
snatches of vocals,
wriggling bass
and spasmodic
rhythms. For
all the chaos,
the production
feels like it has a
renewed sense of
focus. We’re looking
forward to the
album. JR
Emigrate - War
(Seint Remix)
Seint remixes the
grand synth pop
of Rammstein’s
Richard Z. Kruspe,
who goes under
the solo moniker
of Emigrate.
Seint picks up on
the dark synth
undercurrent of
the epic original
and pushes it to the
forefront, creating
an arena-sized
anthem in the
process. JR
Wanton Boys Club -
The Mandarin
A comparison to Todd
Terje’s Inspector
Norse isn’t out of
line on this one,
not only in terms
of the Scandi-Italo
soundscape, but
for the unexpected
twists and turns and
the majestic, joyful
composition that just
keeps growing. SP
Hafdís Bjarnadóttir
- A Northern Year
(January-June)
Composer and
electric guitarist
Hafdís Bjarnadóttir
just dropped her
two-part project
‘A Northern Year.’
The first track—
documenting
January to June—
is experimental
mood music to
the nth degree.
Hafdís apparently
transforms data
about the sun’s
position over
Reykjavík and turns
it into melodies and
rhythms. Expect
weird rhythms and
jazzy soundscapes.
HJC
LDN TING - GABRIEL
MANI & GK3
You’ll probably
be singing this
track all day
after hearing it.
Is this satire? We
genuinely don’t
know. You gotta
take it for what it
is, and what it is
is a solid banger
with a great beat
and fucking catchy
chorus. The lyrics
are basically what
you’d find if you
Googled ‘London’,
i.e. Tracksuit-
ting. Camden-
ting. Grime-ting.
Nike fleece-ting.
Basically the early
days of Gísli Pálmi.
Lots of fire emojis
in the comment
section. LDN TING
forever. (Is it satire,
tho?) HJC
THE
GRAPEVINE
PLAYLIST
The must-hear tracks of the issue
Jæ
ja
WORD OF
THE ISSUE
This four letter word is
probably the most compli-
cated word in the Icelan-
dic language. Not
because of the word
itself, but because
of the different
tones of it that can
change its mean-
ing entirely. Jæja
literally translates
to ‘well’, but it can
easily mean over
ten things depend-
ing on your intona-
tion. For example,
when pronounced
with the famous
inhaling sound,
it means “I don’t really have time or
energy to keep on with this discussion
and I need to go.” When said sternly, it
can mean “stop it, you fucking idiot.” So
if you are all about being passive aggres-
sive, this is the word that you want to
study. VG
WHAT HAVE
WE WON?
Words:
Hannah Jane
Cohen
Photo:
Himbrimi
First
www.tulipop.com Skólavörðustígur 43, Reykjavík