CELL7 is making a splash in the Icelandic and international music scene. Cited by some as the Icelandic MIA, CELL7 is multi-talented Ragna Kjartansdóttir, a Filipino-Icelandic rapper, songwriter and sound engineer. Previously of Icelandic hip-hop team Subterranean, CELL7 returned to the music scene in autumn 2013 with her album, CELLF. CELLF was brought to life […]

Some places just get it right, don’t they? I had my first visit to Booka Books in Oswestry today, and they definitely have got it right. The combination of books, coffee and cakes is too good to miss, but when it’s presented like this, it’s like catnip to me. I lost myself browsing for books […]

ÍRiS has sprung a surprise today, a brand new track. It’s called ‘I Try’, and is from the sessions for her debut album, Penumbra. You can listen to it below, and just in case you missed it, my review of Penumbra is attached too. So I have this problem. ÍRiS has just released her debut […]

Highlands are Logi Pedro Stefánsson from Retro Stefson and the very talented Karin Sveinsdóttir. They seem to have come from nowhere, but are ready formed, ready to take on the dance floors of Reykjavík, and seemingly, my headphones. They have recently given away there debut ep. I’ve no idea why; people would have surely paid […]

Gimli, Manitoba in Canada is also known as ‘New Iceland’, as it holds the greatest population of Icelanders outside of Iceland. This is mainly due to immigration from Iceland in the 1870’s when a large group of Icelanders settled here from the Westman Islands. The 26,000 people with Icelandic heritage in the area still maintain […]

Highlands are Logi Pedro Stefánsson from Retro Stefson and the very talented Karin Sveinsdóttir. They seem to have come from nowhere, but are ready formed, ready to take on the dance floors of Reykjavík, and seemingly, my headphones. They have recently given away there debut ep. I’ve no idea why; people would have surely paid […]

A teenage Hannah Kent first visited Iceland on a Rotary Exchange. It must have had a profound effect on her, as some years later she has written this curious and enchanting book set in North Iceland in 1829. Kent tells the story of Agnes Magnúsdóttir, a young woman sentenced to death for her part in […]

Icelanders don’t really celebrate Valentines Day. Nevermind, here are five Icelandic artists that to fall in love with on the sloppiest day of the year. 5. Muted Who? Producer/electronic artist Bjarni Rafn Kjartansson from the remote East fjords. What? One man music business – even makes his own record covers. Listen to? His excellent collaboration […]

Kaldbak is a farm in North Iceland, near the much better known Húsavík. It’s a remote and unspoilt little slice of Iceland that most can only dream of visiting, let alone live there. I frequently dream of such things. Packing in the rat race, quitting my job and turning off the internet forever. What would […]

It’s been a crazy few weeks promoting Iceland, Defrosted. It feels like I’ve been on tour, well, almost. It started a couple of weeks back with a visit to Bristol to the SilverWood Writers & Open Day, held in Foyles, Bristol. It was great to meet my fellow SilverWood authors including Sandy Osborne, Alison Morton, […]