66 Degrees of Sound

Send a text Coming back from our last holiday of the summer (verslunarmannahelgin) and slowly coming back to life / back to reality, we bring you another replay of one of our classics. This time we bring you a re-listen of our artist spotlight with genre-bending and self-described “boy band” Xiupill. With members hailing from Iceland, Spain and the US, the three-piece create a blend of production,...

Send a text We have reached Verslunarmannahelgi, aka Merchant's Day Weekend, the unofficial "end of summer" in Iceland which is marked by a long weekend full of festivals and parties all over the country. The newest addition to the festival roster is SAMANFEST, presented by Slacker Events & Iðnó, who are coming in hot and poised to become a yearly standard in Reykjavík. Joining...

Send a text With August on the doorstep and our cohost Jóhannes Bjarkason going on holiday, we will be doing things a little bit differently this month and bringing you some replays of some of our favourite artist spotlight episodes. Jói and Rex handpicked a selection of top notch guests we've had in this year, which you may have missed if you're a new listener. For our first replay epis...

Send a text It's another short-mix this week as we wind down with our final episode before our August break. Jói is heading to Denmark for the month, where he will troll the locals by speaking to them in English with a Danish accent. Rex will be on staycation on their ongoing mission to hug every cat in Reykjavík. But we won't leave you hanging! Throughout August we will re-release some...

Send a text You know that meme that’s like “If there’s no girls, goths, or gays, I’m not going”? If you giggled and double-tapped it, Norðanpaunk is the festival for you. Celebrating its tenth anniversary this year, Norðanpaunk (“northern punk”) is a countryside celebration of dark, extreme, underground and weird music. Taking place every year during Verslunarmannahelgi (Merchant's Day Weeken...

Send a text Our guest today is lúpína, the artist name of Icelandic-Norwegian singer-songwriter Nína Solveig Andersen. The Oslo-based artist was awarded our 2024 Grapevine Music Award for Song of the Year with her breakthrough single “ástarbréf”, which was also on her debut album ringluð . She's been releasing hit after hit this year, including the singles "sad club" and "gegns...

Send a text Another fine Saturday with a cup o' Joe and another episode kicked off with hijinks! After an hilarious false-start in the studio, we get into a shorter but fantastic mix for you as we wind down July and shift into vacation mode. That's right — vacation! With Jói heading off on holiday for the month of August, we will be taking a brief recording break and will spend the month...

Send a text This week we're diving into the upcoming Innipúkinn Festival , happening August 2-4 at Gamla Bíó and Röntgen. Since 2002, the festival has held down the home court over verslunarmannahelgi, “merchant’s day weekend”. Translating loosely to “inside demon”, the festival happens inside in both senses of staying in Reykjavík and primarily happening indoors, while out in the countryside...

Send a text You know those Monday mornings where you're feeling the Garfield mode extra hard, and then someone rocks up with enough energy to power the entire city? That's exactly what went down on this artist spotlight episode with true rocker Hasar. The current band name of musician and actor Örn Gauti Jóhannsson, Hasar just released his first EP Gestalæti on July 7. Örn Gauti was orig...

Send a text While we're stuck in Reykjavík enjoying this delightfully cloudy and cold July, we are travelling through the conveyance of music alone to get our summer holiday fix. This week's playlist is a journey of all the summer vibes; cute indie-punk, beer swilling comedy-folk, wine on the patio salsa, and more. Kick back and sail away on these fine new tunes. Episode Tracklist: Wooll...

Send a text Very few places in Reykjavík have endured or garnered such a unique reputation as downtown institution Prikið . Known today as the beating heart of Iceland's hip hop scene, the cultural icon goes back way further than many people — including us! — even know. On this episode, Prikið's co-owner and well-known local character Geoffrey Þór Huntingdon-Williams joins us in the stud...

Send a text Our guest today is Guðmundur Ari Arnalds, aka slummi & many other monikers, experimental artist, producer, and sound engineer who has been active for many years. He released two albums this spring — Idiot Flower on April 26 and Bastard Flower on May 31 — his first solo releases under the moniker slummi. He has also been working at the beloved venue Mengi since 2014 in many capaciti...

Send a text We are fresh as the lupins in full bloom and quoting The Cure on this fine Saturday morning! Coming at you with a tangent-heavy introspective episode, this week's mix is full of darkpop gems, cool summery bops and eighth grade mallgoth perfection (it is not  a phase, mom.) We also remembered that our sweet new mixer has a soundboard so we go full ham on the airhorn. Let us know in...

Send a text Over the past months, almost every guest on our show has brought up the state of the live music landscape in Reykjavík in terms of the lack of midsize venues to play. This being a huge subject for all of us over at Grapevine HQ — contributor Ish Sveinsson Houle tackled just this topic in an article in our 8th issue this year. One young booker who is throwing caution to the wind and doi...

Send a text This week kicked off with truly Garfield vibes in GV HQ Studios, with your dear hosts Rex and Jói just needing naps and lasagna. Our spirits were immensely lifted by our guests, Allie Doersch and Árni Þór Árnason of longstanding punk band Tófa. Tófa has been around the Reykjavík music scene since their debut album Fleetwood Max in 2015. Ferocious and poetic, Tófa consists of singer All...

Send a text After nearly a full month of grey fake-summer in Iceland, it's hard to believe that the sun has finally come out for this last weekend of June! We aren't getting too excited — lest we jinx it — so instead we will just enjoy these sunny new tunes no matter what the sky does. Jói and Rex are still deep in brain-rot mode, so it's a fun one. Enjoy! Episode Tracklist: Una Sch...

Send a text On today’s Hot Happenings we will be previewing the upcoming Hátiðni Arts Festival, which takes place July 5 — 7 in Borðeyri, North Iceland. Originally a brainchild of the Post-dreifing collective, this will be the sixth edition of the independent grassroots music and arts festival that thrives on a Do-It-Together community model and entirely volunteer run. Artists on the lineup this y...

Send a text On this week's artist spotlight we welcome musician, artist, organiser and friend-of-the-pod Ólöf Rún Benediktsdóttir, a long-time member of Iceland’s grassroots music and art communities. This is her second time joining us in the studio, as she stepped in as guest co-host on an episode with us last summer in our old digs at 101 Útvarp, and we are very happy to have her back. Ólöf...

Send a text Illness struck the 66DoS crew again last week which caused confusion of all kinds, so the episode meant for last Saturday is hitting you on this fresh Monday morning! It's a truly mixed episode this week where we go from light tunes to dark subjects real fast. Starting with lovely ambient and cool post-punk leads us to songs addressing the ongoing Israeli siege in Gaza and genocid...

Send a text Every once in a while we are treated to a big show by an elusive favourite, and that is just the ticket next week as long-time synthpop outfit Berndsen grace us with a huge solo gig at Iðnó. Leader and namesake of the band David Berndsen joins us in the studio this week to tell us all about the gig that we are truly stoked for. Due to scheduling conflicts, Jói couldn't join for th...

Send a text Having just celebrated Iceland's 80th birthday, we are back at it this week with another wonderful artist spotlight! This week, Rex and Jói welcome experimental dark pop performance artist and queer icon Mighty Bear to Grapevine HQ Studios. Having just released his latest album Angurværð on May 31, the EP marks a turning point for Mighty Bear as he tests the limitations of his art...

Send a text After skipping a Saturday morning mix episode last week, we were so excited to get back into the groove that neither of us could shut up this week. In a slightly longer episode than usual, we delve into the nature of artist collaborations, the authenticity of revival genre bands, and the progression of mainstream Icelandic hip hop. Episode Tracklist: Birnir & Bríet — Juvenile (r. M...

Send a text With our new Grapevine issue about to drop tomorrow, we heat up the happenings once again this week with our guests from Slacker Events, an independent production and promotion team bringing banging parties to our local scene. The Slacker Events team is led by Atli Steinn Bjarnason and Alfreð Drexler, both long time active members of Reykjavík's live scene as artists and performer...

Send a text The gang is back together this week as Jói returns from a much-needed staycation and Rex emerges from sick leave. We kick things off this week with a very fun visit from the one and only Sin Fang! The moniker of Sindri Már Sigfússon (also of Seabear, Team Dreams and Gangly) has just released his latest album All My Friends Are Sleeping (Ambient Mixtapes 1-5)  (June 7 on Inni Music), a...

Send a text Due to the lapse in releases due to a certain podcast producer getting sick, we are bringing you the Hot Happenings episode that should have come out on May 30th today. Luckily it's still very hot, cause it's all about the Reykjavík Arts Festival which is in full swing and going strong until June 16! The biennale festival has already kicked off with some of the prestigious bu...