Sin Fang with love

Everyone's been head over heels for Sin Fang lately because...hell...he's awesome.

That's why The Reykjavík Grapevine decided to award him their Second Ever Music Award, Ever prize for best album and best song for, respectively, Flowers and Young Boys. They even dedicated the cover of this month's issue to him, with a remarkable photo by Axel Sigurðarson (you can find the complete issue here ).

Cover photo of The Reykjavík Grapevine by Axel Sigurðarson

If you are familiar with Sindri and his surprisingly wide range of music then you'll be already head over heels for this album as well. If not, you need to check it out now.

What you may not know, though, is that Jónsi from Sigur Rós did an amazing remix of Young Boys that you can listen for free on soundcloud.

Go on and enjoy some Sindri on these cold winter days!

Lopapeysa is good for you

Lopapeysa is the name of the most famous garment in Iceland and the smartest thing you can buy once you land there.

You probably have seen it: it's a thick sweater decorated with traditional shapes. To be fair, it seems the design isn't traditional at all and began to be knitted just about 60 years ago. Some people say it was brought from Greenland by Halldór Laxness and his wife but who knows, really.

If you have no idea what I'm talking about, here's a pic of Kjartan from Sigur Rós wearing one (on the left):

he seems quite proud, doesn't he?

Anyways even though the lopapeysa may seem incredibly expensive, you will need it (not only in Iceland, I use it really often in Switzerland too for example). It comes in any form and shape and design (I even saw one with a peacock design which I didn't quite understand but, you see, you can find anything). You can even have one made specifically for you in some shops and lopapeysa dominate every thrift shop I've seen across Iceland. I bought mine in a thrift shop and the girl told me it was knitted by a 90 years old lady. every lopapeysa is hand knitted, as I don't think there is a large scale production.

Believe me, it's a win/win situation. 

What always struck me as awesome is that Icelanders seem to be really proud of their traditional sweaters. They own many and wear it whenever and wherever possible. 

They don't seem to be embarassed by their customs, on the contrary. 

And rightly so, because their sweaters are comfy, cozy and incredibly warm. Thank you, Iceland, for one more amazing product of yours. 

Sorry for the hiatus!

I've been dealing with changes and stuff lately, and haven't been able to post much at all. I've also been away to Paris for some time and discovering that beautiful city took up a lot of my time.

Anyways, here I am ready to resume talking about Iceland.

You know, while I was dealing with problems and changes Icelandic music really helped me going through it all.

Be it the calm and cozy feeling from Of Monsters And Men or the wild sound of Reykjavik!, Iceland gave me once again what no other Country was ever able to give me.

And here I am now, longing to go back to my safe place on Laugavegur and take a walk on the harbour admiring the Harpa from afar pretending to hate it.

Oh Iceland, this is a love note for you.

You are always in my heart.