From Iceland — Is Bedroom Community Iceland's Best Label?

Is Bedroom Community Iceland’s Best Label?

Published November 8, 2014

Go and find out! They have two off-venues TODAY!

Go and find out! They have two off-venues TODAY!

Some of the best Airwaves gigs I have ever seen have been hosted by the Bedroom Community label. This iconic Icelandic label is sort of a “community of geniuses,” focussing on preturnaturally talented solo musicians from across the spectrum of avant-garde music – from the towering, bone-shaking noise of Ben Frost, to the deconstructed/reconstructed American folk tales of Sam Amidon, to the cutting-edge neo-classical compositions of Nico Muhly – it’s a seriously good label. Maybe Iceland’s very best.

So far, so awesome – but it may come as a surprise to know that Bedroom Community artists are not gracing any of the big stages of this year’s Airwaves. As lovely as it would be to have our eardrums thrashed by Ben Frost at Silfurberg, or to be buried in the dense, dark sound of Daníel Bjarnason’s heavyweight orchestral work at Eldborg, it’s just not to be this year.

But wait! All is not lost. Bedroom Community are doing a bunch of off-venue stuff. Some of it you may have seen already, as the label has been carrying out its traditional Kaffibarinn day-programme residency – but you have two more chances.

Woah one of them is RIGHT NOW (at the time of writing). At Kaffibarinn, this is happening!

16.15 Valgeir Sigurðsson
17.00 Jaakko Eino Kalevi (FI)
17.45 Son Lux (USA)
18.30 East India Youth (UK)

Then after that, the label will move over to Mengi, from 19.00, where you can see:

Puzzle Muteson (UK)
Daníel Bjarnason
Valgeir Sigurðsson
James McVinnie (UK)

You can probably buy records at those shows too. Man, we LOVE Bedroom Community at Grapevine. They’re the best! So, enjoy the shows, and let’s hope they’re back in the official programme next year, huh?

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