Let’s get it straight: that volcano is a cunt. We’re posting this preview in the full knowledge that this awesome-looking gig could possibly be cancelled, and in the definite hope it’s not. Whale Watching is the tour that gathers four artists linked to the – uh-oh – Icelandic record label Bedroom Community: four men who collectively cover producing, arranging and playing music from cracked folk to claustrophobic dubweight and creeped out string arrangements. In the swish Arnolfini surrounds, this is going to be like gorging on Ferrero Roche and there will be tears if it doesn’t happen. There will probably be tears if it does happen to be honest.
THE WHALE WATCHING TOUR
with Sam Amidon, Ben Frost, Nico Muhly & Valgeir Sigurðsson + Rozi Plain
A gleaming, stunning set of acts are gathered together in this very special Bedroom Community showcase. Prepare for intense electronics that reach deep into your soul, auteur-orchestrated brass and strings, melancholic mood suites and fragile folk songs that give you goose bumps.
The Icelandic label Bedroom Community is home to a staggering micro-climate of musicians. Their organic suites of music can be by turns beautiful and dangerous, with a musical palate shifting from gentle and airy to overpowering and texturally dense. This concert is an extension of their ongoing exploration of musical juxtapositions and new ways of arranging sound and instrumentation. Nico Muhly’s highly sought after modern compositions (Anthony & The Johnsons/Grizzly Bear), Valgeir’s inspired surgical acoustic-electronica has led him to work with Bjork and Kronos Quartet , Ben Frost’s monolithic soundscapes (hugely rated by the dub step scene) and Sam Amidon’s traditional tunes and murder ballads will all be fleshed out by a quartet of string/brass musicians from Iceland’s thriving musical community. There is something going on in the Bedroom.
Rozi Plain breezes in as guest support for this special show, a more gracious and gifted singer songwriter we have not seen round these parts for many a moon. Rustic and dewy eyed folk. Presented in conjunktion with Arnolfini.
