Bedroom Community

Read all about our highlights of 2011!

2011 is over and a new year has begun. What better time to reflect on the label's adventures and share the highlights with you?


-The Bedroom Community family grew bigger with the addition of Puzzle Muteson and his debut album En Garde, released in June.

-Nico Muhly premiered not one but two operas; Two Boys and Dark Sisters as well as composing a handful of other works.

-Ben Frost and Daníel Bjarnason performed and released SÓLARIS to great acclaim.

-Ben also worked with Brian Eno as part of the Rolex Arts Initiative, composed the score to films Sleeping Beauty and The Invisibles and curated Donau Festival in Austria, to name a few.

-Daníel premiered a new piece in early 2011 - Birting - which got nominated for the Iceland Music Awards as Composition of the Year as well as Daníel himself for Composer of the Year.

-Valgeir Sigurðsson wrote Nebraska for the Chiara Quartet, scored Architecture of Loss by choreographer Stephen Petronio and was busy as ever in various studios producing albums for Bedroom Community, Feist and others.

-Bedroom Community's first ever film was born: Everything Everywhere All The Time was premiered in Iceland in September and then had its International premiere in Denmark in November.

-Greenhouse studios got a makeover, a whole lot of visitors and was the home of some of the best musical moments of 2011.

-Bedroom Community took Iceland Airwaves by a storm, with a memorable concert by Puzzle, film screenings and performances by Valgeir and Daníel with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra as well as their regular off venue concerts.

-In the tradition of last year we released the 2011 Bedroom Community Yule mix, consisting of exclusive unreleased material, available free with all purchases in December.

©Iceland Chronicles

We asked the guys to share some personal highs and lows of the year 2011:


Ben:

This year I caught 3 Salmon, approximately 3 sea, and 21 freshwater Trout. I fixed the leak in my Defender, forgot to change it over to the summer tires and was fined on two separate occasions, once for doing 94km in a 60km zone and the second for driving on the wrong side of the road. I took a sledgehammer to my kitchen, removed several splinters, walked the red carpet and sat next to Dr Steve Brule at Cannes. This year I finished the acoustics and patchbays in Greenhouse Studio B and made it look and feel like the inside of a Rothko painting, I recorded approximately 10 hours of music, ate at St John's 3 times, paid approximately 700 euros in excess baggage charges and purchased an icelandic horses head with Eno. This year I recorded and mixed an Lp by 13 piece japanese metal band in 5 days, got food poisoning from a german pizza joint, drank Absynthe Champagne and went bike riding in Slovenia, grew my second longest beard, and was fired from the same film not once, but twice.

Puzzle:

... arriving sleepless in Dordrecht, getting caught in the rain, walking into my rehearsal space where the ensamble Lunapark were waiting,then playing along with the altered arrangements for the first time. The show was a highlight too.



Sam:

2011!!!
trajectory of your giggle…
best movies of the year: melancholia, mission impossible ghost protocol, melancholia, bridesmaids, melancholia, mission impossible ghost protocol
best albums: eamon o’leary “old clump,” paul motion “the windmills of your mind,” drake “take care”, gillian welch “harrow & harvest,” lou reeed and metallica “lulu”
special mention: jimmy giuffre, 1961 (was not released in 2011
best day: july 10
most mountains: the country with the big mountains.
best rock: that one over there. best rock: that one over there.  best rock: that pebble.  best rock:  big rock.  best rock: rock rock.

Nico:

I wrote two operas, nearly lost my mind, managed to not, moved to London, got my phone to work, moved away from London, ate an unbelievable amount of entire pigs, went to Iceland in December and had the most relaxing and secretly productive two weeks EVER.

Daníel:

I managed to sing karaoke in at least 3 different countries.  
My memory got worse.  I truthfully can't remember anything anymore.
I recorded an album in a space ship in Poland.
I spent alot of time in the new big shiny glass house by the harbour.
I became addicted to Fifa12 in my iphone and ended up deleting it after a few weeks, mostly due to pressure from my family.  I am not allowed to own a playstation.
I moved house twice.
I both met and worked with alot of wonderful and generous people that I wish I could stay in touch with more.
I discovered tamarin toasted almonds.


Valgeir:

A year of musical-mountaineering, from the Swiss Alps to the stormy cliffs of Big Sur, California. Looking skyward for Condors but seeing none. Hanging out with rare birds in the studio makes up for it. In one way or another made records with Feist, Ben Frost & Daníel Bjarnason, Puzzle Muteson, Damon Albarn, Hilary Hahn & Hauschka, Mr. Fogg, Ingrid Lukas, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Rafiq Bahtia, Mia Maestro, Alias Hilsum, Sigur Rós, Sleeping Dog, yMusic... some will come out in 2012. Thought about never making another record, ever. Abandoned the thought. Wrote a string quartet and had my first 'composer-in-the-audience' experience when Nebraska Quartet was premiered by the Chiara Quartet in NYC - and again in Finland by the Avanti Quartet. Learned a lot. Renewed my love for drums and electric guitars. Spent only a 3rd of the year away from the iceberg —compared with half the preceding years. Home improvement, electrical wires, picture frames. Road trips in Iceland, visited my grandmother. I took a photo-of-the-day for almost every day of the year.  A diligent parent. The Iceland Symphony Orchestra performed Dreamland under the baton of Daníel Bjarnason. I participated in concerts with Puzzle Muteson, Sami Kukka, and the Britten Sinfonia. I helped make a film, somehow: Everything Everywhere All The Time with Pierre-Alain Giraud and Bedroom Community, the best little collective on earth. Observed 'my team-awesome' growing stronger and tighter; Mio, Paul and Hildur, and the wondrous interns. Ben Frost brought Brian Eno in to record with us at the Greenhouse. Systems were employed, material was generated. I learned about MST, coaching, World of Warcraft, the Ooga-Booga. Turned 40 on a boat, went to karaoke. Saw Nico's Two Boys. Didn't upgrade my computers. Wrote music for Petronio's new dance and am looking forward to the premiere in March. I prefer looking forward, looking back is strange.
 

©Iceland Chronicles

So, what's going to happen in 2012?

Well, we can certainly promise you a productive year with some new additions and releases to the label. But to find out exactly what, stay tuned...

Oh, and don't forget to participate in our yearly giveaway! Like last year, we're giving away one copy of each of our albums via Facebook. Follow these easy steps for a chance to adopt the CD of your choice:

1. 'Like' our Facebook page

2. Post the album you'd want the most from our catalogue

3. On Wednesday January 18th we'll announce the lucky winners on Facebook

Wishing you all a very happy new year,

Bedroom Community.