Between them they have worked with everyone from Björk, Grizzly Bear and Bonnie Prince Billy to Coco Rosie, Múm and Philip Glass. Now THE WHALE WATCHING TOUR unites Sam Amidon, Ben Frost, Nico Muhly & Valgeir Sigurðsson on one stage and brings them to Berlin for a very special concert.
A quartet of extraordinary musicians at Admiralspalast on Sunday 15th August. Digital in Berlin highly recommended.
After three years of concerts, collaborations and acclaimed album releases, the Bedroom Community is heading out together for a trek across Europe. More than just a series of concerts, this tour is an extension of the ongoing musical exchange between these diverse artists. Disparate musical backgrounds will coexist and collide as Valgeir, Nico, Ben and Sam perform music from their catalogues, as well as introducing new and previously unreleased material.
BEN FROST / photo by mina[audio:06 Peter Venkman Pt.I.mp3]
“…simply awesome… Frost reminds us that minimalism was never just the polished sheen of Reich and Glass, but also the sweat and grime of Michael Gira’s Swans… A deeper, darker minimalism- menacing and claustrophobic… This is Arvo Pärt as arranged by Trent Reznor… Magnificent”
THE WIRE Magazine about BEN FROST
The program will be constructed in true Bedroom Community fashion, where all the artists will contribute to each other’s music on stage, akin to their many studio collaborations. The set will flow undivided between Nico’s twitchy modern compositions, Valgeir’s surgical acoustic-electronica, Ben’s vast noise-scapes and Sam’s traditional tunes and murder ballads.
Video by Pierre-Alain Giraud and Stuart Rogers
To aid the creation of this remarkable amalgam of genres on The Whale Watching Tour will be a quartet of extraordinary musicians; Nadia Sirota (viola), Una Sveinbjarnardóttir (violin), Borgar Magnason (double-bass), Helgi Hrafn Jónsson (trombone and vocals), all of whom have all recorded and toured with the four headliners.
Nico Muhly / photography by Dot Hong[audio:01 mothertongue pt. 1- archive.mp3]
“Nico Muhly’s range is expansive, the relationship between the emotional seriousness of his music and its boundless sense of humor is complex and rewarding” Fader Magazine
Nico Muhly quickly made a name for himself in classical music as well as other musical genres after graduating from the Juilliard School with a degree in composition. He has amassed a highly impressive resumé including commissions from orchestras around the world and arrangements work for Antony, Björk, Grizzly Bear, Rufus Wainwright and many more. He has worked extensively for Philip Glass as conductor and has scored several major films including the Oscar winning movie The Reader.
VALGEIR SIGURÐSSON / photo by sigga sunna / edit by samantha west
[audio:01 – a symmetry.mp3]
“Valgeir Sigurðsson is the most welcoming and thoughtful of hosts and, as he leads his companions through various narratives, he orchestrates one of the most exhilarating and perfect records you’ll hear this year.” The Milk Factory
Valgeir Sigurðsson made his mark as an artist with the release of his debut album Ekvílibríum in 2007. He has made a notable contribution to the music of an array of leading artists as producer and collaborator (Björk, Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, CocoRosie, múm) and is the owner and founder of the Bedroom Community label and Greenhouse Recording Studios. As a producer and collaborator he has worked in various genres of music while his own style often shifts between, or combines, post-classical and electronic music.
Sam Amidon / photography by Stef Lewandowski[audio:01 Sugar Baby.mp3]
“These songs inhabit their own world, closed off from the rest of humanity… Amidon doesn’t just update the old world to the new, but finds the roots of the new world in the old.” Pitchfork about SAM AMIDON
Singer-banjoist Sam Amidon’s repertoire is made up of re-arranged American folk songs, a skill on which he proves himself to be a unique talent, drawing simultaneously on his experiences growing up a child of folk musicians in Vermont, and his more recent work in New York with the experimental indie-rock bands Doveman and Stars Like Fleas. From an early age Sam learned to sing and play the fiddle, later adding the guitar and banjo to his flock of instruments.
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THE WHALE WATCHING TOUR / LIVE
with Sam Amidon, Ben Frost, Nico Muhly & Valgeir Sigurðsson
Sunday, 15. August 2010 / 21:00 CET
Admiralspalast / Friedrichstraße 101 / 10117 Berlin/Mitte
www.admiralspalast.de | http://www.bedroomcommunity.net
