the Bedroom Community

VIDEO 1
This serves mostly as a 'bedroom community 101' short course with glimpses of the synergy that's being harnessed here. At one point, Ben Frost say's, "on paper this shouldn't work.... but it does". It doesn't just work, it captures something so rare, haunting and beautiful i'm having trouble putting words to it. He's right though. These four horsemen bring together such vastly different backgrounds in life and music that its hard to comprehend how they've arrived so punctually on the same note.

Valgeir Sigurrosson is an Icelandic master of airy, ethereal studio production, having worked with Bjork and Bonnie 'Prince' Billy among others. His recent solo album, Equilibrium, shows that he's beyond capable when coming out from behind the mixing boards to write, play and arrange.

Nico Muhly is a classically trained Julliard graduate come avante garde composer and arranger. He's worked with Phillip Glass, arranged for Antony and the Johnsons, Grizzly Bear, and the National, and scored major motion pictures like 'the Reader'.

Ben Frost is an Australian ex-pat living in Iceland who's work might be the musical equivalent of Roberto Bolano and his 'infrarealism' movement in poetry. His music fits into the larger categories of 'experimental', 'ambient' and 'electronic', with a smattering of industrial, post-rock and metal influences. More than most music, it defies classification. He presents a sophisticated, yet visceral and un-nerving musical experience.

Sam Amidon is the child of folk musicians and has been playing and performing from a very young age. His sound borrows heavily from his appalachian folk roots, Sacred Harp shape note singing, and he makes no secret of being a student of the legacy left behind by harry smith and alan lomax at the smithsonian folkways.

VIDEO 2
Everybody's heard that perfect song at the perfect time at least several times in their life (i hope). Gram Parsons on a shitty old transportable record player while vintage shopping. Sigur Ros when you're geeked out. Centro-matic in the middle of a muggy day with all your friends and lots of cold cold beer. Bob Dylan. Well, have you ever put on a record, on a really nice night, with all the windows open in your house, and felt like the music was coming in from outside instead of the other way around? Like the notes are crawling out of the soil and settling out of the sky like evidence of cells splitting, rock eroding, and god? No? Fuck you, it happens to me sometimes. I don't even need the open windows and acclimate weather here. These pale beauties have watches that read in geologic time and their fingers know every detail of specific glacier's stories. huh? it's like everything's in slow motion and they're not. they know just when to pluck, just when to clap, just how to make their goddamn vocal chords vibrate, and the knowledge is ancient and unerring. i think they just hit the universe's natural frequency. you know, the frequency at which a system will naturally vibrate when it's been set into motion. powerful shit. just ask the poor bastards stuck on the tacoma narrows bridge when the wind and highway traffic combined to hit the bridge's natural frequency in 1940.




Did i mention they're all playing Big Ears? Who's going to Knoxville with me?