Category Archive Music

ByGD

The Fright Catalog of Warrior Soul

Fright Catalog CoverA few days ago, Kim Kelly posted an interview on Noisey with Joseph Moconi, the linguist/poet behind the surreal poem performed exquisite corpse-like by a circle of narrators embedded in flowers. Individual phrases evoked the titles of paintings by Salvador Dalí and sculptures by Remedios Varo. They also sounded like black metal lyrics – because they were!

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ByGD

Help! I Have a Samaris Question

Goda Tungl album coverAmong many cute Icelandic things Icelandair does, like naming each plane in their fleet after an Icelandic volcano, is playing Icelandic music in the cabin before take-off and upon landing. The first time I heard the song Goða Tungl was while the airplane named Katla taxied to the gate at Keflavik Airport, delivering me to Airwaves 2012. I thought, “How cool! Björk covered Einstürzende Neubauten.” Of course I was wrong, and that’s why I need your help. Read More

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Airwaves in August

Younger Than Karin

Younger Than Karin

This used to be my favorite season, but the past couple years, I’ve found myself getting a little blue in early November. No matter what wonderful things may be going on in my life, a part of me is wishing I was in Reykjavik, attending Iceland Airwaves again. Fortunately, this year there have been a couple of chances to see some favorite Icelandic bands and discover others here in Seattle. I’ve already written about Reykjavik Calling.

There was also a curatorial exchange between Bumbershoot and Iceland Airwaves that resulted in some of the most painful scheduling conflicts of my festival, pitting local rockers against Icelandic electronica. Of course you know how the story ends. Read More

ByGD

The First Rule of Bravo Club

The Consul booklet cover

Photo from another production of the Consul used in the booklet

The first rule of Bravo Club is…

You must be under 40 at the beginning of the opera season. Okay, so that’s different from the first rule of Fight Club. But there is one similarity between the two – the first rule is the only rule.

 

 

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Skipping Asgeir Trausti

Asgeir Kex3Ásgeir Trausti released his first album in spring of 2012 but I’ve already seen him five times. I was one of the first people to interview him in English. My post, Stalking Asgeir Trausti, about watching Ásgeir perform 4 times in one weekend is by far the most viewed item on this blog.

I loved Low Roar’s debut album. I was crushed when circumstances conspired against a planned interview and kept me from seeing his Airwaves 12 performance.

On October 21, Asgeir and Low Roar played the intimate Columbia City Theater, and I wasn’t there. Wild horses couldn’t have kept me from this show, so what was I doing instead? Read More