Back in November 2018, KEXP took our annual trip to Reykjavik for the Iceland Airwaves Music Festival. Over the span of four days, we broadcasted live from the renowned KEX Hostel, streaming live video of performances from Icelandic artists and other acts from the festival lineup. We’ll be rolling out these videos over the weeks to follow. Today’s feature is of renowned Icelandic composer Ólafur Arnalds. Writer Dusty Henry reported:
The performance at KEX complemented the quiet of the room. Arnalds and his band exuded pure elegance, lightly playing their instruments in hushed, muted tones. Delicate and warm, their music resounded off the walls and washed over the audience. People barely moved in the crowd, rapt in the compositions that were slowly revealing themselves from the stage. The self-playing pianos added a particularly haunting element to the music. While they sounded just as graceful as their human counterparts, there was an undeniable eeriness of seeing the keys rise and fall by their own volition.
Read the full report here.
Recorded November 7, 2018.
Songs:
Árbakkinn
Unfold
Saman
Nyepi
Doria
Hosts: Kevin Cole & Cheryl Waters
Audio Engineers: Matt Ogaz, Kevin Suggs & Eyvindur Þorsteinsson
Cameras: Jim Beckmann, Alaia D'Alessandro, Scott Holpainen & Matt Ogaz
Director: Justin Wilmore
