Valgeir Sigurðsson

Valgeir Sigurðsson (born 18 June 1971) is an Icelandic record producer, mixer, composer, audio engineer and musician.

Biography Coming from a musical background, Valgeir's fascination with recording technology led to a job in a small recording studio at the age of 16. He plays keyboards, bass, percussion, electronics/programming and studied classical guitar, graduating with a Tonmeister degree from London's SAE Institute. In 1998 Valgeir was hired by fellow countrywoman Björk as engineer and programmer on the soundtrack for Lars von Trier's Dancer in the Dark. A song from the film, I've Seen It All (a duet with Radiohead's Thom Yorke) was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song but lost to Bob Dylan's Things Have Changed. Valgeir created the distinctive train-rhythm that runs through the song. His working relationship with Björk continued beyond the film project and was consistent from early 1998 until 2006, during which time Valgeir was one of her main studio collaborators.

Valgeir is the founder of Greenhouse Studios, Iceland's top recording facility established in 1997, where in addition to Björk, he has collaborated with artists such as Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Feist, Damon Albarn, Camille, CocoRosie, Ben Frost, Sam Amidon, múm, Hilary Hahn & Hauschka, Brian Eno, Sigur Rós, Emel Mathlouthi, and many others. In 2005 he founded the Bedroom Community record label launching the recording career of Nico Muhly and producing and releasing albums by Ben Frost and Sam Amidon. He has composed music for TV, film and theatre and his debut solo album Ekvílibríum was released by Bedroom Community in 2007, followed by a release of his soundtrack for Dreamland (Draumalandið) in 2009. The score of Dreamland was performed live in 2011 by the Iceland Symphony Orchestra by the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra in 2012, and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Ilan Volkov, in 2013. His first conventional classical commission, Nebraska Quartet was premiered by the Chiara String Quartet at the Lincoln Center during NYC's Ecstatic Music Festival in 2011. Valgeir's third LP Architecture of Loss was released in September 2012 to critical acclaim. Ghosts, for chamber ensemble, was the result of a commission the Crash Ensemble, and launched in Dublin in November 2013. The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and Alexander Mickelthwate premiered Eighteen Hundred and Seventy-Five, for orchestra and electronics, as part of its annual New Music Festival in January 2014.

Selected works

Stage works 2009 Green Aria, (co-composed with Nico Muhly), for chamber orchestra and electronics 2012 Architecture of Loss, ballet for chamber ensemble of 3 players and electronics 2014 Wide Slumber for lepidopterists, music-theatre piece for 3 singers, 4 musicians and electronics 2018 Woman Undone, music-theatre work for five singers/instrumentalists

Orchestral 2011 Dreamland, for large orchestra and electronics 2013 Dreamland, for chamber orchestra and optional electronics 2013 Eighteen Hundred and Seventy-Five, for orchestra and electronics 2014 No Nights Dark Enough, for chamber orchestra and electronics

Ensemble 2011 Past Tundra, for chamber ensemble of 9 players with electronics 2011 Nebraska, for string quartet 2012 Architecture of Loss, ballet for chamber ensemble of 3 players and electronics 2013 Ghosts, for chamber ensemble of 10 players with electronics 2014 The Crumbling (from Architecture of Loss), for chamber ensemble of 6 players 2014 Raindamage, for string trio and electronics 2014 Dissonance, for viola da gamba and electronics 2015 Veej, for chamber ensemble of 18 players 2015 For Love of Her (do but kill me), for voice, chamber ensemble of 10 players and electronics 2018 Remnant, for viola and electronics 2018 Dust, for violin and electronics

Electronics Only 2016 Antigravity, electronic track

Discography

Solo 2007 Ekvílibríum 2010 Draumalandið 2012 Architecture of Loss 2017 Dissonance

Production Year Artist Album Credits 1988 Unun Ótta Producer, Engineer, Keyboards, Programmer 1988 Magga Stína An Album Producer, Engineer, Programmer 2000 Björk Selmasongs Engineer, Programmer 2001 Megas Far… Þinn Veg Producer, Engineer, Mixing, Programmer 2001 Quarashi Kristnihald undir Jökli Engineer, Mixing 2001 Egill S Tonk Of The Lawn Producer, Engineer, Mixing 2001 Múm Finally We Are No One Producer, Engineer, Mixing 2001 Björk Vespertine Engineer, Programmer 2002 Slowblow Nói Albínói, Original Soundtrack Engineer, Mixing 2002 Björk Family Tree Engineer, Mixing 2002 Howie B and Húbert Nói Music for Astronauts and Cosmonauts Engineer 2003 Machine Translations Love On The Vine Composer, Producer, Engineer, Mixing 2003 Björk Live Box Engineer, Mixing 2004 Björk Medúlla Engineer, Programmer 2005 Björk Drawing Restraint 9 Co-Producer, Engineer, Programming, Keyboards 2006 Reykjavík! Glacial Landscapes, Religion, Oppression and Alcohol... Producer, Engineer, Mixing, Mastering 2006 Kate Havnevik Melankton Composer, Co-Producer, Engineer, Mixing 2006 Nico Muhly Speaks Volumes Producer, Engineer, Mixing, Programming, Mastering 2006 Bonnie 'Prince' Billy The Letting Go Producer, Engineer, Mixing, Mastering 2007 Njúton Roto con moto Producer, Engineer, Mixing, Mastering 2007 Hildur Ingveldardóttir Guðnadóttir Lost In Hildurness Mixing 2007 Stars Like Fleas The Ken Burns Effect Mastering Engineer 2007 Sprengjuhöllin Tímarnir okkar Producer, Engineer, Mixing, Mastering 2007 Kate Nash Caroline's A Victim Producer, Engineer, Mixing 2007 Ben Frost Theory Of Machines Engineer, Mixing, Mastering 2007 Maps We Can Create Producer, Engineer, Programming 2007 CocoRosie The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn Producer, Engineer, Mixing, Programming 2008 Oren Lavie The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (soundtrack) Producer, Engineer, Mixing, 2008 Sprengjuhöllin Bestu kveðjur Producer, Engineer, Mixing, Mastering 2008 Motion Boys Hang On Producer, Engineer, Mixing, Mastering 2008 Helgi Hrafn Jónsson For The Rest Of My Childhood Engineer, Mixing 2008 Call me Kat I'm In A Polariod, Where Are You? Mixing, Mastering 2008 Ane Brun Changing of the Seasons Producer, Engineer, Mixing 2008 Camille Music Hole Engineer, Mixing 2008 Sam Amidon All Is Well Producer, Engineer, Mixing, Programming, Bass Guitar, Percussion, Mastering 2008 Nico Muhly Mothertongue Producer, Engineer, Mixing, Programming, Bass Guitar, Mastering 2009 Dan Michaelson & The Coastgrds Saltwater Producer 2009 Hildur Ingveldardóttir Guðnadóttir Without Sinking Mixing 2009 Aaron Thomas Made of Wood Producer, Engineer, Mixing, Percussion 2009 Ben Frost By The Throat Producer, Mastering, Guitar 2010 Mr Fogg Moving Parts Producer, Mixing 2010 Daníel Bjarnason Processions Producer, Engineer, Mixing, Mastering, Programming 2010 Sam Amidon I See The Sign Producer, Engineer, Mixing, Mastering, Bass, Percussion 2010 Wildbirds & Peacedrums Iris Mixing 2010 Wildbirds & Peacedrums Retina Mixing 2010 Moddi Floriography Producer 2010 The Magic Numbers The Runaway Producer, Programming 2011 Erica Mou È Producer 2011 Feist Metals Co-Producer, Additional Horn Arrangements 2011 Puzzle Muteson En Garde Producer, Mixing, Mastering, Electronics, Percussion 2011 Kronos Quartet / Kimmo Pohjonen / Samuli Kosminen Uniko Producer, Engineer, Mixing 2011 Ben Frost & Daníel Bjarnason SÓLARIS Producer, Engineer, Mixing 2012 yMusic Beautiful Mechanical Mastering 2012 Eighth Blackbird Lonely Motel: Music from Slide Mastering 2012 Alarm Will Sound Canzonas Americanas Mastering 2012 Mr Fogg Eleven Producer, Engineer, Mixing 2012 Paul Corley Disquiet Mixing, Mastering 2012 Nico Muhly Drones Producer, Mixing, Mastering 2012 Hilary Hahn & Hauschka Silfra Producer, Engineer, Mixing 2012 Sigur Rós Valtari Engineer 2012 Damon Albarn Dr Dee Mixing 2013 James McVinnie Cycles Producer, Mixing, Mastering 2013 Nadia Sirota Baroque Producer, Mixing, Mastering, Programming, Synthesizer 2013 Ben Frost / Valgeir Sigurðsson / Nico Muhly / Sam Amidon Everything Everywhere All The Time / Whale Watching Tour Producer, Mixing, Mastering 2013 Michael Wookey Submarine Dreams Mastering 2013 CocoRosie Tales of a GrassWidow Producer, Engineer, Beat Programming 2013 Daníel Bjarnason Over Light Earth Producer, Mixing, Mastering, Electronics 2013 Sigur Rós Kveikur Engineer 2013 Tim Hecker Virgins Mixing, Keyboards 2014 Rhob Cunningham The Window and Day Producer, Mixing, Roland SH101, Percussion, Wurlitzer 2014 Sam Amidon Lily-O Producer 2015 GABI Sympathy Mastering 2017 Emel Mathlouthi Ensen Producer

Film and TV Year Tile Director Credits 2000 Being John Malkovich Spike Jonze Co-Producer, Engineer, Programming 2001 Dramarama (Villiljós) Dagur Kári Pétursson, Ragnar Bragason, Inga Lísa Middleton, Composer, Producer, Engineer, Mixing, Programming, Various Instruments 2005 Drawing Restraint 9 Matthew Barney Composer, Co-Producer, Engineer, Programming, Keyboards 2008 Mannaveiðar Björn B Björnsson Composer, Producer, Engineer, Mixing, Programming, Keyboards 2009 Dreamland (Draumalandið) Þorfinnur Guðnason, Andri Snær Magnason Composer, Producer, Engineer, Mixing, Programming, Keyboards, Percussion

Other 2009 Green Aria, composed by Valgeir Sigurðsson and Nico Muhly for Scent Opera, Guggenheim Museum, NYC