nts radio – liminal takeover
03/05/2018

updated may 11: the 12 hour takeover is now available to listen on demand via nts.live

jónsi joins frequent sigur rós collaborators/producers, alex somers and paul corley, in a 12-hour liminal playlist takeover of nts los angeles from noon to midnight (pst) on may 8th.  timed to coincide with the latest in a series of live soundbaths under the banner ‘liminal’ at the marciano art foundation in la the next day (may 9), the marathon broadcasting stint is expected to focus on jónsi, alex and paul’s long and enduring interest in ambient music, although beats may occasionally break out too.

“sigur rós played live a lot during the last two years,” says frontman jónsi. “and inevitably you end up playing the rockier, more focussed songs, which means that loads of other stuff gets ignored.  ‘liminal’ tries to do something different.  it’s just me, paul and alex in a dark room manipulating and mucking around with recordings, fx and vocals.  we play and sing sparsely and focus on the atmosphere coming together. there’s a sound-reactive light sculpture and everyone can sit or lie down.  it’s all very cosy and people seem to like it.”

liminal sees sigur rós as an eco-system. it identifies the connections and blurs the boundaries between work done and work to come; between brand new music and ideas barely yet nascent; between songs written 20 years ago and collaborations to be made tomorrow.  in bringing together these collaborations and commissions – for choreographers, bleeding-edge tech ventures and visual artists – with solo work and remixes, film score, ai and generative music, as well as the work of close friends and associates in the wider sigur rós ‘family’, liminal aims to take the listener to a hinterland, to the threshold of a place neither nor there; a “liminal” space.

this ethos will form the template for the extended nts broadcast, although listeners can also expect insights into jónsi & alex’s home listening – almost exclusively dead people – their mutual fascination with (inner and outer) space and distortion, paul corley’s ‘dream sequence collages’, field recordings and the occasional curveball.  

sigur rós ‘liminal’ takeover with jónsi, alex somers & paul corley will be live on nts’s la button from 12 noon to 12 midnight on tuesday may 8, and available globally via www.nts.live. (see also: world times)

the entire 12 hours will be archived on the nts site thereafter.