★★★★★
Daniel Bjarnason's Over Light Earth is one of the most curious records of the year. Not because of any eccentricity or breaking of rules, more because it's just not the kind of album you expect to appear in the review pile amid the pop and guitar consciousness of 2013. The album, a completely instrumental work of soundscape, could perhaps be described as classical music - though that pigeonhole is rather abstract. It's somewhat orchestral, yes...
- drownedinsound.com
2013-11-08
★★★★★
This is the debut full-length release for Icelandic composer and conductor Daníel Bjarnason for Bedroom Community. "Blurring the line between electronic and chamber music -- a familiar style for the Icelandic Bedroom Community collective -- the constructions of this recording's emotional triggers are wholly unique. In Daníel Bjarnason's Processions, the composer marshals all the technical forces at his disposal to accomplish a musical goal rather than an ideological statement...
- www.forcedexposure.com
2010-08-27
★★★★★
Daníel Bjarnason is described as "the other classical composer" on Icelandic label Bedroom Community (alongside the acclaimed Nico Muhly) by the producer/conductor/label owner Valgeir Sigurðsson. Here we have two concertos, Bow To String and Processions, and one shorter piece, Skelja, which together comprise not only his first album release but also a challenging, at times astonishing collection of music. The two longer themed pieces each contain three movements...
- www.musicomh.com
2010-08-23
★★★★★
Summary: Daniel Bjarnason brings the magic of Icelandic music to the classical world. A musical statement not to be missed. It is no secret that Iceland has one of the best music scenes in the world right now. Between Sigur Rós, Björk, Jóhann Jóhannson, Ólafur Arnalds, and múm, it is hard to deny the amount of great music coming out of the small northern island. But hasn't great music always arisen out of areas with terrible political climates, amidst crisis and depression...
- www.sputnikmusic.com
2010-05-06
★★★★★
Like Bedroom Community co-founder Nico Muhly, Daníel Bjarnason is a composer whose own work is unfairly perceived as secondary to their arrangements for better known artists...
- nme.com
2010-04-22
★★★★★
It's probably something to do with the contemplation required to actually write the notes down on a manuscript, but classical music sometimes has difficulties conjuring up the same sense of spontaneity as rock'n'roll. Epic trembling passions - no problem; wistful elegiac reveries - got 'em in spades; but you rarely get the impression a composer has just been dumped by his girlfriend and thrown an orchestra around the room in frustration...
- drownedinsound.com
2010-04-02
★★★★★
On Processions, Daniel Bjarnason's first release, nothing is evoked so much as a deconstructed orchestra. From the opening strings waltzing smoothly over the sounds of percussive clatter to the self-destruction of dulcet passages, Bjarnason has clearly never met a symphony he couldn't vivisect...
- www.popmatters.com
2010-03-04