Smekkleysa

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  ZAMILSKA

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  “In Icelandic it means “Bad Taste,” and that’s also the name of the record label located in this space. First, there was a radio program hosted by Ásmundur Jónsson and Guðni Rúnar Agnarsson from 1975–1983. It was practically a progressive music school for Icelanders. For their final broadcast in July 1983, they gathered a “supergroup” of musicians who, in their view, represented the most interesting elements of the musical wave that had swept Iceland since the early 1980s. Among them was Björk Guðmundsdóttir. Since the radio performance was meant to be a one-off, the group initially had no name, but soon decided to continue – and the band was named Kukl. They performed across Europe to positive reception, though their music was considered dark, complex, and hard to digest. The people behind Kukl shared more than just the desire to make innovative music – they aimed to create a foundation for a self-sustaining culture that could thrive without the support of the state or mass media. That foundation later transformed into Bad Taste. The name comes from Pablo Picasso’s manifesto: “Good taste and frugality are the enemies of creativity.” Bad Taste is also the birthplace of the band The Sugarcubes. The first work of Smekkleysa was a postcard drawn by Friðrik Erlingsson, then guitarist of Sykurmolarnir (Icelandic for The Sugarcubes), the band led by Einar Örn and Björk. It featured the faces of Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan, a map of Iceland, and the flags of the USSR and the United States in the background, due to the Reykjavík Summit in October 1986. Smekkleysa is now a record shop named after the label, located in downtown Reykjavík. Besides a huge assortment of records, books, and merch, it’s also a hub of independent music. Countless events, concerts, and regular DJ sets organized by Björk and her friends take place there. Just imagine the faces of tourists strolling downtown Reykjavík when through the window they suddenly see Björk bouncing like a ball, blasting her gabber set in the middle of the day.”