Bad Taste (record label)

Bad Taste is Iceland's main record company. It was originally called Smekkleysa and had emerged to replace Gramm Records after it went bankrupt in the late 1980s.

With the conclusion of Gramm Records, its creators, Einar Örn Benediktson and Ásmundur Jónsson along with others created Smekkleysa, which in Icelandic means "bad taste" and was later changed to its English equivalent: Bad Taste, although both Designations are accepted.
The origin of the name of this organization arises from Picasso's aphorism: “Good taste is the enemy of creativity.”

The people behind Bad Taste were young Icelandic artists and musicians. Later they dedicated themselves to the musical branch and in this way gave rise to The Sugarcubes, a band that became famous worldwide and gave rise to the singer Björk to later develop as a soloist.

In humble beginnings this group of young innovators had countercultural and very creative ideas to break with the tradition of Iceland's art and music scene.
Because "good taste" and "frugality" are the main enemies of creativity and well-being, Bad Taste focuses on focusing its efforts to fight against anything classified as good taste or frugality.

One of Bad Taste's projects is the creation of a radio station called Demon Radio. They also award medals to those who have stood out in the ideals of Bad Taste and will open a restaurant/club called "The Dirt Pit".
From day one, Bad Taste's goal has been to publish the work of its members (be it music, novels, poems, etc.).

The first creation was a postcard drawn by Friðrik Erlingsson, at that time a guitarist for The Sugarcubes. The postcard had the faces of Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan who at that time had a "peace summit" in Reykjavík. The postcard sold for unthinkable figures and the money raised was used for the company to release the first album, a 7" by The Sugarcubes called Einn Mol'á Mann (A Cube Per Head), which had the Icelandic versions of "Birthday" and "Cat". Because it did not have a good sale, it could be obtained through the Orders Department (which began in 1992) until 2000.
As The Sugarcubes gained worldwide fame, Bad Taste had more money to spend on their projects.

Artists

• Baldur
• Björk

• Einar Örn

• KUKL
• Maus
• Múm
• Olympia
• Sigur Rós
• The Sugarcubes
• Un