Tutl Records, Tórshavn, Faroe Islands

To be entirely honest, the size and quality of the music scene in the Faroe Islands totally took me by surprise. At just under 20,000 people, Tórshavn is the world’s smallest capital.  Despite the small population, there are dozens of bands and musical projects active in the Faroes, and at the center of it all is the prolific Tutl Records.

Tutl (Faroese for “whisper”) was founded by a Danish Jazz composer named Kristian Blak, and in the last 35+ years has put out hundreds of releases for 100 or so artists. The roster is mostly comprised of Faroese bands, but Tutl has released albums for bands from outside the Faroes as well: from Italy, Iceland, and Estonia, to name just a few. Their releases cover an impressive range of genres, from traditional Faroese ethnic music, to folk, metal, jazz, reggae, and many more.

Tutl’s brick-and-mortar store on one of Tórshavn’s main streets is a serious gem. The store is quaint, but contemporary, and has an incredible selection of Faroese music (and a smattering of music from other places as well). Vinyl is quite expensive here, so most of the stock is CD’s, but one could easily spend hours perusing all of the interesting music.  They also have a small corner set aside for live music, with signatures of previous performers sprinkled on a nearby wall.

The staff are incredibly friendly, and with their encyclopedic knowledge of Faroese music, will be happy to suggest CD’s and chat with you about the local music scene while you sip on a cup of free coffee. On my recent trip to Tutl, the person working offered a lot of great suggestions, pulled CD’s to scope out at one of their listening stations, and even popped in a DVD of a live performance of a band he thought I might find interesting–they were called Orka, and they are indeed very interesting.

For any traveling fan, a trip to the Faroes would not be complete without a stop at Tutl Records.