Sigur Rós - Von

The heaps of praise during 2000 surrounding 1999's Agaetis Byrjun brought surprisingly little attention to Sigur Ros' first record, released in 1997. Remaining available only through the band's Icelandic label, it took some effort to obtain, but those who did get a copy probably found it to be just as adventurous as Agaetis. Though darker and more fractured than the string-laden nooks of the follow-up, it's just as sprawling and outright bombastic. And then there's that voice, one of the most distinctly unintelligible voices since the Cocteau Twins' Liz Fraser. Boy? Girl? One would be hard-pressed to guess without liner notes. Based on pure sound, Von is just as much of a treat as the acclaimed follow-up.

The following is a translation/explanation of the track titles: 'Sigur Rós' = the name of the band, and also the name of singer Jónsi's little sister; 'Dögun' = 'dawn'; 'Hún jörð' = 'She earth'; 'Leit að lífi' = 'Search for life'; 'Myrkur' = 'darkness'; '18 sekúndur fyrir sólarupprás' = '18 seconds before sunrise', also the name of the band's UK website; 'Hafssól' = 'ocean sun'; 'Veröld ný og óð' = 'mad new world'; 'Von' = 'hope'; 'Mistur' = 'mist'; 'Syndir Guðs (Opinberun frelsarans)' = 'the sins of God (revelation of the messiah)'; 'Rukrym' = 'myrkur' spelled backwards.

This is Sigur Rós's first album. Darker and more experimental than later releases, very atmoshperic. The minimalistic lyrics contain references to both nature and religion. You may have noticed that the song title 'Rukrym' is actually 'Myrkur' spelled backwards, this is no coincidence as both songs are identical except that 'Rukrym' is played in reverse.