Sigur Rós ‎– ( )

> great work, specially track# 3 - samskeyti - YOU can smell the icelandic spring ...

its a great album. harder to get in to than their other releases, especially when compared to the later ones like takk. the basic mood is more brooding and dark, at times almost menacing.. but the good kind of menacing. very smart in building up tension throughout the songs, the standout piece is most definitely untitled 8, bringing it all together - an overwhelming journey, both sonically and emotionally. peace

This release was always a hard one for old fans of Sigur Rós. They toured this material extensively before it was recorded, and whilst that no doubt resulted in some very tight sessions in the studio, it left little to surprise those who had heard them all to death already.

That aside, this is a great album, if a little patchy. For me the highlights are the opener (forgive me for using the set list names) 'Vaka' and the closer 'Popplagið' - arguably Sigur Rós's finest moments. The former is a largely ambient piece ending in a majestic rush of strings and keyboard effects, whilst the latter morphs from upbeat to a truly crushing finale with some of the finest drumming I've heard. The rest of the album is not as solid as Ágætis Byrjun, in part due to the unrelenting dark atmosphere, which I don't believe they pull off. That said, it does result in a more cohesive album, with a period of silence at the midway point helping to give the impression of a two part piece (not needed for you vinyl kids!).

I accidentally stumbled onto this band whilst doing my usual browsing for new music etc & found their website with downloads & I was hooked!
After initial hearing of 'Svefn-g-englar' I was literally 'moved' in a way I've never been before!
Their deep emotive ambient/dream rock sound is reminiscent of My Bloody Valentine fused with Radiohead(who they have backed up with on tour) but more emotive. The vocalist pulls you into each track & hypnotises you, as well as the band's abilty with the whining guitars & strings that strike the chord. I feel they capture the 'human condition' perfectly & that I feel is the greatest compliment I can give to them! Lush!

The CD cover has four slightly different versions of the artwork, one for each target market (Europe, USA, Japan, Australia). Apparently Iceland, the band's home country, is the only place in the world where all four versions are available.

Although the tracks on this album are presented as untitled, the band has been using 'working titles' for them. The titles are as follows: #1 Vaka, #2 Fyrsta, #3 Samskeyti, #4 Njósnavélin, #5 Álafoss, #6 E-Bow, #7 Dauðalagið, #8 Popplagið. Some of the titles probably need some explanation for you english speaking people: Vaka = the name of the drummer's daughter, 'fyrsta' = 'first', 'samskeyti' = 'joint' or 'seam', 'njósnavélin' = 'the spy machine',´'Álafoss' = the name of the area where the band's studio is located, 'e-bow' is the kind of bow that was used to stroke the strings of the bass guitar, 'dauðalagið' = 'the death song', 'popplagið' = 'the pop song'.