Sigur Rós- Iceland's answer to everything:
The band consists of jón þor (jónsi) birgisson (vocals, guitars), kjartan (kjarri) sveinsson (keyboards), orri páll dýrason (drums) and georg (goggi) holm (bass). They create a remarkable sound considering the basic instruments used. Jónsi often ... Read review
Anyone expecting Sigur Ros to have abandoned their emotional and majestic approach will ... more
think again after hearing the opening bars of their new album, ( ). When Sigur Ros released their second long player Agaetis Byrjun back in 1999, they caught everyo...
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Anyone expecting Sigur Ros to have abandoned their emotional and majestic approach will ... more
think again after hearing the opening bars of their new album,( ). When Sigur Ros released their second long playerAgaetis Byrjunback in 1999, they caught everyone ...
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Many a critical evaluation of Icelandic quartet Sigur Rós has resorted to stock imagery of ... more
molten magma, omnipotent ice fields and burbling hot springs--and reasonably so. There's no disavowing the geophysical heartbeat which invigorates the very soul of this most supernatural of bands. Takk may well be Sigur Rós' most stimulating interpretation of their habitat yet--verdant serenity to pregnant anticipation to brutal paroxysms of volcanic thunder via icicle-like celestes, howling electrical winds of curving guitar feedback and hymns seemingly sung by castrato pixies. Strange and overwhelmingly beautiful. Some may think of Sigur Rós as a permafrosted Pink Floyd (circa Zabriskie Point) and while it's facile to say as much it's an honour certainly worthy of them. There's a seamless, symphonic poetry to Takk where the exultant "Gong", the euphoric choristry of "Hoppipolla" (like the Beach Boys turned into snowmen) and the National Geographic panoramas of "Glososli" blend with intuitive homogeneity. You'll wish you were here. --Kevin Maidment
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Anyone expecting Sigur Ros to have abandoned their emotional and majestic approach will ... more
think again after hearing the opening bars of their new album, ( ). When Sigur Ros released their second long player Agaetis Byrjun back in 1999, they caught everyone on the hop. Though it was pretty much the first anyone outside of their native Iceland had heard of them, the quartet had been studiously honing their sound for the last five years, developing a spellbinding mix of rock guitars scraped with violin bows, angelic falsetto vocals and dramatic builds of percussion fuelled tension that offered all the ineffable quietude of religious music. ( ) is a slightly rawer, undoubtedly heavier experience than its predecessor, but it still manages to shine a torch into the darkest corner of our souls, describing accurately the aching beauty and the hopeless anguish that makes up the contradictory essence of human existence. Experimental flourishes hark back to their eldritch debut album Von, and Jonsi's vocals-which have devolved over two albums from Icelandic to his own "Hopelandic" half-language-finally melt into lyric-less harmonic textures that still float across the band's earthy tapestries as naturally as clouds cross the night sky. Rest assured though that any changes are slight; the melancholy brilliance that made Agaetis Bryjun such a life-changing event is still very much the driving force behind Sigur Ros's music, making this new album every bit as essential as the last. --Paul Sullivan
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Reykjavík-based noise quartet Sigur Ros are the biggest band in their native Iceland, ... more
which should say much, much more about the collective insanity of that earthquake-ridden, blizzard-beaten crag of an island than anything to do with Sigur Ros' sound. But in their music, Sigur Ros reflect all the breathtaking glory of the Icelandic wastes--a fairy-tale explosion of unhinged elemental majesty that's finally crystalised here, their debut European release. Poised somewhere between the haunting soundscapes of Labradford and the lilting Celtic falsetto of Enya, Agaetis Byrjun is a truly breathtaking listen. Frontman Jon Por Birgisson sings in a language that Sigur Ros dub Hopelandic--an otherworldly mutation of Icelandic, sung in the falsetto cadence of angels; similarly, he plays his guitar with a violin bow, opening the floodgates for brilliant waves of feedback. And while it's the opening "Svefn-G-Englar" that's Sigur Ros' defining moment to date, there's far more that Agaetis Byrjun has to offer; the pomp and flourish of a full orchestra on "Flugufrelsarinn", or the awe-inspiring near-religious mantra of "Ny Batteri". --Louis Pattison
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Advantages: Sound is out of this world Disadvantages: "Hopelandic" can make songs sound a little similar
Sigur Rós- Iceland's answer to everything:
The band consists of jón þor (jónsi) birgisson (vocals, guitars), kjartan (kjarri) sveinsson (keyboards), orri páll dýrason (drums) and georg (goggi) holm (bass). They create a remarkable sound considering the basic instruments used. Jónsi often uses a cello bow to play his guitar, resulting in an effects-laden, atmospheric, totally unique sound. His voice is probably the most unique thing ... ...a choir boy. the band have released three albums so far, plus one remix album (von brigði - recycle bin). the first album, which has not been released outside of iceland, is called von (hope) and is quite experimental and ambient.
This offering was recorded at their new studio in Alafoss that they converted from a swimming pool. It has no words as such, not even Icelandic ones, as it's recorded in "Hopelandic", which is the ... more
Sigur Rós- Iceland's answer to everything:
The band consists of jón þor (jónsi) birgisson (vocals, guitars), kjartan (kjarri) sveinsson (keyboards), orri páll dýrason (drums) and georg (goggi) holm (bass). They create a remarkable sound considering the basic instruments used. Jónsi often uses a cello bow to play his guitar, resulting in an effects-laden, atmospheric, totally unique sound. His voice is probably the most unique thing about sigur rós. a falsetto somewhere between thom yorke and a choir boy. the band have released three albums so far, plus one remix album (von brigði - recycle bin). the first album, which has not been released outside of iceland, is called von (hope) and is quite experimental and ambient.
This offering was recorded at their new studio in Alafoss that they converted from a swimming pool. It has no words as such, not even Icelandic ones, as it's recorded in "Hopelandic", which is the combination of nonsense words and sounds that Jónsi uses to sing along to the band when they haven't worked out any vocals yet, but are trying to find the vocals tune for when they do.
The sound ranges from a grand and imposing room-filling ambient, almost tactile collection of melodies to single piano riffs that evoke more than anything the bleak and barren but beautiful Icelandic landscape, as they intended.
For this kind of music, it is necessary to have either a good sound system with a large range of frequencies, or good headphones. In my mind, playing this sort of gloriously all-encompassing upliftingly large music on something like laptop speakers is a travesty, and should be punished severely. this is the only album I've bought for many years that has moved me to tears and has sent shivers down my spine from its haunting beauty.
It is far darker and less accessible than their previous albums, and has a slightly harsher edge to it. It's the sort of music that you can listen to without doing anything else, and become so drawn into the music that unless your CD player's on "repeat" you return to earth with a mighty bump when the final song ends.
There is a 36 second silence after track 4, that marks the division between the "soft" section and the "heavy" section of the album. This feels to me like a necessary break, so that the feelings invoked by the "soft" section can have time for you to understand them and allow them to disperse, ready for the new style.
***************************** The tracks are as follows: *****************************
1.Untitled 1 - Vaka 06:38 mins 2.Untitled 2 - Fyrsta 07:33 mins 3.Untitled 3 - Samsketyi 06:33 mins 4.Untitled 4 - Njósnavélin 6:56 mins 5.Untitled 5 - Alafoss 9:57 mins 6.Untitled 6 - E-bow 8:48 mins 7.Untitled 7 - Dauðalagið 13:00 mins 8.Untitled 8 - Popplagið 11:45 mins
They mean:
Vaka: the name of Orri's daughter Fyrsta: The First Song Samsketyi: Attachment Njósnavélin: The Spy Machine Alafoss: The Band's studio E-bow: Jónsi's effect with using a cello bow to play his guitar Dauðalagið: The Death Song Popplagið: The Pop Song
As can be seen, the tracks are uniformly quite long, but there is no Pink Floydian excess here; each song seems to be perfectly crafted and seems to be sent out exactly as it was supposed to be (it should be - they had to remove part of the roof of the Alafoss studio so that a crane could get their mixing board in because it was so big!)
I could listen to this CD for an awfully long time, and I can sense that it's one of those albums that, like Massive Attack's offerings, you never finish listening to, because there's always something that makes you sit up and take notice, as you're sure you've never noticed a particular nuance before. this is not music for those that require a catchy chorus. In fact, some songs, like E-bow, have a feel to them that's almost like British Sea Power's song "Lately" (The Decline of British Sea Power album), in that it continues completely differently just whe you thought it had ended, and you like the new incarnation better than the last.
There is a lot of variation in the styles of the songs, not just from grandeur to intimacy, but from rock to almost neo-romantic at one point in "Vaka", when Amina's strings take the song to a whole new level of familarity. This is an album where the songs are different, but have a string of familiarity running through their hearts - in other words, a wonderful buy - I've now become addicted to them, and am going to buy all their other albums when I can find some money somewhere!
********* Credits *********
Written, produced and performed by Sigur Rós
engineered, mixed and co-produced by Kenneth Vaughan-Thomas
Assistant engineering by Marco Migliari
Strings and arrangements by Amina (an icelandic string quartet)
Advantages: 8 beautifully crafted tracks, emotionally moving Disadvantages: None at all
What an intriguing, engrossing, delightful set of songs. As Sigur Ros slip more and more in to the musical mainstream, it often pays to look at the back catalogue to see the true roots of a band. With Sigur Ros, this is less a good idea and more a necessity.
Whatever you want to call it (The Brackets album, The Untitled Album, or simply '( )'), this album is utterly sublime. I've often listened to this thinking that no words could describe the music ... ...so good when reviewing the album! But I'll give it a go.
'( )', as I shall refer to it from now on, is more an experience than just a set of tracks. From what I've heard by them, it is the best album Sigur Ros have produced. Twice the album 'Takk' is anyway. At 8 tracks, it falls short of the usual number of tracks on their other albums, but the level of quality within these 8 songs more than makes up for their quantitive value.
'( )' is an appropriate ...
nineinchneals 29.08.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of () - Sigur Ros
Advantages: Sonic bliss from Iceland's best export Disadvantages: Should eight tracks cover 72 minutes?
With a breakthrough album in Ágætis Byrjun under their belt, Sigur Rós set about their third album, ( ), at their newly converted swimming pool studio in Mosfellsbær. ( ) is quite a departure from their usual sound, with the possible exceptions of tracks 4 & 8, in that it is very minimalist in both sound and production. The signature landscape of sound is still there, but with a rawer, truer quality than that of Ágætis Byrjun. The album is split ... ...half comprises the 'light and optimistic' songs whilst the second is the bleaker side, though both halves sound chilly. None of the tracks have titles: Sigur Rós wanted the listeners to create their own titles based on their own interpretations. The following are taken from the unofficial Sigur Rós website, Eighteen Seconds Before Sunrise:
"We really loved the responses to Ágætis Byrjun we received from foreigners. We got all kinds of interpretations ...
Aufwiedersehen 07.02.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of () - Sigur Ros
Advantages: Relaxing, Thought Provoking, Medatative, Nice Disadvantages: Not to be listened to if you are in a party mood
As a confirmed night-owl, this album has saved me from the late night stress of either not being able to sleep or worse still, the stress of an early, next day deadline. The band originate from Iceland and their own brand of progressive, slow rock shouldn't fail to provoke your imagination throughout the 60 or so minutes that the album runs for.
( ) shouldn't be viewed as an album in its accepted sense, more as one long seemless track that develops ... ...somewhat darker and by the end you will not know whether to laugh or cry. If you like "Explosions in the Sky", "Mogwai", "Godspeed You Black Emperor" or even "Fugazi" you will have no reason not to like this!
After a week of solid listening,Imade the mistake of trying to find the translation from Icelandic in to English. This proved fruitless as the "official" language of the album is called "Hopelantic" a language which has no actual words and ...
tigermothdavey 04.10.2007 (05.10.2007)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful Review of () - Sigur Ros
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Advantages: Stunningly beautiful music - best album of 2005 Disadvantages: none. really.
The immense SigurRós return with thanks to their fans (Takk is Icelandic for thank you!). This band is famed for its unusual sound; mixing Icelandic folk with progressive rock with easy listening, and Takk... is no exception. Yet another collection of life-affirming tunes to uplift, to sadden, to provoke, but most of all to give hope. Beauty, unfortunately, is a rare quality in music today. SigurRós are part of that dying breed which manages to capture beauty within intelligent music. That's why this is my album of 2005; that's why it must be heard.
1. Takk...(Thank You...): The title track and opener falls just short of two minutes but gets you in exactly the mood for the album - it's a warm, tranquil progressive piece produced mainly on keyboard, and is just how you'd imagine the Icelandic landscape would sound.
2. Glósóli ...
Aufwiedersehen 04.02.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Takk - Sigur Ros
Advantages: Beautiful Disadvantages: A few weak tracks
Background:
For those unfamiliar with the band, SigurRos are a four-piece Icelandic dream-pop/post-rock band with influences ranging from Coldplay-esque vocals and piano melodies to massive atmospheric orchestral arrangements. The band was named after one its members' sister, and is translated to English as "Victory Rose". SigurRos are renowned for their famously incomprehensible yet beautifully sweet lyrics. In fact, SigurRos have invented their own language - Vonlenska (also dubbed as Hopelandic), which according to the band's website is "a form of gibberish vocals that fits to the music".
On the 23rd June 2008, SigurRos released the band's fifth studio album "Með Suð í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust", which is the Icelandic for "With a Buzz in Our Ears We Play Endlessly." It includes the band's first ever song ...
Features the opening untitled track from the Sigur Ros album.
Format
Performer
Production Year
2006
EAN
8811309121, 5413356492224
Additional notes
Album Notes
Contains 8 tracks. With critical darlings Sigur Ros releasing an album called ( ) that features eight untitled songs, this Icelandic outfit continues to go against the grain in a manner so esoteric that it's easy to imagine the band's oft-cited influence on Radiohead. Ironically, the vocals here depart from the previous albums' Robert Smith-like tones for a sound highly reminiscent of Radiohead's Thom Yorke. Perhaps SR is just returning the favor. In any case, most of these songs clocking in at over ten minutes, and the oddness quotient goes up considerably when you hear frontman Jonsi Birgisson singing in a fusion of Icelandic and a made-up language called Hopelandic. Infused with a melancholy mood wrapped around swirling, ambient keyboards and floating guitar chords, the dynamics become the bellwether of this musical exercise. With this kind of purposefully funereal pacing, listeners will either be praising this album as another example of Sigur Ros's innovation or attempting to rise from catnaps to declare that the emperor has no clothes.
Album Reviews
Spin (1/03, p.71) - Ranked #22 on Spin's list of 2002's "Albums of the Year" Rolling Stone (11/14/02, p.86) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...Sigur Ros make atmospheric music with lyrics in garbled Icelandic, heavy on the strings and keyboards - beautiful..." Spin (12/01/02, p.140) - 8 out of 10 - "...There's something awe-inspiring about this band's single-minded pursuit of mellow drama..." Q (12/02, p.112) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...They make soaring, mind-expanding music that's near impossible to resist....This is a masterpiece of bombed orchestral elegance, at once expansive and intense..." Mojo (1/03, p.98) - "...The album rocks, its symphonic depth and stratosphere-surfing melodies more affecting with each subsequent listen..." Entertainment Weekly (11/1/02, p.70) - "...The Icelandic quartet again create an ethereal stir with sparse, atmospheric melodies and a falsetto wail..." - Rating: B+ Uncut (12/02, p.140) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...It weaves a gigantic, undulating backdrop onto which you can project what you will..." Magnet (1/03, p.106) - "...Sigur Ros occupies a space somewhere between the free-soaring folk jazz of Tim Buckley, the aquatic ethereality of the Cocteau Twins and the oceanic post-rock of Mogwai....The instrumentation arrives in vast, dense, Radiohead-plays-Pink Floyd waves..." CMJ (11/18/01, p.6) - "...A soothing, uplifting compilation of wonder, reflection and vicissitude and an extended glimpse beyond the mundane..."
8 page booklet, 2 hours of full length performances, Alternate edits, Brand new song 'Heima', Featurettes - Memories Of Melodies, Pall From Husafell, Thorrablot, Tour Diary
Sound
Dolby Digital
Manufacturer's product description
Features the opening untitled track from the Sigur Ros album.
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