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, SigurRós 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 in two halves by a 30 second pause; the first 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: SigurRós wanted the listeners to create their own titles based on their own interpretations. The following are taken from the unofficial SigurRós website, Eighteen Seconds Before Sunrise:
"We ...
Aufwiedersehen 07.02.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of () - Sigur Ros
Advantages: 8 beautifully crafted tracks, emotionally moving Disadvantages: None at all
What an intriguing, engrossing, delightful set of songs. As SigurRos 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 SigurRos, 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 and subsequent moods and emotions it generates, which is not 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 SigurRos have produced. Twice the album 'Takk' is anyway. At 8 tracks, it falls short of the usual number of tracks on their ...
nineinchneals 29.08.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of () - Sigur Ros
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
Sigur Ros: Jon Por Birgisson (vocals, guitar); Georg Holm (bass guitar); Agust Ovar Gunnarsson (drums). Recording information: 1995 - 1997. Although it wasn't released in the United States until 2004, VON is actually Sigur Ros's debut album (released in Iceland in 1997). The band made a grand appearance on the world stage in 1999 with AGAETIS BYRJUN, and were quickly heralded for their evocative, majestic guitar-scapes and their ability to conjure the mythic expanses of their native country with a blend of instrumental post-rock, ethereal vocals, wild experimentalism, and swirling shoegazer aesthetic. Fans of that album might expect VON to be a blueprint of AGAETIS, yet it is as markedly different from its successor as () (the band's third album) was to its predecessor. The lengthy opening track (named after the band) contains a cacophony of unsettling sounds and minimal electronica, putting the listener on notice that VON is not your average indie rock outing. The rest of the album veers between dreamy, gentle, floating-in-space ambience and atmospheric, guitar-heavy excursions that owe an obvious debt to My Bloody Valentine. On several tracks vocalist Jon Thor Birgisson lets his lilting, androgynous voice float above the fray, putting the defining stamp on the group's sound. Unique, engaging, and full of sonic surprises, VON is a bold first statement from one of the more original and compelling bands to emerge from Europe at the turn of the century.
Album Reviews
Alternative Press (p.98) - "[T]he album relies on experimental timbres and textures....An interesting glimpse into their past."
Titles on disc 1
1.
Sigur Ros
2.
Dogun
3.
Hun Jord
4.
Leid Ad Lifi
5.
Myrkur
6.
18 Sekundur Fyrir Solaruppras
7.
Hafssol
8.
Verold Ny Og Od
9.
Von
10.
Mistur
11.
Syndir Guds (Opinberun Frelsarans)
12.
Rukrym
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04/04/2005
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