Sigur
Ros
One Little Indian Us
Lineup:
Jon Por Birgisson – vocals, guitars
Georg Holm – bass
Agust Aevar Gunnarsson – drums
Sigur Ros are one of the most amazing bands ever. They’re an
Icelandic group that features more ambient paintings through their music. This
painting however is really their debut. It didn’t get released until many years
later in the US, but Sigur Ros had it even back in their very beginning. This
is the darkest thing I have ever heard from them though. The very first track,
the one with the band’s namesake, is perfect to set this tone. This is some
dark stuff. While it does lighten up at times and go into other directions,
they manage to keep that dark cloak over you for the entire time the music is
playing. This isn’t an album I can really go over track by track, because it really
isn’t that type of music. It continuously goes and different tracks may often
be no more than just changes in direction of the mood of the music, if even
that. It all adds up to quite an equation though, especially with this. They
have this album as slightly more heavy (to Sigur Ros standards) closer to the
beginning, and then it begins to go into electrical ambience moreso when it is
in the middle of the album. After that it begins to go back to a little bit
more of the feel from the beginning (not necessarily the heaviness, but more
the structure and shape to the music), but in a much more serene way. The
vocals here from Jon are nothing short of unbelievable. They’re just so
soothing, but at the same time in a sense they’re dark and hopeful at the same
time. Jon just scratched the surface of what he’s able to do with this recording.
The sound quality on this is very good. Sigur Ros is a group
that really should have a better sound though, as that is what really carries
their music. Every thing that you can hear is meant to be heard, and the sound
allows you to hear everything that they want you to hear.
This is the first taste anywhere in the world got of Sigur Ros,
and sadly it wasn’t until many years later that the rest of the world got to
hear it, but it’s a great thing that they finally have had that opportunity,
because this is one amazing piece of music from an unbelievable group of
musicians. Out of 100 this gets an 89.
Track listing
1.
Sigur Ros
2.
Dogun
3.
Hun Joro …
4.
Leit Ao Lifi
5.
Myrkur
6.
18 Sekundur Fyrir Solaruppras
7.
Hafssol
8.
Verold Ny Og Oo
9.
Vori
10. Mistur
11. Syndir Guos
(Opinberun Frelsarans)
12. Rukrym
( )
MCA
Lineup:
Jon Bor Birgisson – vocals, guitars
Georg Holm – bass
Orri Pall Dyrason – drums
Kjartan Sveinsson – keyboards
Nothing. Cold. Beauty. Three words that sum up this album very
well. The title said out loud would simply be the untitled album for this one,
because there really is nothing as far as titles go on this. Untitled as far as
the album is and each song is untitled. This helps create an aura and mystique
to this album. The music though gives it personality very well. The white
packaging confirms this personality as being something you can attribute to the
cold Icelandic winters. The snow and serenity of it all is portrayed very
beautifully throughout this album. It starts off as a very soft and serene
soundscape, and as the vocals begin to come in that feeling isn’t changed at
all. There are many buildups and such that occur, which just emphasizes the
intensity of the picture that they are painting here. The music is just so good
at creating that landscape, it’s really hard to emphasize it enough. In 2002
Lars Ulrich was interviewed shortly after he went and saw this group. He said
that this group was giving Metallica great inspiration for their upcoming album
that they were about to write. After hearing ‘St. Anger’, it’s obvious that
Lars decided to change his mind, as it doesn’t resemble this in any way at all,
and that’s too bad, because while I do think that Metallica should be a heavy
band, that album was really something else as far as that went. Okay, sorry to
bring up such a crappy album in this thread, but I thought that was a funny
little piece of information. Anyway, yeah, this is an absolutely beautiful
piece of music that really makes you feel like you’re a part of that music that
you’re listening to, that you’re a part of that beautiful Icelandic winter, you
feel the cold breeze, you feel the warmth of the nearby fire you’ve started
nearby too as you look upon the miles and miles of barren land, that sort of a
thing.
The sound quality on this is once again amazing. Sigur Ros are a
band that perfectly knows how to make the perfect sound quality for themselves.
This is yet another beautiful release from one of the best in
the business. How to exactly classify this group, I cannot say. Some would say
they’re post-rock, but they really have something more, such an amazing extra
element, and that element is all over this release, making it a 92 out of 100.
Track listing
1.
Untitled 1
2.
Untitled 2
3.
Untitled 3
4.
Untitled 4
5.
Untitled 5
6.
Untitled 6
7.
Untitled 7
8.
Untitled 8
Release date – September 13, 2005
Geffen Records
Lineup:
Jon Bor Birgisson – vocals, guitars
Georg Holm – bass
Orri Pall Dyrason – drums
Kjartan Sveinsson – keyboards
Sigur Ros just keep getting better and better. This album is one
that has yet another different feel to it from the rest of their stuff (as
every one of their albums has, as little sense as that really makes). The feel
is a little bit more almost rustic maybe, still a very serene and smooth sound,
but this album maybe resembles more of a summer feel to it. “Takk…” is more of
an intro track and leads right into the VERY powerful “Glosoli” (don’t believe
me, download the music video from www.sigur-ros.com ). This song contains on top
of an amazing buildup, the heaviest sound Sigur Ros has gotten in at least four
years. It just keeps building from there as well, a very uplifting and powerful
type of heavy, not heavy in the sense of Bongzilla. Jon’s voice is just beyond
amazing on that track as well. That really sets the pace for the album too, as
they put out all of this amazing and powerful music and then don’t stop with
it. This album really contains seemingly a lot more buildup based feeling music
to it. Another thing is that this album supposedly actually features the
Icelandic language instead of the Hopelandic language that they made up and
used on at least the majority of their previous albums. Okay, sorry again for
bringing Metallica into that last review. Anyway, “Hoppipolla” continues that
feeling that the band left off with, of course with the soft beginning and the
buildup, but it’s done in a different way than before, but at the same time
with the same feeling. A very interesting talent shown here. This band has
proven beyond a reasonable doubt to me with this release that they are beyond
the real thing when it comes to modern classical music, because this is the
closest thing we have to it. Yeah, you could try to say all those rock
symphonies and whatnot, but this is really where it’s at. It’s something that
really has to be heard to be believed, and ‘Takk…’ is a great way to get that
feeling, as the entire album is just so uplifting throughout.
The sound quality on this is once again amazing. I don’t think I
really need to go into detail about it.
Another release from Sigur Ros and another unforgettable piece
of music. This band not only continuously puts out great music, but they keep
building and building from their previous releases, and this is a release that
is a culmination of many elements of their last few releases, and it builds
into something almost too much for the mind to comprehend. Out of 100 this is a
95.
Track listing
1.
Takk…
2.
Glosoli
3.
Hoppipolla
4.
Meo Blodnasir
5.
Se Lest
6.
Saeglopur
7.
Milano
8.
Gong
9.
Anouari
10. Svo Hljott
11. Heysatan
Band avg. score - 92
