Sigur Rós
Ágætis Byrjun
- Badtaste Reacords/Fat Cat Records
Release Date: 1999 and 2000
Although I have not been to Iceland, I imagine it as an island of austere beauty devoid of trees and (mostly) people, with magestic fords, hot springs, and barren mountain ranges. This also perfectly describes Sigur Rós' second album (three if you include Von Brigli/Recycle Bin, an album of remixes). Thankfully, London's Fat-Cat Records recently re-released this gem of an album, as the Icelandic release was expensive and hard to find in the U.S.
Expect suprises! Upon first listen, I marveled at the sumptuous sense of space, dreamy vocals and ambient grooves But, upon each subsequent listen, layers and melodies continue to appear. The album spans from a kind of funk groove in the song Hjartao Hamast (bamm bamm bamm), to a pop-sensible construction Starálfur Ágætis Byrjun, to a balladic (and almost maudlin) Vioar vel Tl Loftárasa. But what links all the songs together is the lush production and slow-motion rhythms.
My favorite song is also the opener, Svefn-g-Englar. It is a ten minute long slow motion fall, in which sonic vistas slowly permutate, revealing new sound scapes each more fascinating than the last. Another bright spot is the sticky groove of Hjartao Hamast, which is held together by Ray Manzarek style keyboard pedaling, and flavored with My Bloody Valentine-esque gitars. What also perked my interest is Ny Batterí, the fifth song, which starts with some strange sounding horns, which eventually reveal themselves as trumpets. These are tightened up with a steady bass line, which eventually fills out the somnambulant tempo with a driving drum track.
--Sean Ross
seanross@mac.com
