Sigur Rós Experience
Back at our MindSpring days, Jimbo slipped me a copy of Sigur Rós' album "Ágætis Byrjun". He said, "Joe, this sh!t is up your alley." So in turn, I handed him a copy of "The Photo Album", and we both enjoyed our new found musical landscapes. Since then, I've gobbled up every Sigur Rós album I could.
It's no accident that Sigur Rós' latest tour finds them playing symphony halls. More than any other band that could remotely be categorized within the "rock" idiom, these Icelandic innovators concoct soaring soundscapes whose dynamic structure is decidedly orchestral in its approach. Ostensibly using traditional instruments -- guitar, bass, keys, drums -- the quartet creates ethereal sounds that could be beamed in from another world, and their latest album "Takk" is their most melodically memorable masterpiece yet.
The wife and I had the pleasure of attending last night's Sigur Rós show at Benaroya Hall. It was an experience. Below is a picture from one of their shows, and even Jenny said she "really like it", which is a pretty big thing coming from a girl who only goes to Hip-Hop shows and bumps Snoop Dogg more than Kelly Clarkson. A singles band Sigur Rós is not -- like early Pink Floyd or Radiohead at their most experimental -- they prefer epic songs that flow seamlessly in an artfully crafted sequence, conceptual in construct if not in lyrical themes (although, with their tendency to veer from Icelandic to the made-up "Hopelandic" language, who can tell the difference?). The show was amazing. Check out some of their stuff below.
svefn-g-englar
live at tla, philadelphia, usa, september 22nd 2001
real video format (11:14 minutes | 22.5 megabytes)
untitled #4 (a.k.a. njósnavélin / the nothing song)
from the 2002 album ( )
mp3 format (6:57 minutes | 8.1 megabytes)
complete iceland concert (stream only)
the 132 minute concert in reykjavík november 2005
windows media format: low quality | high quality
real media format: low quality | high quality
setlist and photos here
Just marvelous music. These guys are incredible. Their music just literally takes you to places within your mind. So many instruments and sounds to keep your mind busy and the lyrics fill things in nicely. Yes, yes it is in the Icleandic toungue but that does not take away from their music whatsoever. You can also find english translatsions to their songs on the World Wide Web.
It's no accident that Sigur Rós' latest tour finds them playing symphony halls. More than any other band that could remotely be categorized within the "rock" idiom, these Icelandic innovators concoct soaring soundscapes whose dynamic structure is decidedly orchestral in its approach. Ostensibly using traditional instruments -- guitar, bass, keys, drums -- the quartet creates ethereal sounds that could be beamed in from another world, and their latest album "Takk" is their most melodically memorable masterpiece yet.The wife and I had the pleasure of attending last night's Sigur Rós show at Benaroya Hall. It was an experience. Below is a picture from one of their shows, and even Jenny said she "really like it", which is a pretty big thing coming from a girl who only goes to Hip-Hop shows and bumps Snoop Dogg more than Kelly Clarkson. A singles band Sigur Rós is not -- like early Pink Floyd or Radiohead at their most experimental -- they prefer epic songs that flow seamlessly in an artfully crafted sequence, conceptual in construct if not in lyrical themes (although, with their tendency to veer from Icelandic to the made-up "Hopelandic" language, who can tell the difference?). The show was amazing. Check out some of their stuff below.
svefn-g-englar
live at tla, philadelphia, usa, september 22nd 2001
real video format (11:14 minutes | 22.5 megabytes)
untitled #4 (a.k.a. njósnavélin / the nothing song)
from the 2002 album ( )
mp3 format (6:57 minutes | 8.1 megabytes)
complete iceland concert (stream only)
the 132 minute concert in reykjavík november 2005
windows media format: low quality | high quality
real media format: low quality | high quality
setlist and photos here
Just marvelous music. These guys are incredible. Their music just literally takes you to places within your mind. So many instruments and sounds to keep your mind busy and the lyrics fill things in nicely. Yes, yes it is in the Icleandic toungue but that does not take away from their music whatsoever. You can also find english translatsions to their songs on the World Wide Web.
posted by Unknown at 10:00 AM
9 Comments:
Yeah, I love these guys. Back when I was working at Tower, I managed to get backstage at their first Seattle show @ the Showbox (I had their first album in constant rotation at that store). They're were really cool cats, and they put on one of the most amazing shows I've ever heard.
That would have been a great show to attend. Was that after the "Von" album, or the "Ágætis Byrjun" album, or the "( )" album?
It was right after Ágætis Byrjun came out.
Joe. Why do you have such a hard on for Wikipedia? You practically use it on evefry post. Do you get a nickel every time we link to it?
HOPELANDIC??? I call my language Devonesi.
For those that would like to educate themselves on a subject, I've found that Wiki is a pretty solid site. When you guys go on and on about some obscure NFL player from the 60's... I look them up on Wiki. So I thought I'd help others do the same with my obscure posts.
i streamed the concert from their main site last night just to peep what you were up to. theres something in the water over there in iceland. i can't decide if its good or bad. also, colin and shiho attended the same concert. looks like it was good times, especially if your wife was moved.
Nice....I wish I could have been there last night. I have entirely too much Sigur Ros on my computer I think....considering the fact that I haven't even listened to all of it yet. I just really love ambient type stuff, and they provide the kind of music that you can just have on....all the time.
Yeah, we saw Colin & Shiho before the show. Chatted a bit... Colin scored guest list passes so he was in Row 2! We were in row 19 thanks to pre-sale tickets.
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