sigur ros- music of the sublime (64.88160222555004 , -17.852783203125)
Icelandic band Sigur Ros's new album Takk is being described by critics as its most accessible to date. This probably means only a devoted core of fans will get to hear the album. However, it deserves wider attention because the music created on this album is as weirdly sublime as any music could be. There is not a word of English in the songs, only Icelandic and a language the band created for themselves.
The music has every image that you've ever had about Iceland rolled into an hour of incredible music. Think of it as a symphony that conjures up, haunting landscapes, Norse legends, strange languages, mysteries, fairy tales, the supernatural, glaciers, the ice and cold.
Here's part of a review of the band's recent performance at the Oakland Paramount.
"The greatest shared quality between all of Sigur Ros' material-whether it comes off the band's debut, 1997's "Von," or from the new album-is its ability to move people. Almost to a note, the band's songs all seem lushly cinematic and powerfully anthemic, each sweeping up the listener and delivering sweet epiphanies of sound. It's not unheard of for someone to actually start weeping (in joy) at a Sigur Ros show."
For further insight into the band, please check out the RM116 blog, it has an interview with a 6 year-old Californian fan, who was 4 when he first saw the band.
More fan comments and a chance to sample the album at My Space