Sigur Rós | ||
| Allmusic Biography : Named in part after a sister of one of the bandmembers, Reykjavik, Icelands Sigur Rós (Victory Rose) was formed by guitarist and vocalist Jón Þór Birgisson (who later went by the name Jónsi), bassist Georg Holm, and drummer Ágúst Ævar Gunnarsson. Formed in early 1994 while the members were teenagers, the trios first recorded song earned them a deal with Icelands Bad Taste label. Their sprawling debut LP, Von (Hope), was released in 1997, followed the next year by a collection of remixes from that album, Recycle Bin. Kjartan Sveinsson joined the band on keyboards and the band recorded 1999s strings-heavy Ágætis Byrjun (Good Start), earning themselves numerous accolades in their homeland and achieving platinum status in sales. Gunnarsson then departed and was quickly replaced by Orri Páll DýRason. Svefn-G-Englar, their first release to be distributed outside of their native country, was hailed as NMEs Single of the Week during September of 1999, launching a press hype steamroller in the U.K. and -- to a lesser extent -- in the U.S. The "Ný Battery" single was issued in early 2000, the bands breakout year. British independent Fat Cat began distributing the band, stretching their reach beyond Icelanders and rabid journalists. April dates in England with Godspeed You! Black Emperor were capped off by an appearance at the All Tomorrows Parties festival, and they also opened several dates of Radioheads European tour before years end. Sigur Rós spent the first three months of 2001 off the road, setting up their own studio and making their third album. Meanwhile, Ágætis Byrjun found a label in the U.S. and worldwide press became increasingly positive and varied; both Entertainment Weekly and The Wire ran features on the band. The group began touring again in April, playing more shows in Europe, a handful in the States, and several more in Japan throughout the remainder of the year. By the end of the year, Ágætis Byrjun had won the Shortlist Prize for Artistic Achievement in Music; it was also declared Icelands Best Album of the Century. ( ), Sigur Rós third album, was released in 2002. The majority of the material was honed on the road prior to being recorded at Alafoss, the groups studio, located outside Reykjavik. The album featured a raw sound in comparison to its predecessors and scaled back the extreme highs and lows that were prominent on Ágætis Byrjun. Three years later, they issued 2005s Takk..., featuring some tighter arrangements and brighter tones. In 2007 they released the documentary film Heima, which chronicled the bands tour of Iceland the previous year alongside an intimate acoustic show at a coffee shop in the small town of Borg. Released in 2008, Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust found the group adding fairly straightforward pop songs to its sound alongside the traditionally epic soundscapes. After Sigur Rós completed touring for the album (the final weekend of shows recorded and captured on film and then released in 2011 as Inni), they headed back to the studio but scrapped the results and went on a hiatus. During this time, Jónsi launched a solo career, first collaborating with boyfriend Alex Somers (as Jónsi & Alex) on 2009s Riceboy Sleeps, then releasing 2010s Go under his own name. His main claim to fame, though, was recording "Sticks and Stones" for the soundtrack of How to Train Your Dragon. The group ended its hiatus in April of 2010, playing a set at the Coachella Festival. In October of 2011, they released their first live album, Inni, a document of their 2008 tour. Their understated sixth studio album, Valtari (Steamroller), was issued in May of the following year. Quickly returning, Sigur Rós took their sound in a darker, more aggressive direction with their seventh album, 2013s Kveikur, which found them pushing their sound into unsettling areas. After the albums release the band stayed busy touring. They also branched out, making appearances on both the animated series The Simpsons and HBOs Game of Thrones. In 2017, they collaborated with Somers on two instrumental recordings for a season four episode of Black Mirror. Also that year, to coincide with their own Norður og Niður Festival in Iceland, they released the soundtrack/film production Route One, as well as the Jónsi and Somers EP All Animals. Both albums were also reissued on vinyl for Record Store, and released to digital platforms in 2018. | ||
 | Album: 1 of 22 Title: Von Released: 1997 Tracks: 12 Duration: 1:12:08 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Sigur Rós (09:47) 2 Dögun (05:50) 3 Hún Jörð … (07:18) 4 Leit að lífi (02:34) 5 Myrkur (06:14) 6 18 sekúndur fyrir sólarupprás (00:18) 7 Hafssól (12:25) 8 Veröld ný og óð (03:29) 9 Von (05:12) 10 Mistur (02:16) 11 Syndir Guðs (opinberun frelsarans) (07:42) 12 Rukrym (08:59) |
| Von : Allmusic album Review : The heaps of praise during 2000 surrounding 1999s Ágætis Byrjun brought surprisingly little attention to Sigur Rós first record, released in 1997. Remaining available only through the bands Icelandic label, it took some effort to obtain, but those who did get a copy probably found it to be just as adventurous as Agætis. Though darker and more fractured than the string-laden nooks of the follow-up, its just as sprawling and outright bombastic. Its remarkable that such a young band would be this experimental at this stage in their lifespan, but the sheer breadth gets to be an albatross. Poking fun at 70s prog rock is just as easy as shooting at cement gargoyles on a suburban rooftop, especially when youre an indie kid or a fan of post-rock. But Sigur Rós makes Yes look like the Minutemen. Whittled down to 40 minutes, Von would be considerably more effective than it already is. As a mood setter, the 10-minute opening track really takes about three minutes to do what it needs, and a few other spots seem to drag on for the sake of sucking time. That doesnt prevent Von from being impressive, veering from Gavin Bryars-style aquatic minimalism to My Bloody Valentine-style dream pop. Varying states of isolationist ambience run throughout, whether evoking unrest or tranquil rest. You can practically envision a stray headboard floating through the Sinking of the Titanic-type passages, and the lush "Myrkur" comes from a planet where MBVs Kevin Shields and Kitchens of Distinctions Julian Swales are accorded the level or worship that Earth gives to Hendrix and Clapton. And then theres that voice, one of the most distinctly unintelligible voices since the Cocteau Twins Liz Fraser. Boy? Girl? One would be hard-pressed to guess without liner notes. Based on pure sound, Von is just as much of a treat as the acclaimed follow-up. | ||
 | Album: 2 of 22 Title: Von brigði Released: 1998 Tracks: 10 Duration: 54:27 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Syndir Guðs (Recycled by Biogen) (06:58) 2 Syndir Guðs (Recycled by múm) (04:55) 3 Leit af lífi (Recycled by Plasmic) (05:28) 4 Myrkur (Recycled by Ilo) (05:32) 5 Myrkur (Recycled by Dirty-Bix) (05:04) 6 180 sekúndur fyrir sólarupprás (Recycled by Curver) (03:01) 7 Hún Jörð … (Recycled by Hassbræður) (05:20) 8 Leit af lífi (Recycled by Thor) (05:36) 9 Von (Recycled by Gus Gus) (07:26) 10 Leit af lífi² (Recycled by Sigur Rós) (05:02) |
 | Album: 3 of 22 Title: Ágætis byrjun Released: 1999-06 Tracks: 10 Duration: 1:12:12 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Intro (01:38) 2 Svefn-g-englar (10:06) 3 Starálfur (06:47) 4 Flugufrelsarinn (07:50) 5 Ný batterí (08:12) 6 Hjartað hamast (bamm bamm bamm) (07:12) 7 Viðrar vel til loftárása (10:19) 8 Olsen Olsen (08:05) 9 Ágætis byrjun (07:58) 10 Avalon (04:01) |
 | Album: 4 of 22 Title: Rímur EP Released: 2001 Tracks: 6 Duration: 26:40 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Kem ég enn af köldum heiðum (06:19) 2 Til ei lætur tíðin mér (01:00) 3 Fjöll í austri fagurblá (06:00) 4 Slær á hafið himinnblæ (01:29) 5 Hugann seiða svalli frá (06:02) 6 Lækurinn (05:50) |
 | Album: 5 of 22 Title: Englar alheimsins Released: 2001-09-10 Tracks: 17 Duration: 41:10 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Aðflug / Draumur (03:07) 2 Minning (01:56) 3 Svarti hundurinn og skoska leikritið (01:23) 4 Niðurlæging (01:19) 5 Yfirum (04:18) 6 Litbrigði (01:56) 7 Stigið niður til heljar (01:46) 8 Snoð (00:35) 9 Ferð (02:28) 10 Önnur minning (01:47) 11 Bakslag (01:23) 12 Mók (00:53) 13 Schiller í Kína (02:52) 14 Máttleysi (01:08) 15 Kveðja (02:50) 16 Bíum bíum bambaló (06:53) 17 Dánarfregnir og jarðarfarir (04:30) |
| Englar alheimsins : Allmusic album Review : The soundtrack for Icelands much celebrated film Englar Alheimsins (Angels of the Universe) lives up to the lavish praise with an overcast and ethereal score composed by a startling duo of Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson and Sigur Rós. With a story revolving around a man losing his mind, this marvelously stark musical accompaniment was certainly essential to the experience. Hilmarsson seems perpetually in tune with the films despair -- "Nidurlæging," "Stigið Niður Til Heljar," "Máttleysi" -- all written with such a complex mixture of opaque strings and acoustic guitars that one imagines the composer having a tragic breakdown of his own during the songwriting process. Sigur Rós has two pieces at the end of the soundtrack as well. While both were originally recorded for the bands Ný Battery EP, they work in equal measure here: "Bíum Bíum Bambaló" is a long, hypnotic interpretation of an ancient Irish-Icelandic lullaby (making it the first time the song has been transferred from oral tradition to record), whereas "Dánarfregnir Og Jarðafarir" (Death Announcement and Funerals) is a slightly more prog-rock take on a Jóni Múli Arnason composition (Iceland radio service used the original track to relate daily deaths and arrangements). As one can guess, Englar Alheimsins is far from an uplifting experience, yet its stirring, remarkable melancholia is something valuable for anybody in the mood for something strangely special. | ||
 | Album: 6 of 22 Title: ( ) Released: 2002-10-23 Tracks: 8 Duration: 1:11:49 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 [Vaka] (06:38) 2 [Fyrsta] (07:33) 3 [Samskeyti] (06:33) 4 [Njósnavélin] (07:32) 5 [Álafoss] (09:57) 6 [E-Bow] (08:48) 7 [Dauðalagið] (12:59) 8 [Popplagið] (11:45) |
| ( ) : Allmusic album Review : Set the controls for the heart of the sun: Sigur Rós had another baby and they named it ( ). Its just as excessive in length as its elder siblings, its just as precious and almost as over-the-top sounding, and its artfully packaged with next to no information provided -- no photo collage from the triumphant world tour, no acknowledgments of the supportive Reykjavik massive. No track titles are present, either -- the band has made them known, but obviously not through the traditional route. Whatever the issues with this record, musical or not, ( ) will only further repel the detractors. Despite the fact that it arrives three years after Ágaetis Byrjuns original release, there are only adjustments -- no significant developments -- in the groups sound. The relentlessly funereal tempos, the elegant arrangements, and the high-pitched warbling/cooing remain in abundance. The overall mood of the album is subdued in relation to its predecessor. This is particularly true for the second half of the album, which is cleaved by a half-minute gap of silence. The sudden stratospheric crescendos resorted to previously are smoothed out, riding subtle gradients that allow for somber, elongated passages of drones and minimal instrumental interplay. The orchestral nuances, contributed by the string quartet Amina, take on a more background role. The fact that the emotional extremes are few and far between makes the album difficult to wade through -- its impact wouldve been tripled with about half an hour lopped off, but where to begin? None of these eight songs deserve to be left on the cutting-room floor. So perhaps its most effective when digested in halves. Are Sigur Rós pretentious somnambulists bearing gimmicks, or are they Nordic gods bearing musical bliss? Regardless of the side youre on, ( ) is further proof that this group does what it does very well. | ||
 | Album: 7 of 22 Title: Hlemmur Released: 2003 Tracks: 19 Duration: 39:59 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Jósep tekur fimmuna í vinnuna (03:04) 2 Hlemmur (01:38) 3 Fyrsta ferð (02:35) 4 Vetur (01:47) 5 Hvalir í útrýmingarhættu (03:00) 6 Hlemmur 2 (00:43) 7 Þversögn (02:09) 8 1970 (01:14) 9 Jósep tekur fimmuna í vinnuna 2 (01:47) 10 Ég mun læknast! (01:54) 11 1993 (01:12) 12 Hlemmur 3 (01:19) 13 Síðasta ferð (02:38) 14 23:20 (Lokað) (01:42) 15 Byrgið (01:36) 16 Áfram Ísland (01:22) 17 Allt tekur sinn tíma! (02:46) 18 Hannes (02:39) 19 Óskabörn þjóðarinnar (04:45) |
 | Album: 8 of 22 Title: Ba Ba Ti Ki Di Do Released: 2004-03-23 Tracks: 3 Duration: 20:43 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Ba Ba (06:12) 2 Ti Ki (08:49) 3 Di Do (05:42) |
 | Album: 9 of 22 Title: Takk… Released: 2005-09-07 Tracks: 11 Duration: 1:05:32 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Takk… (01:57) 2 Glósóli (06:15) 3 Hoppípolla (04:29) 4 Með blóðnasir (02:17) 5 Sé lest (08:40) 6 Sæglópur (07:38) 7 Mílanó (10:25) 8 Gong (05:33) 9 Andvari (06:40) 10 Svo hljótt (07:24) 11 Heysátan (04:09) |
| Takk… : Allmusic album Review : A strange thing happens before the two-minute mark in "Saeglopur." All the twinkling and cooing erupts, at what might seem like eight minutes earlier than normal, into a cathartic blast of tautly constructed group noise -- or, as those who prefer songs and motion over moods and atmospheres might say, "The good part comes." "Saeglopur" is emblematic of Sigur Rós fourth album, released nearly three years (!) after ( ). Nothing resembles a drone, and no part of it could be described as funereal. Even so, Takk... is still very much a Sigur Rós album, due in large part to the ever-present otherworldly vocals, but also because the only real changes are the activeness of some arrangements -- arrangements that deploy a familiar combination of bass, drums, piano, vocals, lots of strings, and some horns -- and some of the colors that are used. Despite opening with what sounds like a happy walk through a snow bank, the album is just as suited for a sunlit spring morning as ( ) was suited for a winter trudge across a foggy moor, so in that sense, it isnt a repeat and is more tactile than illusory, but its not likely to win over anyone who suddenly felt an index finger push against the back of his throat while hearing "Svefn-G-Englar" for the first time. And its not as if the band is suddenly writing three-minute pop songs, either. Half of the albums tracks are longer than six minutes, with extended cresting, sudden bursts of action, and a couple particularly fragile moments that seem to be on the brink of melting away. One thing to consider when wondering whether or not this band has changed in any way: theyve gone from providing the background music to death announcements to "Sé Lest," a fluttering childrens lullaby that is briefly crashed by an even more gleeful oom-pah-pah brass band. | ||
 | Album: 10 of 22 Title: Sæglópur Released: 2006-04-19 Tracks: 4 Duration: 21:51 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Sæglópur (08:11) 2 Refur (02:45) 3 Ó Fridur (04:47) 4 Kafari (06:06) |
 | Album: 11 of 22 Title: Hvarf-Heim Released: 2007-11-05 Tracks: 11 Duration: 1:12:20 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Salka (06:09) 2 Hljómalind (04:56) 3 Í gær (06:26) 4 Von (09:15) 5 Hafsól (09:46) 1 Samskeyti (05:23) 2 Starálfur (05:28) 3 Vaka (05:20) 4 Ágætis byrjun (06:36) 5 Heysátan (04:43) 6 Von (08:14) |
| Hvarf-Heim : Allmusic album Review : After floating in the same cirrus clouds for a decade, it would seem that the time has come for a change. Not to say that the lulling orchestral swells or Jon Birgissons schoolboy falsetto have lost any of their magic over time; its just that after releasing 40-some similar-sounding songs with undecipherable lyrics, it becomes increasingly difficult to differentiate one from the next. However, Hvarf/Heim isnt the album to mark a musical departure for Sigur Rós. The bandmembers show no real sign of abandoning their style, so it seems understandable that they would want to show fans another side of themselves. Disc one, Hvarf, is a five-track collection of rarities from their vaults. The handful of tracks doesnt quite make for a fulfilling full-length, but with two of the songs almost hitting the ten-minute mark, the discs entirety feels much longer than a mere EP. Consistently sprawling and lunar, the songs would feel right at home on Takk... or ( ). The standout track, "Hljómalind," is one of the more concise and traditional songs crafted over their journey, with the traditional instrumentation of reversed chimes and bowed guitar delays sawing textures into the fabric of the song, just before giving way to a powerful rock chorus from the mouth of a gently meowing alien. The traditional slow build is ignored for dynamics, and an unusually tangible hook hits like an old-fashioned punch to the face. The second disc, Heim, is comprised of six acoustically performed versions of favorites from their back catalog. Surprisingly, these songs dont sound remarkably different from the originals. Even without an electric guitar droning, they arent sparse or minimal in the least, due to an additional string quartet, Amiina, filling in the gaps to create a lush soundscape. The reworkings are subtle, but the versions of "Samskeyti" and "Starálfur" remain beautiful and are slightly warmer and even more fragile than the originals. Completists will find this double-disc supplement of material appealing, and new fans wanting to get a quick feel for the band will probably enjoy it too, but the true excitement revolving around this promises to be in the accompanying release of the Heima DVD, a documentary -- with gorgeous cinematography -- that follows Sigur Rós 2006 tour of their homeland and features music from these discs, which is perfectly fitting for a slow-motion shot of an iceberg melting in a spring sunrise. | ||
 | Album: 12 of 22 Title: Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust Released: 2008-06-23 Tracks: 12 Duration: 59:38 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Gobbledigook (03:04) 2 Inní mér syngur vitleysingur (04:05) 3 Góðan daginn (05:15) 4 Við spilum endalaust (03:33) 5 Festival (09:23) 6 Með suð í eyrum (04:56) 7 Ára bátur (08:56) 8 Illgresi (04:13) 9 Fljótavík (03:49) 10 Straumnes (02:01) 11 All Alright (06:19) 12 Heima (03:59) |
| Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust : Allmusic album Review : With their fifth full-length album, Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust (translated as With a Buzz in Our Ears We Play Endlessly), Sigur Rós have taken the poppy, sunshiny leanings of their previous album a step further into the light. The band has always been known for otherworldly soundscapes, and while there is enough of that here to keep the faithful happy, the band also writes straightforward, three-minute pop songs like the incredible catchy, sticky-sweet duo ("Gobbldigook," "Inní Mér Syngur Vitleysingur") that kick the album off like the first rays of the morning sun blazing through your bedroom window. That feeling continues on through the album as both the joyously soaring vocals and the buoyant melodies keep things floating happily on air. The arrangement of sound is quite different from previous albums, too. In the past their sound was characterized by a great wash of instruments merging together into great, gently heaving walls and waves of sound; on this album, for the most part, you can pick out individual instruments whether its the acoustic guitar that underpins many of the songs (and provides the main backing on the intimate and quite lovely, and quite un-Sigur Rós-like, "Illgresi") or the lone piano that begins "Ára Bátur" (which does expand out into an epic undertaking with over 90 people including the London Sinfonietta and London Oratory Boys Choir eventually playing on the track). Despite the few tracks that reach for the heavens, for the first time the band sounds grounded and stripped down. Songs like "Festival," with its pounding bassline and charging drums, and the melancholy album closer, "All Alright," which is based on a lonely piano figure (and features lyrics sung in English for the first time in the groups history), are firmly tethered to earth and shorn of excess artifice. In the past it was easy to be impressed with the sound of Sigur Rós, to be carried away by the grandeur of the band and be hit hard by the titanic emotions. On Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust you can really hear the human hearts behind the wall of sound, and while the emotional impact is on a smaller scale, somehow it is even more affecting. | ||
 | Album: 13 of 22 Title: Inni Released: 2011-11-03 Tracks: 15 Duration: 1:44:02 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Svefn-G-Englar (10:12) 2 Glósóli (06:52) 3 Ný Batterí (08:38) 4 Fljótavík (03:38) 5 Við Spilum Endalaust (03:58) 6 Hoppípolla (04:13) 7 Með Blóðnasir (02:22) 8 Inní Mér Syngur Vitleysingur (04:08) 9 E-Bow (09:09) 1 Sæglópur (07:41) 2 Festival (07:36) 3 Hafsól (08:28) 4 All Alright (05:42) 5 Popplagið (15:24) 6 Lúppulagið (05:59) |
| Inni : Allmusic album Review : When Sigur Rós played the last shows of their 2008 tour, they brought in a filmmaker, Vincent Morisset, to document the shows and also decided to record them as well. (A decision that proved wise as the band’s future was thrown into doubt after the sessions for the next album were started, then shelved, and the band went on hiatus.) Inni is the collated result of two nights of live sets at the Alexandra Palace in London and features songs drawn from the band’s long career and, as with the rest of the tour, is played by just the core quartet with no string section or extra musicians. Sigur Rós hadn’t played such stripped-down (for them) shows for years and the sound just the four of them create is stunning. The guitars crash in waves of color and tone, the keys shimmer like clouds of birds, and the overall dynamics within each song are impressive. Add Jónsi’s otherworldly vocals (which don’t suffer at all from being live) and it’s exactly what you’d expect from a band that had perfected its sound over the years. The interesting thing about Inni is that, not only do the songs capture the hypnotic emotions the band can whip up and then hone in studio, they have an extra drive and passion that is almost revelatory to hear. The only complaint one might have about the set is that at two discs, it can be a long haul to get from beginning to end. That being said, if you’ve stuck with the band this long, you not only don’t fear the long haul, but you relish it. Though Sigur Rós were said to be working on a new album to come out after Inni’s release, if this ends up being their final release, its a fitting album that sums up and shines a light on all the things that make/made the band so enthralling. | ||
 | Album: 14 of 22 Title: Valtari Released: 2012-05-23 Tracks: 8 Duration: 54:31 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Ég anda (06:15) 2 Ekki múkk (07:44) 3 Varúð (06:36) 4 Rembihnútur (05:05) 1 Dauðalogn (06:36) 2 Varðeldur (06:07) 3 Valtari (08:18) 4 Fjögur píanó (07:50) |
| Valtari : Allmusic album Review : After taking a long break from recording new material, Sigur Rós sixth album, Valtari, is a welcome return for the Icelandic soundscape pioneers. Their previous album Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust had been their most intimate and cheerful record to date with songs that could actually be called "songs" and the band stripping their sound down to the point where you could almost pick out individual instruments in the mix. It appears that singer Jonsi took all the sunshine and most of the pop song structure away for use in his solo career, because Valtari is a return to the epically somber and sonically all-encompassing approach the band perfected on their first few albums. Filled with giant washes of sound bathed in reverb, echoing keyboards, smears of strings, and massed backing vocals, the album ebbs and flows from giant crescendos to heartbreakingly intimate moments with Jonsis otherworldly voice riding the waves like a mythical dolphin. Each song creates its own insular world of atmosphere and emotion that can be so intense that when they end (usually after a solid six to eight minutes), the silence makes it feel like youve been yanked harshly out of a reverie. Its a shocking sensation but it speaks to how completely the band is able to transport the listener out of the day to day and into a magical realm. As is usually the case, its a realm of graceful melancholy that comes across as a bit gloomy, until Jonsi begins to sing in his angelic croon, that is, and you are lifted. On the surface, Valtari may seem like a step back for the band, but instead of just retreading the past, the album is one of their best; a refined display of their musical power with breathtaking dynamics and enough emotion to flood an ocean. | ||
 | Album: 15 of 22 Title: Brennisteinn EP Released: 2013-03-22 Tracks: 3 Duration: 17:13 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Brennisteinn (07:56) 2 Hryggjarsúla (05:05) 3 Ofbirta (04:12) |
 | Album: 16 of 22 Title: Kveikur Released: 2013-06-12 Tracks: 11 Duration: 57:30 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Brennisteinn (07:44) 2 Hrafntinna (06:22) 3 Ísjaki (05:03) 4 Yfirborð (04:19) 5 Stormur (04:55) 6 Kveikur (05:55) 7 Rafstraumur (04:57) 8 Bláþráður (05:11) 9 Var (03:43) 10 Hryggjarsúla (05:05) 11 Ofbirta (04:12) |
| Kveikur : Allmusic album Review : Though its not necessarily a bad quality, post-rock (especially as it trends to the more ambient side of things), can be an awfully passive listening experience, sweeping the listeners up in drifting buildup and inevitable crescendos without ever really confronting them. Challenging this paradigm, Sigur Rós get sonically adventurous with their seventh album, Kveikur, which finds the Icelandic three-piece delivering a darker and more aggressive sound on one of their most daring albums to date. From the opening moments of "Brennisteinn," the albums opening track that thrums to life through a layer of crackling static with a guttural, churning bassline, its clear that the band arent looking for gentle complacency from the listener. While the album might not be aggressive in the traditional sense, with big loud guitars and howling vocals, theres an eerie tension that runs throughout the album that counteracts the soothing flow of Jonsis drifting falsetto, making the songs feel like a good dream thats always on the verge of going bad. While Kveikur isnt a complete reinvention of their sound, its the kind of palette shift that shows just how versatile and creative Sigur Rós can be. Few bands can subvert the expectations of the listener quite like this, and even fewer can do it after seven albums. Kveikur isnt the kind of post-rock album that you throw on to listen to as you contemplate the changing of the leaves, but rather an album that explores the differences between the comforts of the day and the anxieties of the night, blending the bright and the brooding to create something bold and beautiful. | ||
 | Album: 17 of 22 Title: iTunes Festival: London 2013 Released: 2013-10-21 Tracks: 6 Duration: 39:46 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Yfirborð (04:29) 2 Brennisteinn (08:09) 3 Hrafntinna (06:37) 4 Kveikur (05:50) 5 Festival (07:30) 6 Varúð (07:09) |
 | Album: 18 of 22 Title: Liminal Remixes Released: 2017-12-27 Tracks: 7 Duration: 00:00 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Untitled 6 (E-Bow) (Liminal remix) (?) 2 Varúð (Liminal remix) (?) 3 Ofbirta (Liminal remix) (?) 4 Ó Fridur (Liminal remix) (?) 5 Kafari (Liminal remix) (?) 6 Untitled 7 (Dauðalagið) (Liminal remix) (?) 7 Untitled 9 (Smaskifa) (Liminal remix) (?) |
 | Album: 19 of 22 Title: Route One Released: 2017-12-27 Tracks: 2 Duration: 40:06 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 [untitled] (19:48) 2 [untitled] (20:18) |
 | Album: 20 of 22 Title: Black Mirror: Hang the DJ Released: 2017-12-30 Tracks: 18 Duration: 34:21 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 All Mapped Out (01:26) 2 Sorry (02:58) 3 Hours, Days, Months (01:31) 4 Into Place (03:31) 5 Match (01:31) 6 Out There (01:43) 7 Sleeps (00:48) 8 See You (01:53) 9 Treasured (01:34) 10 Ruined It (03:19) 11 One Year (02:09) 12 Doubts (01:58) 13 Three, Two, One (01:12) 14 We Agreed (00:34) 15 One, Two, Three, Four (00:39) 16 There’ll Be a Reason (01:28) 17 End (04:58) 18 Over and Over Again (01:07) |
 | Album: 21 of 22 Title: 22° Lunar Halo Released: 2019-04-13 Tracks: 4 Duration: 00:00 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 With Arms and Legs Moving (?) 2 The Tell Tales (?) 3 They Glow in Light (?) 4 Like Coloured Glass (?) |
 | Album: 22 of 22 Title: Variations on Darkness Released: 2019-04-13 Tracks: 2 Duration: 43:43 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 The Hungry Ghosts, We Live in an Old Chaos of the Sun (20:44) 2 The Silence of Animals, the Truth Is It Wanted to Cave In (22:59) |