Agaetis Byrjun - Sigur Ros

Now I know that music is totally subjective, but having watched this years Brit awards, it left me thinking, where has all the good music gone? It seems we are force fed a load of mainstream nothingness with middle of the road pop music dominating the headlines (apologee's to bands like Kings of Leon who are the shining light in a world of mediocre media hype). Now if your still with me and you think Coldplay deserved nothing this year for creating yet another unispiring album, then the next couple of minutes will atleast grab your attention away from the periodic dumbing down of our ears. Now the band I'm pitching for today hail all the way from Iceland ...  Read the complete review

One of the main things Iceland is known for is its amazing ability to produce innovative and interesting music, despite its relatively small population (e.g. Gus Gus, Bjork). So, when I was in Reykjavik earlier this year, I made a point of visiting a branch of Skifan, the main Icelandic music retailer, and picking up a collection of CDs by native bands that weren't available back in the UK. Just before I left, I remember reading that Thom Yorke from Radiohead was a big fan of Sigur Ros, so I was determined to pick up all of their albums, to see exactly what he's been banging on about. Having listened to Sigur Ros before Radiohead's 'Kid A', their ...  Read the complete review

With a ragged beauty and grandiose formula suitably befitting a band from Iceland, Sigur Ros are a breath of fresh air in a sometimes stale indie market. While many of their contemporaries' follow well worn formulas, Sigur Ros have a sound that is uniquely theirs. One word of warning though, don't buy this album if you couldn't care less about missing out on something special. Each song on Agaetis Byrjun is an opera in itself. A ethereal voice that could cut through a glacier soars and swoops over arrangements that are so endearing you sometimes think that they could be wasted on an audience not willing to succumb to its charms. The lyrics are a ...  Read the complete review

Radiohead are wonderful people. Sigur Ros supported Thom Yorke and his merry band of musical genius' last year, and in doing so, raised Sigur Ros' profile from weird Icelandic oddballs to people that need to be heard. And so, off i went to buy 'Agaetis Byrjun' and right from the start, I was engrossed. But whatever you do, don't try and understand the lyrics! even the best Icelandic translator couldn't do justice to the beauty of the vocals on this album. 'Intro' starts the album off nicely with its backwards guitars and drums, but it still manages to sound great, with some beautiful harmonies too. ...  Read the complete review

Sigur Ros, hmm. I'm far from convinced about this lot, ever since I saw them support Godspeed You Black Emperor a few months ago. Didn't help that they were preceded by GSYBE's wonderful side project, Fly PanAm. The thing about Sigur Ros that evening was that they just didn't compare, and I'm not even GSYBE's biggest fan. Everybody seems to consider them something new in a stale indie market, but to me, they just appear as a crude mixture of generic indie traits, their lead singer's resemblance to Billy Corgan in both features and poise not being a great help. And poise seems to be pretty much all this band is about. I mean, ...  Read the complete review