Album: Ágætis Byrjun
Artist: Sigur Rós
Born: Reykjavík, Iceland
Released: June 1999
Genre: Post-rock
My first encounter with Sigur Rós was at a Radiohead gig in Oxford in 2001, when the band played an afternoon slot and completely mesmerised the audience. I remember their rendition of Svefn-G-Englar being one of the highlights of the set. That song, and others on this album, have stayed with me over the years and I now tend to associate some of them with vast, scenic landscapes like the Scottish Highlands and the glaciers of New Zealand. In fact, when we travelled to Milford Sound, I sought out Starálfur on my mp3 player (iRiver in those days) and plugged in my earphones (much to my wife's amusement), just to enhance the experience of nature's bounty. Thanks to appearances on various film soundtracks, from Wes Anderson's The Life Aquatic to Cameron Crowe's Vanilla Sky, the songs on this album have reached a very wide audience, though not many people would identify them as Sigur Rós. There are precedents for the group's brand of ethereal music, notably the Cocteau Twins, but Sigur Rós were definitely a unique proposition, mixing elements of ambient, textured rock (the distinctive sound of the cello bow) and classical. Björk had already opened the world's eyes to Iceland's musical talent, but nobody could have guessed (least of all the band's label, Bad Taste) that Sigur Rós' second album would sell over half a million copies worldwide. After initial success at home, Ágætis Byrjun was released in the UK and US in 2000 and reached a much wider audience on the back of internet buzz and glowing reviews.
Ágætis Byrjun (meaning "a decent start", even though this was the band's second album) opens with a short intro that fades into the majestic Svefn-G-Englar ("Sleepwalking Angels"). When I first heard the song, I visualised it as set in the depths of the ocean, with the sleepwalking angels being a reference to the ghostly marine animals that populate this underwater world. However, the unofficial translations that are linked to on the band's website suggest the song is actually about the birth experience from the perspective of a baby (the album sleeve adds to that theory). At this point, Sigur Rós were still writing most of their songs in Icelandic, before the complete switch to Vonlenska (Hopelandic) on later records, a non-grammatical language based on expressive sounds rather than making sense. Olsen Olsen is one of the few tracks on this album to feature Hopelandic. One of my favourite moments on the record is Starálfur, with its moving strings and stunning vocal performance by Jónsi, and lyrics about a "staring elf". The song seems to be written from the perspective of a child with an active imagination. Ný Batterí ("No Batteries") has a much darker feel, while Viðrar Vel Til Loftárása ("Good Weather For An Airstrike") ups the emotional intensity again, and was released as a single with a controversial video that deals with the homophobia of organised religion. This song and the title track are two more of the album's highlights. Sigur Rós continue to make elegant and breathtaking music, but nothing since that matches this for perfection.
My first encounter with Sigur Rós was at a Radiohead gig in Oxford in 2001, when the band played an afternoon slot and completely mesmerised the audience. I remember their rendition of Svefn-G-Englar being one of the highlights of the set. That song, and others on this album, have stayed with me over the years and I now tend to associate some of them with vast, scenic landscapes like the Scottish Highlands and the glaciers of New Zealand. In fact, when we travelled to Milford Sound, I sought out Starálfur on my mp3 player (iRiver in those days) and plugged in my earphones (much to my wife's amusement), just to enhance the experience of nature's bounty. Thanks to appearances on various film soundtracks, from Wes Anderson's The Life Aquatic to Cameron Crowe's Vanilla Sky, the songs on this album have reached a very wide audience, though not many people would identify them as Sigur Rós. There are precedents for the group's brand of ethereal music, notably the Cocteau Twins, but Sigur Rós were definitely a unique proposition, mixing elements of ambient, textured rock (the distinctive sound of the cello bow) and classical. Björk had already opened the world's eyes to Iceland's musical talent, but nobody could have guessed (least of all the band's label, Bad Taste) that Sigur Rós' second album would sell over half a million copies worldwide. After initial success at home, Ágætis Byrjun was released in the UK and US in 2000 and reached a much wider audience on the back of internet buzz and glowing reviews.
Ágætis Byrjun (meaning "a decent start", even though this was the band's second album) opens with a short intro that fades into the majestic Svefn-G-Englar ("Sleepwalking Angels"). When I first heard the song, I visualised it as set in the depths of the ocean, with the sleepwalking angels being a reference to the ghostly marine animals that populate this underwater world. However, the unofficial translations that are linked to on the band's website suggest the song is actually about the birth experience from the perspective of a baby (the album sleeve adds to that theory). At this point, Sigur Rós were still writing most of their songs in Icelandic, before the complete switch to Vonlenska (Hopelandic) on later records, a non-grammatical language based on expressive sounds rather than making sense. Olsen Olsen is one of the few tracks on this album to feature Hopelandic. One of my favourite moments on the record is Starálfur, with its moving strings and stunning vocal performance by Jónsi, and lyrics about a "staring elf". The song seems to be written from the perspective of a child with an active imagination. Ný Batterí ("No Batteries") has a much darker feel, while Viðrar Vel Til Loftárása ("Good Weather For An Airstrike") ups the emotional intensity again, and was released as a single with a controversial video that deals with the homophobia of organised religion. This song and the title track are two more of the album's highlights. Sigur Rós continue to make elegant and breathtaking music, but nothing since that matches this for perfection.
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