Sigur Ros - Valtari Review

What was it about Sigur Ros that captured the hearts and ears of listeners twelve years ago? One could investigate this from a myriad of different angles but one undeniable aspect that everyone who experienced Sigur Ros’ earlier records concedes is that they broke down barriers of a generation searching for its musical voice at the turn of the millennium. Initially, people didn’t know what to think. People had been raised in a counterculture music society that praised distortion and disregarded anything that provided the listener a soundtrack to letting go of preconceived notions that beautiful music shouldn’t be enjoyed much less revered for its groundbreaking attempts to encourage a generation to experience music rather than just hear it. Surely this alone is reason enough to tag Sigur Ros as one of the most relevant bands of the last twelve years. A twelve years that saw the rise of music being felt, viewed and experienced in ways that will be immeasurable for decades to come. ...full text In the grand scheme of things, Sigur Rós hasn't been gone that long, but with the solo and soundtrack work of frontman Jónsi, and the speed of the internet age, the group's return, aside from being more than welcome, does also feel somehow long overdue. Following the live document Inni, the band has now made its official return with a new studio album, Valtari.

And what a curious return it is. From note one -- which, depending on how you hear it may last two minutes -- it's clear this is a Sigur Rós record. What's new about it, though, is that it bears little resemblance to 2008's Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust. That album had introduced a level of dusty, acoustic playfulness, a tautness to the band's post-rock spectacle that was a welcome shift in a trademark giant sound. Jónsi's solo work on Go ramped those layers up in to a pop circus, something far brighter and keyed-up than any Sigur Rós record could dare to be....full text Impressionist soundscapes. Ambient climaxes. Splendor in all of its ebbs and flows. That’s been the image Iceland post-rock spectres Sigur Ros (named after leader Jonsi’s newborn sister) have carefully cultivated over the past 15 years. You can’t help but picture wide sweeping landscapes when you close your eyes and let those elegiac chords suspend your subconscious. Hence why its music, since 1999’s ironically titled Agaetis byrjun (“an all right start”), has been licensed to virtually every and anything ranging from the more poignant scenes of Vanilla Sky , BBC’s Planet Earth and yes even an episode of CSI:Miami (at least it wasn’t NCIS:Anchorage). Point being: Hollywood’s music supervisors need not look that far across the pond to plug in some ready made tears. Anyone who has had the pleasure of seeing Heima , a 2007 documentary of their emotional homecoming, knows they oppose any form of corporate greed — especially Alcoa’s bauxite activities . So why is their music proliferated on such a wide scale? Obviously, with physical sales waning, bills have to be paid. But more importantly, it nourishes the natural wonder we all desire to tap back into — standing and listening in awe of our ephemeral existence....full text As if symbolic of their space-filled music, Iceland’s Sigur Rós took a four-year break between their last studio album and the new Valtari. During that time, frontman Jónsi made a solo disc, The band released a couple stopgaps and a volcano near Eyjafjallajökull erupted numerous times, unleashing a massive cloud of ash that blanketed Iceland throughout the autumn of 2010. If Valtari is any indication, that cloud still lingers—at least in the headspace of Jónsi and crew. A fog of fugue-like harmonies opens “Ég Anda,” setting the tone for a ringing, expressionistic echo-poem that resembles a wind chime made of icicles. Things cohere in “Ekki Múkk,” but only barely. ...full text