December 26, 2004

• Sometimes I think Sigur Ros is trite, sometimes incomrehensible, yet I find their music videos among the most compelling I've ever seen. I'd recommend untitled #1 [a.k.a. vaka] to everyone.
• "Staralflur" is in The Life Aquatic, at the crucial scene where they find the jaguar shark. It was pretty.
• Do see them live if you have the chance. It's exhilirating, not unlike a tribal religious experience or great drugs or sex.
• you're not alone.
• not unlike a tribal religious experience You mean one you read about or saw in a documentary? Or are you quoting somebody's music review? Tribal religious experiences are rare, even when you're a member of a tribe and practice its religion.
• not unlike a tribal religious experience I think he's talking about getting stoned with a couple of highschool friends on a clear cold winter night, and then finding out that Curt Cobain just committed suicide. I don't see how that's any less tribal, or religious. And I'm not being as bitter and sarcastic as you might think, just from the context.
• Jeez, Big Davey, pedantic much? I like this band the way I'm beginning to re-appreciate opera. It's big and sentimental and vocally imcomprehensible.
• I've loved these guys for the last two years. I would kill for the chance to see them live. They have a soundtrack cowritten by someone called Hilmar Sorgesten (or similar, I don't have the actual name handy), which is also amazing although somewhat different to their usual.
• They collaborated with Merce Cunningham earlier this year: http://merce.sigur-ros.com/ Richard Avedon photographed Cunningham with Thom Yorke (and IIRC a member of Sigur Ros) for the New Yorker; I'll try to find and post the portrait.
• hmmm .. i never saw any similarity between sigur ros & metal, and i've heard way louder bands. but when i saw sigur ros about 2 years ago, they immediately reminded me of the first time i saw pink floyd, shortly after the release of 'animals.' i believe i described the pink floyd show at the time as being akin to a religious experience (without the tribal qualifier) and i stick by that. (yeah ... the drugs didn't hurt that perception.) even though sigur ros doesn't employ the flying pigs, etc. (http://www.stufish.com/Pages/Dinosaur/Pink%20Floyd/Animals%20Tour/Pink%20Floyd%20Animals%20Concert%20Tour%201977%2001.html), the music & lights very nicely recalled the first floyd experience. it's a damn fine show. i've also heard comparisons between sigur ros and elo, but i always thought that while elo made beautiful music, their lives shows were overhyped. sorry for not linking the text, but i'm losing the urls when i preview the post. and for you kids out there who never heard of the flying pigs, the link is worth it.
• For those that don't want to spend an hour listening to a Sigur Ros album, I give unto you....the Armaghetto preview. You Sai Ro. You Sai Rofalo. (x100) Yeah...not my thing.
• I remember several years ago Radiohead being likened to Pink Floyd (who I'm sure I must have heard sometime, but can't call to my mind anything). I remember taking umbrage, mainly on the grounds of fashion. Pink Floyd (and Yes and a few other bands) were a symbol of big bloated corporate music when I was a teenage punk rocker. Regarding music via its fashionable designation rather than on its own merits is a hard habit to shake.
• Nice. I was loaned a cd/dvd of theirs a while ago, but haven't spent much time listening to them yet. Good to see they've made so many downloads available, too.