Nature's soundtrack
By ADAM GOLD | July 18, 2006
Sigur Rós’s albums have always sounded like film soundtracks, so downloading the music sans video from their upcoming EP/DVD Sæglópur (due August 8 on Filter US) isn’t much of a stretch. The Icelandic orch-pop quartet have apparently “expanded” on past EPs Baba Tiki Dido and Untitled, though it’s hard to imagine tracks more minimalist than these. A sneak preview of the three new tracks (plus one from 2005’s Takk . . . ) is available at iTunes.Sigur Rós, “Sæglópur (Sæglópur)”
In case you missed the version on Takk . . ., they’ve reproduced it here and tacked on an intro that sounds like a cross between crickets and a wind-up doll. The opening melodic lines played on piano and bells build to an anthemic OK Computer-era-Radiohead climax, then fade to a slow and sugary outro.
Sigur Rós, “Refur (Sæglópur)”
More tone poem than song, this brief but elegant track is built on a haunting piano lick that vamps over a humming bass.
Sigur Rós, “Ó Fridur (Sæglópur)”
Ignore Jónsi Birgisson’s plaintive falsetto that enters around the three-minute mark and the piano, flute, and orchestral flourishes on this track sound like something from the next Sufjan album.
Sigur Rós, “Kafari” (Sæglópur)”
Clanging chimes and children’s bells give the impression of water droplets as they float above quivering accordion swells that fade into nothing. It’s the “good” kind of creepy.
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