Icelandic Alt Rock

Sigur Rós hails from Reykjavik, Iceland (yes, the country that has the volcanos that erupted this past spring and disrupted air travel to Europe for a while). I must confess not knowing a whole lot about Iceland other than the aforementioned volcanos, nor do I know a whole lot about its culture. However, two musical artists have emerged from there to enjoy international success: Bjork and Sigur Rós. Bjork is probably the most eccentric of the two, and I will save one of her albums for another time.

Today‘s record is Ágætis Byrjun by Sigur Rós, which was originally released in Iceland in 1999 but released internationally in 2000. Their music is considered post rock (whatever that means), but sounds ambient, experimental, and other fancy adjectives. Sigur Rós has been making music since the mid-1990‘s.

#91 – Sigur Ros, Ágætis Byrjun (Metascore = 87)

The first two songs demonstrate the ambience that has been used to describe Sigur Rós’ music. “Svefn-G-Englar” doesn’t contain a lot of singing, but the music sounds like it’s being recorded in a warehouse or old church…something to give it an echoing feeling. According to online research, lead singer and guitarist Jónsi Birgisson plays the guitar with a cello bow, which creates a unique sound coming from the guitar.

“Starálfur” sounds like it came straight from Coldplay. The music (accompanied by orchestra) would fit in perfectly to Coldplay’s X&Y album. It is a beautiful song, and I found the orchestral accompaniment to be very key in making the song. “Flugufrelsarinn” is another beautiful song. Jónsi’s vocals soar above the music, which is primarily the core band. “Flugufrelsarinn” is an example of a song that reminds critics of another critically-hailed band—Radiohead. If I were to put this song on a Radiohead record, it would probably be Amnesiac.

“Hjartað hamast (bamm bamm bamm)” opens with Jónsi playing the guitar (with cello bow) to full effect, giving the “Jimmy Page” effect, as I like to call it. The song progresses with string orchestra and organ providing a soft foundation to the rest of the band’s instruments until ultimately exploding at the end. 7. "Viðrar vel til loftárása" features a beautiful section with a piano accompanied by stringed instruments. Another band I hear in their music is the Verve, with string arrangement, piano, and vocals. “Olsen Olsen” has a sweet bass line (provided by band member Georg Hólm, who does a great job throughout this record). “Ágætis Byrjun” itself is a beautiful song—a beautiful acoustic riff accompanied by great piano work.

More than anything the music underneath the vocals has really blown me away. The record sounds so majestic and epic, and Jónsi’s falsetto perfectly complements the record. My only wish is that I understood Icelandic, because all of the lyrics are in Icelandic. Perhaps the reason this record isn’t any higher (which #91 is no push over) is that maybe it was too over-the-top. If you can maintain a good attention span throughout the record, you can appreciate all the underlying elements going on here.