I've got the one called (). I've never played it much, but I kind of like it. I've always thought it's a bit weird and noodly though, which sort of puts me off.

Just wondering if I should get any more. If so, which one(s)?

Thanks in advance,
Alex

Yes, I saw them live last year, they are amazing.

Get ágætis byrjun next. It is the blue one with the weird baby thing on it.

You can download some tracks from http://www.sigur-ros.co.uk/media/

Oh, get Takk as well.

Ed

They're bland IMO. Using plinky xylophones, toy pianos and singing in Icelandic doesn't give the music any emotional depth.

They don't sing in Icelandic.

No, apart from a couple of early songs. They're exactly the same as Coldplay, but they sing in a made-up language.

Either way they still blow. :)

I like Sigur Ros.

Tony.

Thanks all for taking the time to reply, and thanks Ed for the download links. I'll take a look.

I put on () for the first time in ages soon after starting this thread and I had to take it off half way through. The "singer's" voice is maybe a bit much for me, so it's not looking good.

Oh well.

I've never been a convert, but since it's been some years since I last had a listen, I tried "untitled #4" and "staralfur" from their website (thanks, mcai7et2).

I agree with Anex above. Novelty sound effects and no depth. Superb production minus a performance to justify it.

My missus could hear them from the other room. She asked me if I was listening to Coldplay :D

Each to his own I guess, if everyone liked them I would never be able to go and see them :D

No, apart from a couple of early songs. They're exactly the same as Coldplay, but they sing in a made-up language.

+1

Muzak. I've never made it past the first 10 mins of Agætis Byrjun - which I mistakenly bought* after seeing them opening for Godspeed You Black Emperor and Fly Pan-Am. A very post-rock evening all round.







*Further proof that if you smoke enough weed, anything with a delay pedal on it sounds good

Ouch :-)

I feel bad now, because I know Tony likes them, and he generally has good taste.

they've done some amazing stuff!



as well as some shite imo...

yes i think its true.. although he did go and see the stereophonics (and stood at the front;-). sorry Tony, pls don't ban me for it!

imo sigor ross are dull and pretentious, and the whiny bloke has a squiffy eye to boot.

try Mum instead.

They're rather excellent.
This years Frieze Art Fair had a reconstruction of the Sirkus Bar where they used to hang out in Iceland, the equivalent of a Marquee, Electric Circus, Twisted Wheel, Roxy or Cavern. An example of art imitating rock rather than an art rock band ( see earlier Coldplay comments!)

I feel bad now, because I know Tony likes them, and he generally has good taste.

LOL. I liked them from very early on (i.e. I've got Von etc bought mail order from Iceland) and think they were really good up to and including ( ) (the remix album Von Brigði excepted, but I tend to find such things pretty pointless in general), plus Takk has some moments and is a truly lovely item on vinyl, though I feel they have certainly lost critical mass / momentum from what I've heard of the more recent stuff.

Tony.

PS I've just flung Takk on the TD-124.

BBc Nature destroyed Takk for me :(

It is now little more than an arty artifact that I rarely play. Missed out on the 'In a frozen Sea' 5lp box at a premium recently as well :(

Love their early videos though.....lodsa Pathos.

Unfortunately they have become successful & famous, therefore no longer fashionable.

Nope, they sounded like Coldplay before they were famous :-)

Unfortunately they have become successful & famous, therefore no longer fashionable.

To my mind they are a band who did the 'post-rock quiet / loud' thing in a superbly organic and effortless way, plus the bowed guitar stuff is wonderful. The problem is that there is only so far you can take that, and I suspect they have overstayed their welcome. I'm listening to Takk now, and it is almost certainly the point they jumped the shark - it has a couple of genuinely good tracks for sure (track one LP #2 being the best by far, in fact the whole of that side is good), but other than that largely adds orchestration to existing formula. Since then I understand they've done an 'unplugged' album, which is almost without exception an appalling idea. I've not heard it though. I've got the DVD film of the free gigs in strange Icelandic places that came out last year IIRC, and that's really cool in fairness - they seem decent and surprisingly unpretentious people.

Tony.

They're rather excellent.
This years Frieze Art Fair had a reconstruction of the Sirkus Bar where they used to hang out in Iceland, the equivalent of a Marquee, Electric Circus, Twisted Wheel, Roxy or Cavern.

Think I've been to the Sirkus Bar.

I like Sigur Ros and Iceland is excellent - from the hot spas, via the music, to the food and architecture.

Shame they are broke.

Jack

I have two albums, the weird one with a baby on it and a paler one with weird crap all over it. I only listen to the famous songs, i really like them but a few songs is long enough..

P.S. they're definitely better than bloody coldplay

No, apart from a couple of early songs. They're exactly the same as Coldplay, but they sing in a made-up language.

i like a lot of the same stuff you do

except I think Agætis Byrjun is a great album

They're infinitely better than bloody Coldplay.

Think I've been to the Sirkus Bar.

I like Sigur Ros and Iceland is excellent - from the hot spas, via the music, to the food and architecture.

Shame they are broke.

Jack


Arn`t they a bit to "Northern" for you Jack? :D

Oh and their latest album is more rawky and rackety and generally noisy and less cinematic.

They're infinitely better than bloody Coldplay.

Not at all convinced. More than once I've heard stuff by them and assumed it was Coldplay, until the singer started up. In a double blind test with vocals removed I'm pretty sure they would be close to indistinguishable.

Double deaf test would be best.

Have to say I enjoyed them when I saw them live earlier this year. Although did have a feeling I ought to be doing the ironing at the same time. I find it difficult to sit through a whole album.

they're much better clodplay...

and sigor ros's best album imo is - Agaetis Byrjun...

but I haven't heard - Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust or Hvarf/Heim...

are they any good..?

Nope, they sounded like Coldplay before they were famous :-)

Yer feckin' arse. ...and to think that I used to respect your musical opinions ;)

There is no reason why anyone needs to like Sigur Ros, though I think they are an exceptional band. Caught them live for the first time this year, and though they were without the strings, still managed to play a superb show. I haven't heard anything of theirs I didn't like. The DVD with them playing in small villages in Iceland has some graet moments.

Given that Von was released in 1997 and Parachutes in 2000 one could argue that they sounded like Coldplay a hell of a long time before Coldplay did, but to be honest I can't see any real similarity.

Tony.

but I haven't heard - Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust or Hvarf/Heim...

are they any good..?

Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust - is the only thing of theirs that might possibly put people in mind of Coldplay. It is more mainstream than their other stuff, a collection of 5 minute songs, and there is even a song sung in English! Uuugh the crassness of it! But I quite enjoyed it.

Og ég fæ blóðnasir
En ég stend alltaf upp

I thought Ágætis Byrjun was great. Each subsequent album has been about half as good as the previous one. Or perhaps I'm just getting tired of their style? Anyhow, if you like () then AB is the next to get. Although if the same geometic progression applies, Von should be The Greatest Album Ever Recorded. I've never knowingly listened to a Coldplay record, so can't comment on any similarity or otherwise.

they're much better clodplay...

and sigor ros's best album imo is - Agaetis Byrjun...

but I haven't heard - Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust or Hvarf/Heim...

are they any good..?

Hvarf/Heim is superb, the live acoustic renditions are excellent.

Also FYI they only sometimes sing in the made up language Hopelandic. Predominantly it's all in Icelandic.

what language does jónsi sing in?
on von, ágætis byrjun and takk, jónsi sang most songs in icelandic but a few of the songs were sung in 'hopelandic'. all of the vocals ( ) are however in hopelandic. hopelandic (vonlenska in icelandic) is the 'invented language' in which jónsi sings before lyrics are written to the vocals. it's of course not an actual language by definition (no vocabulary, grammar, etc.), it's rather a form of gibberish vocals that fits to the music and acts as another instrument. jónsi likens it with what singers sometimes do when they've decided on the melody but haven't written the lyrics yet. many languages were considered to be used on ( ), including english, but they decided on hopelandic. hopelandic (vonlenska) got its name from first song which jónsi sang it on, hope (von). tracks 7-9 on takk are in hopelandic.
One of the songs on Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust is sung in English.

Anyhow, if you like () then AB is the next to get. Although if the same geometic progression applies, Von should be The Greatest Album Ever Recorded.

Von is good IMO - it's long, sprawling, atmospheric, dark and meanders from sounding like a long-lost spaced out Krautrock album through Cocteau Twins to My Bloody Valentine-esque shoegazing. It's a very different thing to what came later, though there are some clues as to where they were headed. Well worth a punt if it's still available, but don't expect another Ágætis Byrjun.

Tony.

Just had a peep at Amazon and Von is still available but the remix album, Von Brigði / Recycle Bin appears to be the Sigur Ros collectable ranging in price from £74 - £217! I've got a mint one!

Tony.

Tony, I was just looking at Amazon myself are seeing your intriguing Von review. A couple of the buyer reviews even draw comparisons with Syd-era PF - not sure how??

Looks like AB and Takk are safer bets, but maybe I should start at the beginning with Von.

Thanks again all for your thoughts - much appreciated.

A couple of the buyer reviews even draw comparisons with Syd-era PF - not sure how??

Can't see that at all, the closest to Floyd it gets would be the sonar 'ping' at the start of Echoes, except it does not have a sonar 'ping'. Imagine Klaus Schulze, Ash Ra Temple, The Cocteau Twins and MBV all occupying the same stage but playing very quietly / leaving more space than noise and you are pretty much there. Looked at cynically it's a 6 minute shoegazing dirge (Myrkur) surrounded by about 50 minutes of aimless meandering distorted guitar ambience, reverb and tinkly clicky things. In reality that's not a bad thing at all.

Tony.

PS AB first, then ( ), Von, Takk in any order you like. AB is the key work IMO, though the bonus tracks on the two EPs from that period (Ny batteri & Svefn-G-Englar) are up there with the very best of it too.