Hvarf Heim
Nearly nine years on from their breakthrough 'Agætis Byrjun' the band who re-imagined glacial rock are back. But do we still care? With a whole new generation re-fashioning post-rock's dreamscapes into something bolder, SR's take on it has been in danger of seeming a little out of step. But one listen to 'Hvarf Heim' and that thought is banished away as though by a kiss from a fairy. This 2-CD collection of half acoustic versions of old tracks and half new material shows them, as always, standing in their own unique sonic space. Tracks like 'Von' find them encased womb-like by the twin disciples of singer Jónsi Birgisson's otherwordly vocals and the guitar lines that are constructed with an almost classical sensibility. You'll never see Sigur
Rós giving each other tattoos onstage, but their sound, which paved the
way for the likes of Bloc Party, is still pretty timeless
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...imagine Michael Nyman's soundtracks for Peter Greenaway minus the smugness and you get the idea...
by Peter Marsh
21 June 2007
Originally released on Sigur Rós's own Krunk records, this soundtrack to one of Iceland's most successful films finally gets a UK release, courtesy of the superb Fat Cat label. The majority of the album is taken up with sometime Psychic TV/Current 93 member Hilmarsson's incidental music, with two songs by everyone's favourite Icelandic neo-progrockers rounding it off.
Hilmarsson's work is characterised by brooding, hovering strings (electronic and acoustic) worthy of Part, Taverner or even the less abrasive bits of Penderecki, coupled with a gift for simple, evocative melodic writing. Discreet, atmospheric electronics shadow violin, guitar and occasional percussion as the (mostly short) tracks work through a set of variations of the opening theme. "Over the Bend" is peculiarly beautiful; clouds of strings are gradually joined by glitchy, distressed electronics and treated tribal drums, like a cheese-free version of William Orbit's take on Samuel Barber. Equally lovely are "Colours" and "On the Road", both built around the same lush baroque chord sequence - imagine Michael Nyman's soundtracks for Peter Greenaway minus the smugness and you get the idea.
Maybe following the films plot (a study of one man's gradual descent into schizophrenia), things get a bit dissonant later on with "Relapse" and "Coma" with fractured electronics breaking the surface, forcing the strings into violent eddies of glissandi. It's this kind of stuff that works least well outside the context of the film, and the brevity of the tracks doesn't really allow you to engage with them before they're over.
The Sigur Rós songs are predictably epic slices of oceanic, yearning atmospherics; less expansive (and expensive) than those on last year's Ágætis Byrjun perhaps, but none the less powerful for that. Both tunes (previously available on the now deleted Ny Batterí EP) are rooted deeply in Icelandic tradition; "Bium Bium Bambaló" is derived from a popular lullaby, and "Dónafregnir Og Jardarfir" is based on the music which accompanies the daily Funeral Announcements and Deaths read out on national radio. As usual, it's not what they do rather than the way they do it that makes Sigur Ros such a seductive proposition; like the Cocteau Twins, My Bloody Valentine or even the Smiths, they've managed to create a musical vocabulary that's pretty much their own that sounds totally unforced. Recommended.
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Heima (2007)
Reviewed by Stella Papamichael
Updated 23 October 2007
Heima, which literally translates as ‘At Home', sees Icelandic band Sigur Rós get back to their roots. It's a trip in more ways than one as director Dean DeBlois manages to harmonise the ethereal sounds of their acclaimed 2005 album Takk... with the otherworldly beauty of rural Iceland. There are no backstage bust-ups or obscenity-strewn soundbites to grab the headlines; instead this documentary plays like a journey of spiritual rediscovery after the hype has died down.
It was off the back of Vanilla Sky in 2001 that Sigur Rós first came to the world's attention. Ágætis Byrjun featured on the soundtrack and it led to a flurry of handshakes, international record deals and chat show appearances. Although the band members admit to initially getting swept up in the excitement, they agree that so much commercialism threatened to undermine their music. Lead singer Jón Þór Birgisson assures us he's relieved to be back in the “open spaces” of Iceland, where he sings to small crowds in the unlikeliest places.
"INTROSPECTIVE YET GRAND"
Besides a last hurrah in Reykjavik, venues include the foothills of snowy-peaked mountains, a deserted industrial town and a remote farm for concrete animals. DeBlois (Oscar nominated for offbeat toon Lilo & Stitch) captures these stunning and surreal backdrops with a fine eye for composition. When it comes to the editing, he goes against the MTV school of fast cutting; not afraid to linger on a gushing waterfall, fading footprints in the sand, or a lonely road shrinking into the horizon. His photography provides the perfect complement to Sigur Rós's songbook - introspective yet grand in scale. DeBlois also reveals how the band take inspiration directly from their surroundings, using stones and even dried rhubarb to make music! Birgisson does occasionally sound like a whining puppy, but overall this blend of music and visuals feels soothing for the soul.
Heima is out in the UK on 2nd November 2007.
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თუ ვინმეს გაქვთ ახალი dvd იქნებ ..................
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ეხლა ვუყურე bbc electric proms ლაივს . ძალიან მაგარია .ძაან მომეწონა . იქნებ ფილმზე ვნახოთ სადმე ?
SIGUR ROS, Post-rock, Dream pop, Ambient
