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)â€
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)â€
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)â€
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)â€
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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