[markl]

Haven't read this whole thread, but put me in the column of people who find Sigur Ros, WAY WAY over-rated. Them and Mogwai, too, I see they got mentioned here as well. I was suckered into buying a bunch of their albums (both groups) and they all left me dozing--- YAWN! Give Sigur Ros another 5 years or so, and on this trajectory, they *could* produce a simply sublime album, but they ain't nowhere near it yet, IMHO.

 

[minya]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff Guidry Throw this crap and all paintings by Jackson Pollock into the fire, and maybe they'll burn and be useful for providing heat. God knows they have no purpose now.

Yeah, thank Allah for real artists like Thomas Kinkade!

Anyhow, for those of you that like GYBE, I highly recommend you check out the album by Larsen called "Play," released earlier this year on Important Records. In my mind, it's the same overall stylistic effect as GYBE but way, way, way better and much more to-the-point. (As an interesting aside, "Play" came about as Larsen, an Italian post-rock band, were trying to "cover" Autechre. They didn't really succeed, but "Play" is what resulted from their experiments.)

Also check out Circle, the band that Mogwai and Trans Am wish they could be.

 

[s m @]

Quote:

Originally Posted by markl WAY WAY over-rated. -Mogwai- I was suckered into buying a bunch of their albums and they all left me dozing--- YAWN! .

I have to say something here, only so that people who've never heard Mogwai don't give up on a great band without having heard them.... I don't even understand how they keep getting mentioned in a SR thread. Any similarities between them are only on the most superficial level. SR are new-agey atmospherics mostly, whereas Mogwai's essence is more of the 'guitars up to 11' variety. Their appeal for their fans is mostly found in the balance/tension between prettiness and flat out noise music. No one's ever done that nearly as well, if that's your thing.

Two things I will say about Mogwai are that their albums could be seen as uneven for the non-diehard, and also that to really understand them you need to see them live. But don't take my word on any of this, if you're curious, check out this live recording in FLAC, which sounds good and I'd say is fairly representative:

http://www.archive.org/audio/etree-d...b.php?id=17733

It's not illegal at all, bands have to give their permission to have shows on this site.

A band that Trans Am and Mogwai wish they could be???? Which means they're....... a mariachi band? Yodellers? I honestly have no idea what you could mean by that. But then, you spend winters in Ontario and go to Califoria in summer, so you're obviously one sick, sick individual

Back on SR, I don't mind them, I've actually somehow seen them three times.... on their last tour a couple years ago they played an unreleased song, 'milano' I think it's called, that gives me hope that their next album could be really good. It was the best thing they played that night, stunning. But you only have to see both bands to see that there's barely any point of comparison between them and Mogwai. Which is good since SR coming along when they did... similarities would only be a ripoff if they existed.

 

[Riordan]

s m @,
"the balance/tension between prettiness and flat out noise music" - that's what fascinates me in a wide range of bands and styles. sometimes contrasting sharply, sometimes intertwined.

there's melodic harcore punk/pop/alternative greats like hüsker dü and (to a lesser extent) dinosaur jr.

there's weird but beautiful americana veterans yo la tengo and the grandfather of beautiful feedback, neil young - harmony and flat out noise (mostly compact doses of noise here)

there's shoegazing songcrafters like jesus & mary chain, my bloody valentine, and scores of others - prettiness and flat out noise at the same time.

and of course there's post rock, contrasting ambient & tension, harmony & noise. sigur ros don't really belong there, coming from a very different background and angle - but their use of somnambulistic ambience HAS something in common with mogwai:
"the balance/tension between prettiness and flat out noise music" - done differently, yes, but it's there.

 

[redshifter]

riordan,
i was giving a lot of thought to the jagged/soft textures in music, especially electronica. listening to autechre this morning ("confield") the division between the ripping, jagged rhythm textures and the almost ambient minor key melodies is vast and stark on this album. "boards of canada" has a similar sound, but more warm and analog. in rock i'm also reminded of stereolab, which juxtoposes sawtoothed moog lines over soft, sing-song female vocals.

but "confield" is the most stark example of contrasting textures i can think of right now.

the sr experience for me is more along the lines of brian eno's pure ambient music, which was born in the place between sleep and conciousness.

 

[sbulack]

I'm listening to the first track (Sigur Ros) on their album, Von, now. Given the sonic illumination effects within the music, the hard, icy brittleness of many of the sounds, the sparseness AND the long, slow, deliberate massiveness impressed upon the listener, I'd say that "Glacial" is a positively brilliant way to describe what is being portrayed. Thanks for that imagery, Redshifter!

 

[jaghouse]

I can enjoy Sigur Ros late at night, its great music to go mind drifting. I have 700+ cds and its Sigur Ros my girlfriend talks about wanting to send to her friends/family.

 

[sbulack]

I'll add my recommendation for Von to that of fyrfytrhoges. I can appreciate (and at rare times fully enjoy) aegetis byrjun and (). Von seems (to me) to be more impressionistic of the starkness, hardness, vastness, massiveness and awe-inspiration of the experience of arctic phenomena - portraying the physical and metaphysical aspects of such encounters. As such, it is less abstract to me than the other works of Sigur Ros and more approachable/enjoyable. As I've mentioned above, in Von, the Glacial pace of its songs so-paced seems quite natural and fits beautifully with the sonic content, effects and impressions - creating a coherent (and amazing-to-experience) soundscape.

 

[golgi]

I just had to bring this thread back to life. 
 
I was at Best Buy today and walking the music aisles when I spotted the Sigur Ros section.  I have friends who love this band and I've read nothing but good things on this forum about them. But I've never actually heard any of their music before.  So, I decided to buy one of their albums.  I usually try to listen to an album before buying it but I thought I'd risk it since I've heard so many good recommendations.
 
I bought their () album.  I listened to it several times today....and I'm completely underwhelmed.  I mean the album does have some moments of musical beauty but overall the album is dull and nearly un-listenable.  Most annoying to me are the vocals.  The singer sounds like a mentally dumb, prepubescent boy that is repetitively moaning and chanting nonsense over a repetitive and dull soundtrack.  I feel so annoyed having spent money on this album and just had to vent!