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Product Description: Inspired by the unfettered feeling of the acoustic performances filmed during Heima, Sigur Rós
adopted a looser approach in creating their fifth album Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust.
The album consequently is fresher and more human than anything they ve previously
recorded.
Rough edges, cracked notes, and the sound of fingers on strings are audible resulting in tracks
(e.g. Íllgresi ) that prove to be the band's sparsest and most affecting work to date. Worry not
though, plenty of electric guitar can be heard throughout the album ensuring Sigur Rós
commitment to challenging sonic limitations.
Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust is truly a groundbreaking album for Sigur Rós. It s the
first time they ve attempted to write, record, mix, release and support (by touring) an album in
the same year. Notoriously known for their laborious writing/recording style and their Icelandic
roots, Sigur Rós decided to record an album outside of Iceland for the first time. Recording,
mixing and mastering sessions took place in such un-Reykjavik cities as New York (Sear
Sound and Sterling Sound), London (Abbey Road and Assault & Battery) and Havana. The
result is pretty much their leave home album, the anti-Heima.
The opening track, Gobbledigook , is a manifesto setter with its shifting/no time signature. On
the last track, All Alright , Sigur Rós find themselves singing a song solely in English for the
first time. The seventh track, Ára Bátur , was performed with a full orchestra and the London
Oratory Boys Choir. This was recorded in one take with no overdubs and the result was 90
people playing at once and just one perfect take. This is their first album working with Flood
(U2, Depeche Mode, PJ Harvey) and the first since their debut to not be recorded with Ken
Thomas. It was a true co-production, one that found Sigur Rós breaking out of old
molds/habits.
The cover artwork is a photo taken from a flyer for Ryan McGinley s most recent photo
exhibition in NYC, I Know Where the Summer Goes , and the image captures perfectly the
spirit of the album, one of free-spirited happiness and exploration.
The band will be touring the US throughout the fall of 2008 to support Med Sud I Eyrum Vid
Spilum Endalaust. Amazon.co.uk: Sigur Rós--the sound of snow-capped peaks. Or winged things flocking over vast plains. Or salmon making that final courageous, muscular leap upstream, homeward bound. Ever since the BBC so aptly enlisted the help of the band’s "Hoppipolla" single to theme the groundbreaking natural history series Planet Earth, the ever-ethereal Icelandic band have become somewhat typecast, finding themselves conducting awe across the backdrops of nearly every other programme in that broad genre. And with that came the danger that all which followed would automatically become an instant cliché. And though their last album Takk saw a slowing of their evolution in favour of solidifying the established sound in accessible earfuls, Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust (which translates as "with a buzz in our ears we play endlessly") sees enough of a stylistic twist to keep things moving, without undercutting this new approachability. Where previously they sounded untouched by human hands, all alien post-rock abstractions, they now sound much more organic, sometimes literally like men playing instruments in a room. Albeit pensively, and extraordinarily. It is a perky record, attentive and exquisite, familiar but not derivative. The rhythmically adventurous "Gobbledigook" reminds of Brooklyn experimentalists Battles, unplugged, the xylophone heavy "Inní Mér Syngur Vitleysingur" is this album’s "Hoppipolla" and "Ara Batur" is trembling, lonely and eventually triumphant. "Festival", the album’s centrepiece, melds the old and new Sigur Rós dramatically over nine majestic minutes and must number amongst the best moments of their career. -- James Berry Customer Reviews: Rating: 
Date: 2008-07-20
Who likes organic Sigur Ros?
A change of direction? yes and no.. is it better than the albums they made prior to takk...? No.. but better than takk? in my opinion, it very well is. Sigur Ros is one of those bands you try to get.. or a band you don't get at all... you see, because Sigur Ros is so hard to "get" if you get what I am saying. with this album, Sigur Ros Does not Delve into Sonic experiments as much as their entire discography but that can be a change for the good. When Takk... tried too hard to be accessible, this one does it much more flawlessly.. so in terms it seems Sigur Ros Is comfy with not being the Experimental band of Ágætis byrjun but a more Built up, More Organic, Visceral to say sort of band.
Pros: An Improvement over their last album, Very Beautiful as is all of sigur Ros's music. Very Reflective, Sexy (Yea this is good sex music) and Dramatic. If you are already a big fan of them you will be satisfied with what this Record Offers. More Human and emotional imo than anything Sigur Ros has came out with. And If you are not a big fan of walls of sound and Merging instruments, you might Like this album more than previous efforts, for you can pick out the instruments being played.
Cons: Trys too hard to please everyone, and by that I mean it seems Sigur Ros trys gaining new fans while at the same time trying to please old fans, trying hard to be more accessible.. which is a whip lash in the Indie world (being reviewed by Rolling stone is a double whip lash) sometimes the record seems too short, when alot of songs don't take off when you expect it and when they do take off the results are not as inspiring as one would expect such as the song "Festival". One more... if you already hated Sigur Ros, you will still hate the Sigur.
Overall, I think this album is deserving of praise, A good effort, A good change of direction from Them, but it is not nearly their masterpiece.
Rating: 
Date: 2008-07-19
All Alright
As the closing song on the album Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust, All Alright pretty sums up Sigur Ros' latest LP. After a string of melodic and ethereal albums that are pretty depressing as they sometimes go, Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust is a welcome and refreshing change for once.
Like many others, my reception to the album was mixed. On repeated listens, Sigur Ros has revealed not only musical maturity but also the courage to forge new inroads in their music. Without understanding the lyrics, the album sounds immediate with some sens of urgency. And more than once, the band is no longer sombre but upbeat on Gobbledigook and Inní mér syngur vitleysingur. The track, Gódan daginn, that follows find them on mellower grounds, but it's really the 9-min long epic, Festival, that retains the breathless beauty of the past.
As it is, the album will rank as one of 2008's best on many year-end lists! (A) Rating:
Date: 2008-07-18
pretty amazing
I haven't really listened to a Sigur Ros record since their first one came out. Bought some of the ones that came out in between, but this one is the standout record of the last several that they've released. That's not to say the others aren't good, but this one is my favorite so far, second only to their debut.
Rating:
Date: 2008-07-16
An ad for this album in the New Yorker
An ad for the album in the New Yorker, with nudes running across a country road on the cover, caught my eye. I found myself trying to translate the
words on the cover, and I couldn't even figure out the language. Even the script was unusual. It would be weeks before release date but I got to hear this incredibly powerful, yet simple and awesome music, for the first time on the internet, and it was love at first hearing. New to the computer, it was
also the first album purchase via the net. The music was like nothing
I've heard in my seventy seven years. I can't get over that I am hooked on what I thought would be essentially music for young people. This music is for all ages. Songs five, six, and seven are staggeringly beautiful and give me
horripilations and exaltation ever time I hear it. I have not yet listened to other works of Sigur Ros's. But this album contains music that reaches agelessness; stark, brilliant, spellbinding.
For some reason, the DVD would not play on my music system in the one room, but did on another system in the kitchen, and played on my Mac Pro,
where I downloaded it, and will transfer it to the160MG iPod, as soon as I learn how. Rating: 
Date: 2008-07-16
A missed opportunity!
I am so disappointed with this CD. When I first read the reviews and heard the samples (the first few) I thought for sure that Sigur Ros had tread into new territory! I loved the first few rhythm driven pieces and thought, wow, they've walked down a new, inspired path. Ah, but after a few tracks (maybe they were afraid they're hard core fans wouldn't follow them into new territory) they turned around and headed back to familiar, ethereal, dreamy soundscapes. I have three other CD's of theirs and their last DVD which I like, but it would have been great to see them evolve. After the first few tracks, there is nothing new here! Oh well, back to square one.
Let me add that the music on this CD is very good. Sigur Ros are dedicated artists, of that there is no doubt. I find it amusing that some reviewers call it pop because certain pieces (the first few) have a steady rhythm and they are under 5-6 minutes long. That doesn't make it pop!
So I realize that my complaints are personal in the sense that I wanted more of how the CD started. It is true that upon listening to it over again it gets better and better. But I think I will always feel disappointed that they didn't continue on the new course they started at the beginning of the CD. Sometimes I think fans hold groups back from evolving and trying new things and they only want slight variations of what went before. |
