Saturday, March 13, 2010

Ágætis byrjun

That’s the music of Sigur Rós. Brilliant. And beyond beautiful. I’ve never heard anything like it. Being an Icelandic band post rock band with classical and minimalist elements, their music is incredibly unique and meditative. It’s gracefully woven and sewn with the threads of melody, meaning, feeling and beauty. And they seem to do it so effortlessly. Sure, they’re singing in a completely different language which is one of the hardest languages to master and you tend to wonder whether he’s singing about the bacon and eggs breakfast he’d had or something more meaningful. But, once you hear their songs, the overall sound overpowers your thinking. His falsetto voice has an incredible quality which stirs you up. Everything else you’ve heard just pales in comparison.
One of the most astounding things about this band is that their ability to make their songs completely ambiguous. They have the capacity to make you happy and excited and yet leave room for a bit of sadness, nostalgia to trickle in. Depending on what I’m feeling at that precise moment, the songs allow me to revel in that emotion. Extremely few musicians can manage that, no matter how many records they sell. And that’s what I call real music. So here’s to the four brilliant guys in Iceland and their musical quartet, who bring peace to a sixteen year olds disillusioned soul!