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If Von wasn’t a great record in its own right, its electronic approach is extremely influential on the sound of this record underneath the orchestration and flowing piano, there’s often a rhythmic pulse or Jonsi’s sound sculpting with his bowed guitar. Sigur Rós sound like an entirely different band with their sophomore effort, replacing the electronic soundscapes of the debut with a more song based approach, with Jonsi’s vocals far more prominent.
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The closing ‘Rukrym’, which appears after a long silence, is also dramatic, with the wordless vocals over the top enhancing it.Īt seventy minutes of running time, Von can take some effort to get into I’d recommend starting with the far more accessible Agaetis Byrjun, and coming back for the highlights from Von later. The other two songs aren’t as strong the short title track has a gorgeous vocal sound but is largely uneventful, and while the combination of ethereal vocals and driving rhythms on ‘Syndir Guôs’ foreshadows their later work, it drags at eight minutes long. The highlights are ‘Hún Jörô’ (Mother Earth), surprisingly danceable and surprisingly abrasive, and especially the six minute ‘Myrkur’ (Darkness), where the repetitive guitar locks into a groove that almost recalls My Bloody Valentine. Cued up to play back to back, they would make a fascinating EP.
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Nestled among the seventy minutes of running time are twenty minutes of vocal led songs. Particularly tough are the twelve minutes of ‘Hafssól’, and the ten minutes opening of ‘Sigur Rós’ While the ambient tracks do work at setting a mood, they tend to overshadow the songs. In fact this album is so different from their later work that it’s almost appealing to an entirely different fanbase I’m sure that there are people out there who prefer this album’s dark ambient textures to the orchestrated progressive rock that they would pursue on the next record. Unreleased outside their native land until 2004, Sigur Rós’ debut album by is markedly different from their other work, pursuing an ambient direction and concentrating on rhythm and texture rather than the emotive and cinematic sweep of their later work. The group broke through to music nerd attention with their second album, Aegetis Byrjun, in 1999, and have continued to release high quality albums since. The group combine Jonsi’s high pitched, gorgeous voice with pretty melodies and atmospheric backdrops. Iceland’s most famous post-rock band is named after the sister of singer/guitarist Jónsi Birgisson, who was born on the same day as the band was formed in Reykjavík in 1994.