This Tuesday I’m only going to mention one release. A release that I’m superbly happy to report
on. June 18th brings us the
release of the 2nd album in 13 months from Icelandic ambient rock
outfit, Sigur Ros. On May 23, 2012, Ros
released their sixth studio album, Valtari,
their first in approximately four years.
As a huge fan of these guys and their stellar music, the wait was
horribly dreadful. The album though is
wonderful, as is all of their music. Not
as “loud” as the two previous outings, Takk
… in 2005 and Med sud I eyrum vio spilum
endalaust in 2008 (you may recall a song from this album being featured in
the James Franco pic 127 Hours
called Festival), Valtari took more of a calming approach,
meaning basically the drums aren’t as prevalent. It’s an album to listen to out at sea, among
calm waters, as can be referenced by the album’s cover. It’s not my favorite album of theirs, but it
was nice to be reintroduced to them after four long years. And now, today, I’m even more excited.
I first heard these guys way back in 2001 when I first saw one
of my all-time favorite movies. I know I
will, and I’m prepared to, catch a lot of flak for this, but Vanilla Sky is a wonderful movie. Cameron Crowe is a hell of a director and
mingle him with a science fiction plot, a super sexy Cameron Diaz (it was ’01,
remember?), a shirtless Penelope Cruz, a funny-ass Jason Lee, and a Tom Cruise
who acts (I can only assume) exactly like the real life Tom Cruise and what you’ve
got is uniquely original story . . . that 65% of the world’s population utterly
despises. I love it though, not only because
I tend to have a strong connection with a film if the soundtrack is as
impressive as this one was/is, but because Cruise gives his most authentic
performance as a vanity-laden, rich-prick asshole, who discovers the errors of
his ways through the love of a woman who stands as his polar opposite, only to
rediscover that he can no longer have what he truly needs to be happy, and it’s
his own greedy fault. Sure, it plays out
like a love song to The Twilight Zone,
but it’s a good song (not to mention a great show), and one that deserves more
love than it receives. Though only one
Ros track is included on the official CD soundtrack, Svefn-G-Englar, the film is backed by their music throughout and it
was that music that initially caught my attention with the film. At a time when downloading music was new and
excited and illegal (Lars, you’re a douche), I exhausted many an hour trying to
find music from a band that the United States was blissfully unaware of, but I did
eventually find Svefn-G-Englar and
have remained a life-long fan of Sigur Ros ever since.
I had no idea until last week that this seventh album, Kveikur, was even being worked on, much
less released today. My heart is
pounding like the angelic strumming that comes out during the second half of Festival – if you’re clueless to this
song, check out the video below, I believe it is fan-made and there's not a lot to it other than pure nature, but the song is incredible. In fact, if you're not into the whole nature thing, I recommend starting it, turning the volume way up, and then going about whatever chores, or whatever else, you have to do. I had a chance to preview the first release
from this album, Isjaki, but I chose
not to due to the fact that these albums, these guys, are best heard in
uniform. Like the great Pink Floyd,
singles aren’t really this band’s bag, baby; they release them and they are phenomenal,
but listening to the album(s) as a whole is even better. As I looked for good reference points about
this album, I came across Wikipedia’s page listing the album as “a new direction taken by Sigur Ros, both
musically and thematically. The band has
described the album’s sound as ‘more aggressive’ than any of their previous
works.” Holy Shit, I just got a holy
lot more excited!!! I already feel like I’m
on top of the highest mountain in the world screaming at the heavens in
ultimate triumph when I listen to songs like (the already oft mentioned) Festival, Glosoli, Staralfur, and Hafsol, just to name a few. I cannot wait to dive into this new “aggressive”
album! I only hope I don’t get too much
gusto under my skin that would prompt me to quit my job and my life to run out
and live on a secluded beach somewhere in the vast Pacific. I promise to at least hold out until after October when I see them LIVE! That's right, my excitement has increased ten-fold since I bought tickets to their live show in Orlando. As good as their albums are, I've read that their live shows are even better and even more moving. So if you stop hearing from me around mid-October, you know what happened. Enjoy the week, folks, and pick up this new album. And if you happen to meet me on a mountain somewhere, be sure to share that triumphant smile.
"Festival"
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