In Continuum.

Hvarf/Heim



At long last, Sigur Ros has finally released a new album - well, sort of. The 2CD set doesn't actually include new songs, but rather older songs that are being played acoustically in front of a live audience, and tracks that were previously unreleased. But I guess as beggars - or fans - we can't exactly complain about the lack of new songs. This album however, is quite a freshing release amidst a barren land of bad release. We have the horrendous release by the half-insane Britney Spears, yet another album from the lukewarm Backstreet Men, and I heard that Spice Girls are trying to spit out another album, trying to sell more records with their old saggy breasts. The music industry is going to hell, as you can see.

I know, I know. A person who calls himself a fan shouldn't even be downloading their albums off the net, a week before the official release of the DVDs. The problem is that I'm not even sure if they are going to sell it in all major record stores in Singapore, because record companies overseas tend to miss this tiny red dot on maps all around the world. The problem is that it attracts a lot of mainstream bands, not so much about bands that are underground - bands that make music which truly matters. Which also explains why bands like Death Cab for Cutie, Radiohead, and even John Mayer has bypassed this country a dozen times over, flying from Tokyo to Perth and forgetting all about his group of fans, carefully tucked away in Southeast Asia. Asia is a great place, but it can suck really bad sometimes.

Anyway, to review this double-CD album, perhaps we should separate it into two, Hvarf - which contains the previously unreleased tracks, and Heim - which contains the acoustic versions of songs we have already heard before. For Hvarf, you start to wonder why these songs never made it to the actual albums themselves, because they are yet another series of Sigur Ros masterpieces altogether. The sound scape is once again, vast beyond imagining, and it takes you to places in your head you've never thought to exist. To be fair, I feel that this half of the album feels like a sequel to their previous album Takk, which may have been why the tracks were left out. I particularly liked I Gær, because of how the song managed to portray a sense of masculinity amidst a sea of childish innocence. At the beginning of the track, we are sort of treated to the kind of music you would hear when you step into a toy store at night, and there is a little magic box in the middle of the room waiting for you to open. Then the box opens into a full orchestra of drums, of bass being plucked, and a cello bow ran over the strings of an electric guitar. The music explodes into your face, like how the contents of the box might if you were curious enough to open it.

Other than the particularly mentioned track, the four other tracks on this album are equally as good. Von successfully brought back the kind of mood the () album managed to give the listeners. I've always imagined this ice world with snow all over the place while listening to that album, with that hint of hope in the world of hopelessness. Von gave me the feeling of driving over the edge of a cliff in a little Volkswagon Beetle, crashing into a frozen lake only to find a frozen city underneath. That was the feeling I got when I heard the track. Like the sinking car, the song takes you to deep places that you've never thought possible with music.

If Von represents the descent into the icy world underneath the frozen lake, then Hafsol - the last track - represents the surfacing. You just discovered this beautiful ice world, and all you want to do is to surface and run home to tell your friends and family. Hafsol provides a vivid imaginary of the car surfacing, and you jumping out from your car to run home on foot. The chilly winter wind in your face as you run, with so much hope before your moving feet. Von took away hope, and Hafsol gave them all back. A very uplifting, and fitting last track indeed.

Heim is mostly - in fact completely - songs that we have already heard in the previous albums. The band took some of their best efforts from Takk, () and Agætis byrjun, and turned it into musical magic all over again with their live performances. The title - in Icelandic - means "Come home", and the album was basically recorded in a small cafe back in their hometown in front of a bunch of friends and family. It is always nice to hear an acoustic twist to a song you have heard a dozen times over, and it was rather surprising on my part to like some of the versions even more than the original. Vaka - from the album () - no longer gave me that sense of sad hope, but rather a rejuvenated life, like the trees that grows from a field of ice. Agætis byrjun sounded drastically different this time around, and the acoustic version stands alone with pride, because it injected new life into the song and gave it even more depth than ever before. I was a little disappointed that the band did not add Hoppipolla into this side of the album. But then again, I suppose we have already heard that song in a dozen commercials and move trailers. It was a disappointing move, but a smart move that cannot be blamed.

All and all, I love this album as much as the other studio releases the band has created. Sigur Ros still remains the king of the post-rock genre, unrivaled and undisputed. No other bands are able to take me to such wondrous places in the short span of six to seven minutes, save for Sigur Ros. They are also the main reason why I'd like to visit Iceland in the near future. I'd like to see their music frozen in the landscape, visit the country where one of my favorite bands received their inspirations. Two thumbs, way up for this album.

Hvarf
1. Salka
2. Hljomalind
3. I Gær
4. Von
5. Hafsol

Heim
1. Samskeyti
2. Staralfur
3. Vaka
4. Agætis byrjun
5. Heysatan
6. Von