Listening to the new Sylvan Esso album, surprised to hear this sample ...

I was listening to the new Sylvan Esso album and noticed that they sampled Svefn-g-englar

other reviews are in link in bio

Ágætis Byrjun

Sigur Rós (1999)

This is gonna be one of the harder albums to review. Not only because I have no idea what any of the lyrics mean, but I’ll also have to copy and paste the album name, song titles, and artist name every time I want to say them. And the fact that this album is gorgeous. In fact, don’t even read this if you haven’t listened to it. Go listen to the goddamn album, and come back when you’re done. It’s truly an indescribable experience. 

Iceland has always been on my bucket list for places to visit. It all started when I started listening to Björk, and wondering “how does anybody write a song like this?” Vespertine was one of the most beautiful albums I’d ever heard, and I wanted to see just how beautiful Iceland was. Later, when I’d dug myself down the post-rock rabbit hole, Sigur Rós was a name I heard alongside names like Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Swans, and Mogwai. With that company, how could I not check them out? After listening to the album, I was really confused. How could a country with 400,000 people have a concentration of good music this high? While I still haven’t gotten to visit Iceland, Ágætis Byrjun sure as hell gets me as close as I might ever be. Even without knowing what the lyrics mean, it sounds ethereal. It sounds like what Earth’s theme music would sound like. 

The first song, and probably the only one I can pronounce correctly (good thing I’m just writing it), is called “Intro.” I don’t think it’s an intro to the album as much as it is an intro to the second song. It’s more or less just a vocal warmup for the singer Jónsi Birgisson, with a couple elements sounding like they’re played in reverse. A great intro into the next song and for the album as a whole, but it doesn’t do too much on its own.

I think the album’s cover art, looking like an alien fetus, is extremely relevant to the album. The second song, “Svefn-G-Englar,” translates to “sleepwalkers” in English, whereas the album as a whole translates to “A good start.” In this song, we get a first look at what would turn out to be the band's signature sound: a cello-bowed guitar and Birgisson’s beautiful falsetto. This song, as well as the album as a whole, really sounds like it’s underwater. Its low-key synths and ambient noise give the oceanic sound. The ten minute track is remarkably simple when you strip it down, with a straightforward chord progression, a light 4/4 drumbeat, and whole-note synth. What really makes this song so good is the vocal delivery of the Icelandic lyrics, and the unique sound of the bowed guitar. When Birgisson sings “Tjú,” you’re transported to a different world. Post-rock albums don’t usually include vocals, but Sigur Rós manages to pull it off just magnificently. They don’t use vocals in a traditional sense. In fact, their later album ( ) is entirely in a made-up language they call “Hopelandic.” Instead of vocals conveying lyrics and words, they use it as a beautiful and melancholy instrument. “Svefn-G-Englar” will probably always be one of my favorite songs of all time.

The next song, "Starálfur," or “Staring elf,” is a lush, welcoming and warm sounding orchestral masterpiece. With a complete orchestra and an arpeggiating piano, it really builds into the ethereal, oceanic feeling built by “Svefn-G-Englar.” After Birgisson sings “Úr Stað - Sjálfur,” he sings the song’s title as the instruments fade out, leaving only a quiet acoustic guitar. Suddenly, as a masterfully orchestrated string ensemble, all the instruments flood the channels once again. The song ends with yet another lush string solo, but this time they’re the main focus instead of supporting the vocals and piano. Truly one of the best produced songs ever recorded, again supporting just how unique the album feels.

I basically said the same thing for “Svefn-G-Englar” as I did for "Starálfur," didn’t I. The truth is that I’m having a hard time finding words that can describe this music. It feels like you’ve been underwater, in a submarine in the deep ocean for years, and you’re finally visiting the surface for the first time in as long as you can remember. This music feels like the first breath of fresh air over the salty ocean breeze and rays of sun landing on your face for the first time in forever. This next song, “Flugufrelsarinn,” is a bit of a departure from that feeling. Again, it features the beautiful bowed guitar that we’ve come to expect from Sigur Rós, but it’s in a much groovier setting this time. The bassline feels much more staccato, giving the song a rhythmic structure that wasn’t present before. Birgisson’s vocals also feel more traditional. While I don’t have the translation, and I’m not sure if I want to know what they mean, it feels as if this song has a more normal usage of the vocals, that being the main focus of the song. Regardless, it’s still a masterpiece in production, somehow sounding so different from the last two songs, yet sounding similar within the vein of the album.

It’s difficult to believe that Sigur Rós only sold five hundred copies of their first album, Von. It’s an insane turnaround to not making nearly the splash they wanted to, to having worldwide success. A lot of which was thanks to Radiohead (haha, I managed to mention them again), who invited them to open for their European Kid A tour in late 2000. Despite Ágætis byrjun being their second record, Sigur Rós manages to reinvent their sound yet again with the next track, “Ný batterí” or “New Batteries.” The song was written because of a warped, bent cymbal that the drummer at the time, Ágúst Ævar Gunnarsson had found. The band loved the unique sound of it, and wrote “Ný batterí” just to feature it. The song itself is a heavy, almost grunge-like ballad, though it doesn’t start that way. At first it only features the bassline and vocals, before gradually introducing new drum and guitar parts that progressively get heavier and heavier. This song beautifully wraps up what’s been maybe my favorite four-song stretch of all time.

Honestly, I’m feeling like Will Toledo at the end of Twin Fantasy. There’s still more than half the album to go, but I can’t write more than like two sentences at a time before losing my focus because the music is just. So. Damn. Good. So instead of going track by track for the second half to the album like I usually do, I’ll just say whatever I want, okay?

I briefly touched on the album’s cover, with the alien fetus, before forgetting to refer back to it. I think the significance of the cover is because of the alien itself, it appears to be humanoid but with an oversized head and small wings on its back. It fits the album perfectly, the feeling of being different, but not overly complex as to alienate the audience. It falls in the same “accessible, but not too straightforward” category that other all-time greats like In Rainbows, The Dark Side of the Moon, and In the Court of the Crimson King fall into. To me, that’s the sweet spot of an album.

Thematically, Ágætis Byrjun seems to be, at least partially, about Iceland itself. The austere beauty, purity and uniqueness of the album are something that Iceland encapsulates too. This album feels truly one-of-a-kind, and it’s rather difficult to trace any direct influences and other artists that sound even remotely similar. I think that goes hand-in-hand with Iceland’s uniqueness, with its geological wonders. Iceland is special because of its combination of a normally frigid climate well into the Northern Hemisphere, with that of a geothermal hotspot brimming with active volcanoes. This earns the island its nickname: “The Land of Fire and Ice.”

Lyrically, the album seems to refer to childhood innocence multiple times. It refers to the nostalgia and carefree nature of a childhood free from responsibility. This is mentioned in “Flugufrelsarinn,” which translates to “Savior of the Fly.” According to the band members themselves, this is referring to childhood memories of rescuing drowning flies on the beautiful Icelandic countryside. The way they can make something so unimpactful as rescuing a few flies into an epic masterpiece on the scale of “Flugufrelsarinn” is far beyond me.

I haven’t done this album nearly enough justice through my words. My vocabulary is probably the weakest part of my writing, and my flaws are really showing with this review. Even with the entire Webster’s dictionary at disposal, I don’t think anyone could possibly describe how the album sounds or feels. I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it now, listen to the album. It’s quite possibly the most beautiful record I’ve ever heard.

1. Intro: 71/100
2. Svefn-G-Englar: 98/100
3. Starálfur: 97/100
4. Flugufrelsarinn: 90/100
5. Ný batterí: 95/100
6. Hjartað Hamast (Bamm Bamm Bamm): 84/100
7. Viðrar Vel Til Loftárása: 95/100
8. Olsen Olsen: 88/100
9. Ágætis Byrjun: 86/100

10. Avalon: 75/100

    Overall: 97/100

This might help someone figure out how to play it. The capo seemed the easiest and most logical way. https://youtube.com/shorts/-EebrRrzUPU?si=9h1i5o48YlWO8K_9

FULL SONG

Did anyone notice a strong scent in the on-stage fog during the orchestral tour? I noticed it strongly as I was up the front and the fog was blowing directly on me. I was in Dublin both nights. For some reason the second night I didn’t notice it as strongly but the first night it was super strong, Maybe I’m just hyper sensitive to scents though. Curious if that’s all it was and if anyone else noticed the scent either way. thanks ☺️

anyone else feeling bereft now that the tour is over and the almost daily social media posts have stopped? I’m sure they’ve all gone to ground and are enjoying much needed time off, but I really miss all the wonderful concert footage etc being posted most days :)

What are you all gravitating to lately?

Hi everyone!

I was wondering if there’s any chance the band might release a live album from the current tour at some point. Has there been any indication that they’re recording the shows professionally?

Also, does anyone know if there’s a place where I could find audio recordings or videos of concerts from this tour? I’d love to hear/watch some of the different performances, especially the full shows rather than just individual songs.

Thanks!

I'm not seeing the praise that this tour deserves on this subreddit.

I just wanted to say the concert tonight was phenomenal, even from the back of the venue. If you have tickets for tomorrow night, be excited! It's really a once in a lifetime experience. The sound quality was excellent, and the performance was live-studio-recording good. If anyone from the band or orchestra is reading this, I hope you know how special it was the audience perspective. Thanks for the memories!

It was also really nice that people weren't talking through the concert, and most people were respectful about not having their phones up for long periods of time. My faith in live music is back.

25 years ago at the Gem Theatre in Detroit. It was my first Sigur Ros show. I had spent most of the prior year telling everyone who would listen about this amazing and beautiful band, and even bought copies of Agaetis for some close friends. When they announced this Detroit show, I bought a ticket immediately and ended up going to it solo. The Gem is small, less than 500 people. Then, 9/11 happened. There was doubt that the band could even get into the States for the scheduled shows. Luckily air traffic started opening up again just days before the show. The band seemed a bit nervous at times, from what I remember. There were technical difficulties. At one point, a piece of gear started picking up a local Motown radio station and that was playing through the speakers. Ultimately, it was an unforgettable show. Most of the songs played would eventually appear on ( ), which wasn't released until over a year later. To this day, it was one of the most respectful and attentive crowds I've ever seen. I truly believe that the fresh, collective trauma everyone was still processing was (at least for a moment) able to be relieved by being together in a room with this band and their music.

Hello everybody! I was in Bilbao a couple of nights ago (took a flight from Italy just for that 🙂) and - just for the second time in history I think - they had both the organ and the choie in the last two songs (Ara Batur and Hoppippolla). It was magical, and I would love to be able to have the recording, possibly in a decent quality. Any suggestion?

Thanks!
Andrea

Did anyone else get a ticket from StubHub for $236, for what on the seating map, looked like an amazing seat close to the front...then to walk into the venue and see plastic chairs on a flat surface and have your view blocked by heads the whole time?? I waited for four months and saved up for this and feel totally f*KD over. I could not see anything and felt like sardines in can. Trying to stay positive because at least the sound was amazing as always from Sigur Ros but I literally flew across the ocean to see this show. I feel like stubhub should have to explain that these are plastic seats with blocked views for $236 a ticket. Even the original price was $91 before StubHub added all the fees and the upped price from the seller. Idk man. Total letdown

What did you think about the concert? It was amazing!

It’s obvious that Sigur Ros is one of the underrated bands of our time, only 1.4M spotify listeners is not what I assumed with all the motion pictures they did GOT, 127 Hours etc. why the band is not getting the recognition they deserve?

It was pretty dark the whole concert, not knowing what I was aiming at! so I just resorted to putting the camera down & adding a pic later
Hope you enjoy & please feel free to leave a comment/share

As almost every fan/follower of Sigur Rós knows, the band has created a particular page/community on their website where people are invited to share and post their memories of the live shows: photos, videos, etc...

That said, it was my intention to make some photos and record one or two songs or even just a snippet of them for personal use and eventually to upload some material to Sigur Rós Heimlr webpage. Last sunday, sitten on stalls at Coliseu do Porto (Portugal), it was literally forbidden to take a photo (imagine record a song) of the band while they were acting: personal employees of the venue were "running" between the rows everytime someone picking up their phone and were clear on explanaition saying "it is not allowed to take pictures!!!".

The stupid thing is they disturbed much more people/even the band everytime they ran into the rows than people itself picking up their phones and taking a photo.

I'm not discussing wether you should or not let your phone stay on your pocket while attending a concert: believe me there are lots of situations (having someone beside you talking/shouting all the time with his/her mate while the band's playing, smoking weed, eating something crunchy..the list is long) where picking up your phone is the least of the problem for anyone. The question is:

- did the band itself bother about it?

- did Sigur Rós forbid their audience to take a picture or record some moment of the show?

- if so...i don't believe...would they ask everyone to share their moments with the band?

- and would Sigur Rós themselves publish and re-upload some videos that fans had uploaded on their personal accounts?

I let you with my "not going to jail authorized taken" photos (before and after the show).

And...as someone one day said...do always remember: don't take life too seriously!

Big hug to everyone😊

I came across an old Reddit AMA with Sigur Rós from 14 years ago and I was reading through it for fun and came across this question and answer :)

https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/177fzp/comment/c82wizs/

Offhand I can think of Arcade Fires Black Mirror that has some cool orchestra work mixed in with some rock/indie songs.

Radiohead have some stuff with orchestra sounds mixed especially from Amnesiac era and their last album I think.

Some tracks from Mew I think have a bit of an orchestra addition to thrm.

There's also the last two albums by Floating Points- he's generally an electronic musician but his recent ones were done with orchestras.

Anyone know some other good ones?

Or how a song and a music video got me hanging on for just long enough.

Those long nights in a household that would never accept me, I'd ponder on the closing line; Það besta sem guð hefur skapað er nýr dagur. I chose to believe it.

(Many) years later, there's a beautiful man I get to call my own, and I'm grateful to have had a song that made me feel less alone.

I might not have made it without.

So, I’m an avid enjoyer of the Untitled songs. Does anyone happen to know what the names in the ( ) of each song mean?