Rob’s Music Picks #1
Album: ( ) by Sigur Ros
Genre: Icelandic Rock
Rating: 4.8 out of 5
This is the first in a series of posts about music my buddy Rob has sent my way. I won’t do a whole lot of technical reviewing since i know diddly about music. But, Robb does. He’s the music mack. In high school he got me hooked on all the Seattle bands I still totally dig, and he has this knack to find great stuff long before it explodes onto the music scene. He also belonged to a few bands himself, including Suicide Shift, a biker band in rural Delaware. Go ahead and TRY to tell me that’s not the coolest thing.
Over Thanksgiving he sent me a whole bunch of great stuff and the next couple weeks we’ll be featuring them. First off is Sigur Ros- an Icelandic band that’s a bit reminiscent of Radiohead. Their website (great site) describes them as follows:
the band consists of jón þor (jónsi) birgisson (vocals, guitars), kjartan (kjarri) sveinsson (keyboards), orri páll dýrason (drums) and georg (goggi) holm (bass). they create a remarkable sound considering the basic instruments used. jónsi often uses a cello bow to play his guitar, resulting in an effects-laden, atmospheric, totally unique sound. his voice is probably the most unique thing about sigur rós. a falsetto somewhere between thom yorke and a choir boy. the band have released three albums so far, plus one remix album (von brigði - recycle bin). the first album, which has not been released outside of iceland, is called von (hope) and is quite experimental and ambient.
Anyway, they’re really swell. And with the current dominance of horrible on the airwaves, they provide a welcome refuge of goodness.
