Sigur Rós - Ágætis Byrjun (1999)



I really don’t quite know how to approach reviewing a Sigur Ros album because what their music makes me feel is difficult to describe, but here it goes. It was a choice between this and ( ), ( ) being the first album of theirs I bought and which really opened my ears to them. However it was Ágætis Byrjun which impacted me the most and continues to be my Sigur Ros album of choice to this day. Listening to the first song proper (after the intro track) ‘Svefn-g-englar’ it feels like you are in some sort of slow-motion dream. In fact I used to fall asleep listening to this album for a period and I used to let my imagination go into free-flow, which combined with oncoming sleepiness resulted in what was like a surreal and hazy flow of images in my imagination. The song that really takes your breath away however is ‘Ny Batteri’ with its soothing ambient intro and powerful, crashing dynamics later in the song. It’s pretty much Sigur Ros at their ultimate best and for people who are still curious to hear them this song demonstrates what they are all about. It’s powerful and emotional stuff. The reverb-heavy ‘Olsen Olsen’ recalls the dreamy, slow-motion sounds of ‘Svefn-g-englar’ while the title track soothes you almost like a lullaby. The perfect sounds really for drifting off to sleep or for just chilling the fuck out.

This album really is 'A Good Beginning' as the album title translated into English suggests. While it was not the band’s first album it was the first album of theirs to be released internationally and was the album that exposed them to the wider public in the few years after its release. The album also feels unbelievably fresh despite being recorded over thirteen years ago. The timeless sound of the music makes it feel like it could have been released at any time since then; it’s definitely a sign that the band did something right on this album.

Recommended Songs: ‘Svefn-g-englar’, ‘Ny Batteri’, 'Ágætis Byrjun'


Slowdive - Pygmalion (1995)



Why didn’t I review Souvlaki you ask? Because that would have been too predictable of me. Besides if there’s one album that certainly deserves more credit it’s their final album Pygmalion. While Souvlaki was their most accessible album, here they did a u-turn and wandered down the path of minimalist ambient music, leaving their shoegaze days behind. If I haven’t already lost you by this point I can safely say that Pygmalion is an album that really deserves your time and patience if you have yet to venture past Souvlaki. It’s not an album that grabs you straight away but it does reward you immensely with repeated listens. If you listen to the sparse ten-minute opening song ‘Rutti’ you should notice how the short gaps of silence are almost as vital as the sounds themselves. It’s almost as if they want you to fill in the gaps yourself with your own imagination. The album does carry a very downbeat, detached and isolated mood throughout its duration and it does an effective job of pulling you into its own little world. The use of repeating vocals and instrumentation throughout the album, especially on songs such ‘Crazy for You’, ‘Trellisaze’ and ‘J’s Heaven’, are hypnotic yet soothing and add to this feeling of detachment. It’s not until the last three songs ‘Visions of La’, ‘Blue Skied an’ Clear’ and ‘All of Us’ that we hear something resembling songs in the traditional sense. ‘Blue Skied an’ Clear’ in particular is the real highlight and its beautiful and uplifting sounds really break the downbeat mood of the album quite superbly.

You could say that an album like this after Souvlaki would be commercial suicide, and that is pretty much what it was. Creation dropped them not long after and the album wasn’t even officially released in the US until recent years. Not that the band or Creation really cared as they had been failing to see eye-to-eye with each other for some time. The album marked the end of the band but the beginning of their wonderful legacy which grew over time. Gradually people are beginning to discover the delights of this album.

Recommended Songs: ‘Rutti’, ‘Crazy for You’, ‘Blue Skied an’ Clear’