Með Suð í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust (translation: With a Buzz in Our Ears We Play Endlessly)
2008 XL Records
Grade: A-
GPA (based on buyer ratings from Amazon.com): 3.6
By: Brent Owen
The Icelandic collective that is Sigur Ros has become one of the most well respected bands in the industry and they’ve barely sung a word in English. It just goes to show that with albums this good the words don’t matter, because sentiment still seeps through.
The atmospheric feeling of Med Sud… paints countless snapshots of the band’s native land in the mind’s eye. These musical landscapes are so vivid you can almost reach out and touch snow crested hilltops, wind blown plains, and a dusk filled horizon frayed by the rippling tides.
The majestic radiance of this album is that it flows like an opera – from track to track we are taken from movement to movement feeling like someone is singing notes that were written down centuries ago. The perfectly suited crescendo comes with “Ara Butur” where it begins subtly with just a piano and a voice, but slowly and surely the tension builds until the song explodes into an exuberant climax featuring the London Symphony and the choir from the
This truly is a beautiful album and is very affecting in that fact alone, and while it proves that we can be moved without knowing the words – it would be nice to know at least what the words mean. Not that I want them to sing in English, but I wouldn’t mind seeing an English translation of the lyrics in the liner notes. There are times that you want to know if the emotion you pick-up from the song is at all accurate to what the singer is trying to convey.
So ultimately, while this album is touching and gorgeous there is still a part of me that longs to know what these beautiful voices are actually singing about. Beyond that I recommend you put this record on, close your eyes, and take a voyage to unknown lands with Sigur Ros at the helm.
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