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Review:
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I am all for artistic integrity. I mean, sure,
you do what you want, and i will sit here and listen/absorb/critique.
But i have to say: Sigur Ros's obsession with not printing any
text on their damned releases is getting mighty annoying.
Here is what happened when i saw this 10" sitting at the store:
Me: Excuse me, is this a new Ep, a single, or what?
Employee: We have no idea. The package came without any information,
and there is nothing on the thing. But it's only $7 for a 10"....
I suppose, then, that the only printed words involved in the
distribution and release of this EP was the name of the store
on the outside of the package. And i bet that if Sigur Ros could
have gotten away without using that, they would have tried to....
Enough already people! I want to know what songs i am getting.
Especially if 2 of them are the same as 2 songs on your last,
annoying titled album, ( )! Sheesh!
So, yes, the first track of this release, which Amazon lists
at being called Sigur 1, and the third track/b-side track
1 (called Sigur 9 B in Amazonian) are off of (
).
Which leaves two new tracks. The first of these, which is the
second track on side A of the 10", is a long wandering ambience
piece that seems to flow logically from the conclusion of Sigur
1. It is more free in structure than Sigur Ros' music normally
is. It's pretty good too: they can create a good drone when
they want to.
The second new song wraps up the side B of the EP. This tune
is pure ambience, shapeless and devoid of form. Even though
the general work of Sigur Ros treads awfully close to the ambient
border, i find that this actual foray into the mystical world
of shapeless sound is not too rewarding. Instead of coming across
like they were trying to create an ambient tune, this piece
sounds like an experiment that is unfinished. It begs for more
layers of melody and stronger rhythm.
So: should you buy this? Well, if you are a big Sigur Ros fan,
then go for it. I find the aestheticness of the 10" vinyl to
be rather pleasing, and i am happy with my purchase. If i had
bought this on CD i might be a little annoyed that only half
of the music is new, and half of the new music isn't even completed
yet! However, supposedly the CD version comes with a DVD containing
3 videos. (People still make videos? Wierd. I had kind of assumed
that particular art had died out in the 90's, when even MTV
stopped showing the damned things.) Of course, as i have ranted
here before, the videos would have been something i watched
once and then forgot about. You may find them more interesting.
I don't know...
So i admit to being ambivalent about this release. Which is
why it only merits 3 sponges. |
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