Is Sigur Ros Overrated?
You've probably heard of the Icelandic band Sigur Ros. Their popularity soared when Radiohead cited them as an influence and a song was included on the Vanilla Sky soundtrack. Songs usually clock in well over seven minutes and usually fall on the quieter side; concerts are usually held in venues like churches and the audiences are usually dead silent while listening. The lead vocalist sings in a gibberish language called "Hopelandic" and sometimes plays his guitar with a bow. Their latest album was simply called "()" and all the tracks are untitled, on a plain CD with no liner notes.
So, what are these guys? Indie? Pretentious? Trendy? Boring? It's up to you, but I'd side with innovative and creative. I've been listening to them for a while, and while I can say they're not for everyone, their music is very different from anything I've heard before - something that I feel is pretty hard to say in modern times. They're completely radio unfriendly, not falling into any one genre and often just exploring a simple theme for a few minutes. You can download a lot of their songs for free from their website (Untitled #8 and Staraflur being their best-known songs). More than anything, I like their philosophy on music; something that was echoed while studying computer music in college. Why is most popular music in a cookie cutter structure? Intro - verse - bridge - chorus - verse2 - bridge2 - chorus2 - instrumental or guest rapper section - bridge3 - chorus repeated - end. With being conscious of sounding hypocritical, who decided that this structure was the best? Repetition and building on themes are fine - something has to tie the song together. Symphonies used to repeat their first movement before moving on, so that the auidence would get used to the themes. I guess that's the appeal of a band like Sigur Ros to me - individuals going against trend and structure not for commercial success, but for musical success.
Monday, October 13 at 10:32 PM
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