Eclectic

[peteryoung]

Falling You, Human, 2006  ( USA )  [ STREAM ]
This is less accessible than their superlative Touch, but no less impressive in the variety of sound textures and subdued backing rhythms that John Michael Zorko has assembled beneath a variety of perfectly crafted female vocals. Once again the overall effect is one that invokes serenity mixed with a dynamic sort of contemplation – you can almost feel the darkness descending, it can be that seductive.

Sigur Rós, Hvarf / Heim, 2007  ( ICELAND )
Reckoned to be a good album to begin listening to Sigur Rós, Iceland's most widely known creators of post-rock sensitivity, this double-CD is a split of more gentle acoustics separated from the more driven and harder tracks, compiled as a soundtrack to their film Heima. This is like early Cure meeting late Floyd half way; musically they're tight but I just can't get on with Jónsi Birgisson's falsetto voice, and when they turn on some energy they drown the listener in a sad melancholia that's hard to escape from. There's beauty here, but it often takes you to some vertiginous edges of emotion.

The Album Leaf, In a Safe Place, 2004  ( USA )
At this stage Jimmy LaValle was only halfway towards making a memorable album, but this was a positive step on the way to 2006's mostly sublime Into the Blue Again. My one problem with LaValle's songwriting is that someone should not let him near a microphone, and the tracks which include his dull vocals are all considerably poorer as a result. Instead of also doing much of the instrumentation himself here LaValle has used the talents of several members of Sigur Rós to make this a moody but mostly attractive mix, though at times there is an over-reliance on tradition and simplicity that makes me wish they'd not played it quite so safe.

Comments

[pigeonhed.livejournal.com]

Hmmmm not sure I would suggest Hvarf-Heim to a Sigur Ros newcomer really. I am still a huge fan of Agaetis Byrgun which was my entry point which scored for me with the catchy Staralfur and stunning Svegn-G-Englar. Live the whole audience seemed to hold their breath on the latter.

Checkout Glissando's CD with the stupid long title on Gizeh Records for this sort of thing done really well.