Von

by

Sigur Rós

Edit

As a huge fan of 1960s-1970s European psychedelic and progressive rock, "Berlin School" electronica, and American minimalism, I was delighted with this 1997 debut from Icelanders Sigur Ros. Stylistically, this album fuses elements of electronica, minimalism, the European avant-garde, and ambient styles (especially Brian Eno) with rock, and exhibits a level of studio wizardry that is vaguely reminiscent of psychedelic rock groups such as Pink Floyd during the 1967-1969 period.

The overall mood of Von is windswept and grey, haunting, and at times, pretty creepy. A good example of the creepiness is provided by the heavily echoed "screams from outer space" on the 9'46" opening track (Sigur Ros), briefly at the end of Hun Jord, and on Syndir Guos. Interestingly, those screams made the hairs stand on the back of my neck just as readily as the bloodcurdling screams on "Careful with that Axe Eugene" (Pink Floyd, 1968). There are gloomy, brooding vocal parts scattered throughout the recording, although they do not comprise a large part of the compositions. Interestingly, the lyrics were written in a fabricated language called "Hopelandic" - the French band Magma (chamber progressive) did something similar in the early-mid 1970s in a language called "Kobaian".

It is worth noting that the heavy opening of Hun Jord (complete with distorted guitar played at a crushing volume), the beautifully sad Myrkur, the title track Von, and Syndir Guos, in addition to the last few minutes of the final track Aukrym (albeit with backwards recorded parts) are the only pieces that resemble "songs", and for the most part, the pieces are instrumental and very lengthy. Although there are breaks here and there, musical themes are restated at various points throughout the album, creating a single larger work.

Instrumentation is somewhat sparse, and electronic experimentation conducted primarily on synthesizers (possibly guitar synthesizers as well) dominate the aural landscape. Brief passages of electric guitar (heavily distorted in addition to clean tones) and acoustic guitar are present during the conventional "songs", in addition to bass guitar, drums, and very interesting percussion parts.

In contrast to a lot of ambient recordings, which exhibit only extremely subtle permutations in musical themes within a given piece, Von is sprinkled with variations in tone and timbre, and displays use of both experimental and found sounds. This variability, coupled with the combination of vocal and experimental passages, in addition to the stark dynamic contrasts between the spacier passages and the heavy, "rocking" sections makes Von a very interesting recording.

This debut album is recommended to those people that don't mind experimental approaches to rock music and are not put off by the absence of traditional song structure. In fact, I highly recommend this album to fellow progheads that are desperately looking for excellent music in the current prog scene.

Further discussion of the band is provided on the Gibraltar Encyclopedia of Progressive Rock website - unfortunately it has not been updated.

Well, first off, I'd like to compliment my predecessor in his ability to dig. I agree that Von demonstrates highly Sigur Ros' growth as a band, but in quite the opposite way. I'll explain. Von is actually the band's debut album (not to be nitpicky); it just hasn't been released in the States until recently. Every time I tried to get my hands on it via an Icelandic website of sorts, I found the overseas price a bit intimidating. Though, in my attempt to keep up with the music scene I am constantly in check to see if Sigur Ros is planning on putting out any new albums, going on tours, etc. In my search I found out that Von was being released right here in my own home country. Fantastic. I finally get to hear the original work of, in my opinion, one of today's best and most brilliant bands. I put my order in a month early. Finally my CD arrives. I respectfully open the package, hold it high above my head, and a perfect beam of light shines down on it from the heavens. I put it in my CD player. The first song has an interesting, almost medieval, feel to it. Dead Can Dance starts echoing through my head. As the CD progresses I am less and less enthralled by the difference I hear on the album. I find I'm hearing more sound effects than I am music. As the tracks dawdle on amidst sounds of people walking, children playing, etc, I wait and wait for the music to slide into place, setting the scene for an aural journey similar to that of, hm, let's say...()? or maybe Agaetis byrjun? I will say, however, when the members of Sigur Ros do decide to pick up their instruments they don't disappoint. Jonsi's vocals are a bit underused perhaps, but you pick your battles. My expectations are a bit lower for a debut album, perhaps that's why I can nod and smile afterward, just don't look for an Agaetis clone here. Look more for...noise? ooorrr everyday sounds? maybe...the sound of your hard-earned cash flittering away into the abyss? There are a few gems, but the ratio is a bit too small for me. That said, lose no respect for these guys. Like I mentioned before, the album is quite a testament to where they've come. Presently, this quartet is contributing to the world some of the most gorgeous, climactic, and, well, perfect music it has ever heard. However, in the case of unseasoned Sigur Ros fans, I'd recommend taking my word for it when it comes to Von. To the others, maybe it's worth a listen. Maybe it's better to have heard and lost than never to have heard at all...for 20 bucks.