release date: Jun. 23, 2008
format: vinyl 2 lp (XL LP 364 / 2343161) / cd
[album rate: 4,5 / 5] [4,62]
producer: Sigur Rós, Flood
label: Krúnk / XL Recordings // EMI Japan - nationality: Iceland
Tracklist: 1. "Gobbledigook" (5 / 5) - 2. "Inní mér syngur vitleysingur" (4,5 / 5) - 3. "Góðan daginn" (5 / 5) - 4. "Við spilum endalaust" (4,5 / 5) - 5. "Festival" (4,5 / 5) (live) - 6. "Með suð í eyrum" - 7. "Ára bátur" - 8. "Íllgresi" - 9. "Fljótavík" (4,5 / 5) - 10. "Straumnes" - 11. "All Alright" - 12. "Heima" (bonus track)
5th studio album by Sigur Rós originally released on EMI is produced by Sigur Rós and Flood [Mark Ellis]. The title translates to English "With a buzz in our ears we play endlessly." The album may follow the 2007 Hvarf / Heim compilation but is the natural follow-up to Takk... from 2005 making it the band's first album with newly composed material in three years.
Musically, it also builds quite naturally on the traits from Takk... (2005). It's still certified post rock, but it has more focus on dream pop harmonies as opposed to progressive ambient, which was more accentuated on ( ), the brackets album from 2002.
I think, it's the closest they have come to produce a "conventional" pop album with several shorter tracks. The longest composition here is "Festival" (9:23), which is more of a "typical" Sigur Rós composition starting off quietly, slow and soft and then builds up to a fantastic explosion of percussion, bass and guitar in a blast of a finale.
This is my absolute favourite by the band, and I find it their most vivid and energetic outburst of all their great albums. To me, this is easily this year's best album, although, for years I played Bloc Party's Intimacy more often. However, in retrospect, this album is more enduring - perhaps with more layers to dig into - and the true masterpiece of not only 2008 but of the new millennium.
Highly recommended!
[ allmusic.com, Rolling Stone 4 / 5, The Observer 5 / 5 stars ]
2008 Favourite releases: 1. Sigur Rós Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust - 2. Bloc Party Intimacy - 3. Alanis Morissette Flavors of Entanglement
