Wednesday, December 19, 2007

In which I get all misty-eyed about Sigur Ros

I don't normally do internet/blog meme things, but this one (courtesy of the ever excellent Patroclus) caught my attention.

It is the great Wikipedia Band Name Meme....

Here's how you play. Click here to be whisked to Wikipedia and then click on 'random article' on the left side of the page, the title of the first article is your band name. Then click it again, that will be the name of your album . Then click 'random article' a further 7-10 times, and those titles are your album track names.

Here is mine:
Band Name: Fjalar
Album Name: 4th Infantry Division
Track Titles
1: Democratic Republic of the Congo
2: Fours
3: VYRE
4: Cingulate Sulcus
5: Sohni Lag Di
6: Kora Kagaz
7: Reactivity Series
8: Clinchfield
9: Varfell
10: Transcendental

I think it brings to mind a band clinging desperately on the coat-tails of Sigur Ros. Fjalar are a band with hints of political activism and delusions of grandeur. I like them already....

While I'm thinking of Sigur Ros, I'd just like to mention their new DVD Heima. It is utterly stunning. Sigur Ros are an Icelandic band that specialise in making beautifully ethereal music that is quite unlike anything else. They released a documentary following them as they toured round Iceland promoting their last album Takk. Heima has the documentary as well as a second disc full of concert performances. The main documentary has footage of the band playing at a variety of rather offbeat locations in Iceland.
If you get chance, you MUST see this on a big screen with good quality sound. There are some moments where the combination of the Icelandic scenery and the wonderful music is so staggeringly beautiful that I found myself getting a lump in my throat and actually felt that I might shed a tear or two.

Movies
The Departed *****
Cliffhanger **
V for Vendetta ****

3 comments:

Valerie said...

I love Sigur Ros. Have you heard The Album Leaf? He's a Southern California dude, but he had some Sigur Ros and Múm folks on his last album (you should possibly also check out Múm if you aren't already a fan).

I'll try to get my hands on their documentary.

9/10ths Full of Penguins said...

I've never heard any Múm stuff. I shall check them out forthwith....

Fat Roland said...

Listen to Múm's Finally We Are No-One, it's lovely. Check my Facebook posted items for a highly disturbing Múm video.

I saw Heima in a cinema at Bradford's Museum of Photography. Film And Television yesterday (a New Year's Day treat). It blew me away. It's on at the Cornerhouse soon, I think.