10. Sæglópur by Sigur Rós
Sigur Rós may only be Iceland’s second most celebrated musical export, behind Björk, but they’ve enjoyed an acclaimed career. Forming in Reykjavík in 1994, the post-rock band’s music reflects their environment – Jonsi’s falsetto voice and the use of a violin bow on guitar all give their music a glacial beauty.
Post-rock features more extreme dynamic contrasts and longer songs than most forms of rock music – in some ways it’s comparable to classical. Sigur Ros’ music has a cinematic quality – it’s not surprising that the song has turned up in numerous TV shows and movies, including Top Gear and Aquaman. But there’s some great pop sense in Sigur Rós too – the central piano hook of ‘ Sæglópur’ is memorable, and the song is propulsive once the drums kick in.
Some of Sigur Rós’ lyrics use the invented language Hopelandic, but ‘Sæglópur’ is Icelandic for “lost at sea”. Thanks for reading and listening over the last ten songs – I appreciate people taking the effort to hear music outside of the English hegemony.
slicethelife 
Wall of sound.
Yup, it gets a pretty big sound.
One of the reasons I come on here is to find new music that grabs me. Stuff like this.
I like the piano and glockenspiel… I think it’s a glockenspiel.
Sounds like it – their keyboardist is credited with playing glockenspiel on other records.
This is lovely. I agree with the wall of sound description. I hear Coldplay in it as well, which is meant to be complimentary, not a bad thing or controversial. It predates Coldplay, so I wonder if this band was one of their influences.
U2 and Coldplay both have a bit of an atmospheric thing going on – both have records produced by Brian Eno.
Definitely see the cinematic aspect you mentioned. You can get lost in their sound (in a good way)
They’ve turned up in a few movies. Did you know them before?
Yes I have a couple friends who are into them and they got a lot of exposure over the last few years on some of the independent / alternative program I follow (eg NPR’s All Songs Considered)
Nice! I love pieces that are cinematic. I’m reminded of Susanne Sundfør & M83, together, for Oblivion. Bjork’s music is cool, too.
I’m impressed you know Susanne Sundfør – that 10 Love Songs record is really good.
Oh, she has a stunning voice. I nearly did a draft on her.
Haunting and cinematic, majestic even. Nice pick Graham.
Glad you enjoyed!
Nice pick, Graham. It sounds quite impressive, especially with headphones – definitely a wall of sound, as CB noted. I also agree with the cinematic characterization. Definitely different from what I usually listen to, but in a good way!
Between the U.S., England and perhaps Australia, I think it’s fair to say many music fans (and this definitely includes me) oftentimes overlook artists from other countries – sure, there are exceptions like Björk and Abba (two random examples!), but in general, I think it’s a fair observation.
Very fluid and beautiful. I like the falsetto with what sound like bells. Celestial!