Albums of the 2000s – Með Suð í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust
Some readers may be aware of the fact that this was declared the greatest album of 2008 by this music site a year ago. Why? There are two basic contexts to judge it on. The first is the context of the year itself. 2008 wasn’t music’s best year, with only a few albums released that could be considered as genuine bona-fide classics. The five albums shortlisted in last year’s countdown were pretty much all there was in the way of great albums. Some would say that for an album to beat The Seldom Seen Kid by Elbow or Third by Portishead it would have to be exceptional.
Með Suð í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust is that album, because it brings onto my second context-related point. Sigur Rós have always been able to conjure up emotional sucker-punch after sucker-punch, whether it was through their long and sprawling post-rock odysseys on () or through more straightforward songs like Hoppipolla. On Með Suð í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust, the band delivered their most cohesive, varied, and consistent LP in their entire career. As an album, it mixes goliath sounding post-rock, touching acoustic ballads, and a little bit of cheekiness for the first time ever in their back catalogue.
All the singles that were released from the album – Gobbledigook, Inní Mér Syngur Vitleysingur, and Við Spilum Endalaust – were uplifting and euphoric. Góðan Daginn was dreamy and wistful, Íllgresi and All Alright (the band’s first English language) were fragile sounding and magical. It’s the staple Sigur Rós songs that shine the brightest though. Festival is one of those songs but the beauty of that song is eclipsed by Ára Bátur. It features everything – strings, a boy’s choir, brass etc. – and is the finest and most heart-wrenching ten minutes the band have ever written.
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Posted on November 26th, 2009 by Max
Filed under: Albums, Albums Of The 2000s
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