Agaetis Byrjun was where it all began for me with Sigur Rós, so when they led off with "Svefn-g-englar" last night, the song's distinctive 'pings' and singer Jon Thor Birgisson's still unlikely (and still rather magical) vocals coming through loud and clear, I couldn't have been happier, and things soon got even better, as it became apparent that, as a live proposition, the band comes close to genuine shoegazer territory, the swathes and layers of guitar and synth from recorded versions either sharing the foreground with Birgisson's keen or washing over the top of it, building ecstatic walls of sound inlaid with all of the baroque flourishes and weaves we know them for, not to mention some real rock and roll drumming.
So Agaetis Byrjun was where it all began for me and it holds a special place in my heart, but truth be told, I haven't followed the band's career all that closely since, keeping up mainly through the various singles and other tracks that people have put on mix cds for me, most notably the cascading rainbow-swoon of "Hoppipolla" - which meant that much of what they played was new to me, but it was easy to be swept up by each new track, and there was barely a lull. The highlight, I think, would have been the skyscraping version of "Glosoli" they did near the beginning, but the whole thing was really good.
(w/ Ruth)
So Agaetis Byrjun was where it all began for me and it holds a special place in my heart, but truth be told, I haven't followed the band's career all that closely since, keeping up mainly through the various singles and other tracks that people have put on mix cds for me, most notably the cascading rainbow-swoon of "Hoppipolla" - which meant that much of what they played was new to me, but it was easy to be swept up by each new track, and there was barely a lull. The highlight, I think, would have been the skyscraping version of "Glosoli" they did near the beginning, but the whole thing was really good.
(w/ Ruth)
