With a ragged beauty and grandiose formula suitably befitting a band from Iceland, Sigur Ros are a breath of fresh air in a sometimes stale indie market. While many of their contemporaries' follow well worn formulas, Sigur Ros have a sound that is uniquely theirs. One word of warning though, don't buy this album if you couldn't care less about missing out on something special. Every song on Agaetis Byrjun is an opera in itself. A ethereal voice that could cut through a glacier soars and swoops over arrangements that are so endearing you sometimes think that they could be wasted on an audience not willing to succumb to its charms. The lyrics are a melange ofIcelandic, Hopelandic (Sigur Ros language) and some English but as such it doesn't matter. Remember how you watched 'Life is Beautiful' and forgot there were subtitles, well it is the same here.

While every track is a winner there are a few inter stellar moments that actually produce goosebumps. Sven-G-Englar an early single has been re-released to coincide with their latest tour and proves a good introduction to the scope of Sigur Ros' output. Witness the vocal as the best instrument you've ever heard, so primitive but so hauntingly beautiful beside that submarine echo. Seeing Sigur Ros live is an experience you will treasure for life, it may even move you to tears on occasions. They play against a backdrop of a clear starry night, you'll stand hushed, incredulous that you are witnessing pure pop music. When an album like this is played with the same passion and power, there is no live experience that can come close. 'Starafur' will melt your heart. It will swathe you in a ready brek type glow as the soft vocals, electro twinkling and sweet strings create a concoction that is mesmeric. Try playing it to a fierce creature and watch the beast sit back and reflect on how great life is. I defy anybody not to be moved by it. 'Flugufrelsarinn' sails by for almost 8 minutes with giant slabs of soaring guitars intermittently interrupting the vocal gymnastics and organ drenched backdrop.

The longest track on the album, 'Vidrar Vel Til Loftarasa', starts out like a snowflake. Over the course of its 10 minutes it transforms into something altogether more powerful. Blending the finer strings with music box tittering and a pretend country strum, this song ushers in a frosty vocal. As the friction builds up the tempo warms until the movement is unstoppable. As you get caught up in it you can't breathe, but remember what they told you in ski school. Don't panic at all costs because help is on the way. Several minutes later as the sun filters through, you smile and the world becomes your oyster once more. A close thing but what a wonderful thing this avalanche of sound is. 'Olsen Olsen' has a seasonal ring and hearing it does create goodwill feelings that few things can produce. Made up of a hybrid of heavy bass riffs, Jonsi’s almost female sounding vocals, a wandering flute quiver and a sweet barrage of backing vocals, this is exceedingly good stuff. The title track appears soon afterwards and just ups the ante on an album on its way to the stars. It is fragile, vulnerable and so close to perfection it hurts.

Sigur Ros are a band to treasure. If they are nurtured well they could hold onto the incredible power that their music currently unleashes. As is the case in a cruel world it's unlikely they'll ever reach the heights of Britney Spears stardom but for a lot of people they will mean an awful lot more. And anyway, with bands like this you get greedy and want to keep them to yourself. Already national heroes in their own land there is a Sage being written about them as we speak. KD

Rating: 9/10

More Info: Official & Myspace
Buy Album: [UK] Agaetis Byrjun [US] Ágætis Byrjun
Listen: Sigur Ros - Starálfur

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This is a collection of Mogwai’s early e.p.’s released between 1995 and 1997 and ranks amongst their best work. Oddly the collection has cohesive feel, something that several of their albums have lacked. Rather than waiting around for something to happen, Stuart Braithwaite and his Glaswegian cohorts head straight for post-rocks ripe jugular. Mogwai's great gift has always been their ability to layer on the bombast without ever sounding bombastic. When a plethora of guitars play off each other like a knowing group of friends, the sound is too gorgeous to describe. Like an ocean that is too calm to be reassuring, Mogwai go about their business with the expressed intention of clearing out as many cobwebbed ears as possible.

'Helicon 1' is a riveting 6 minutes of deep valley grooves and high mountain peaks. It starts out like laser guided melodies and as it gets more spiritualistic the overflow finally prompts a wall of sound that has a spectacular mural scratched into its being. ‘Helicion 2’ is like a quieter older brother, studied and calm yet authoritative. 'A Place For Parks' is even more inhibited but surfaces with a killer hook that hides the idle chat in the background. 'Summer' adopts one of those Mogwai tricks where the tune flips between brilliantly effervescent and hopelessly storming. Like the butterfly that suddenly produces fangs its collage of raging guitars is still sweetly beautiful.

'Angels Versus Aliens' is particularly subversive, beginning as does all twinkle starry which then transforms into a huge juggernaut on a collision course with your mind. This is startlingly creative music that will have you sitting up in your couch praying the antique dressing table opposite is not haunted. 'Tune' is one of those rare beauties where Mogwai allow vocals to get a look in. It is slow paced number with a solid bass hook that provides a welcome break from the chaos that surrounds it. It is the calm in the eye of the storm. There is much to love about 'Ithica 27 0 9', one minute it's a laid-back ditty with jangly pretences and then suddenly shards of guitars fly at you with an incredible ferocity. Only the final track 'End' which is a hopeless tirade of backward loops that possess no real conviction.

Ten Rapid has a big ambition, divulging Mogwai’s agenda to such good effect that they have struggled to recapture its consistency. Ten Rapid has a lot more to say than your average album with vocals and is indispensable for anyone with a penchant for guitar portraits. Only in its death throes where 'End' opts for a hopeless tirade of backward loops does the bands confident invention diminish. Along the way there are enough joyful detours to fill a map of middle earth.

Rating: 8.5/10

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Post-Rock certainly has its champions; you need not look much further than the likes of Mogwai, Sigur Ros, Godspeed You Black Emperor! and Do Make Say Think to get a feel for the power of this genre. Up until now the output has been erratic, at times breathtaking but prone to nasal plucking boringness. What Post-Rock needed was a band to continually search the horizons for new turns and balance this with a consistency of greatness. The answer came from the unlikeliest of sources, Midland in outer Texas to be precise. Mark Smith (guitar), Chris Hrasky (drums), Munaf Rayani (guitar) and Michael James (bass) may come across as ordinary likeable lads in interviews but what sets them apart is the dramatic soundscapes they are capable of dreaming up with the basic tools of their trade. With guitar in hand the glittering blackness quickly turns to snow and lights, like succumbing to an acid rush by way of a tune.

This is Explosions third album (debut ‘How Strange, Innocence’ had a circulation of only 300, the follow up ‘Those Who Tell The Truth Shall Die, Those Who Tell The Truth Shall Live Forever’ released in 2001 has all of hypnotism of the current album) and is certainly up there with the best instrumental albums of all time. The fluidity of the ideas and the simple chord progressions will have you swooning and wondering why vocals were ever invented. Apart from the music the song titles have a deep melancholy. ‘First Breath After Coma’ which opens the album develops from a shimmering chord swirl to a more rounded riff that is backed by a focused flurry of drumbeats. As the rockets spiral towards the atmosphere all hell breaks lose until the furnace is quelled to reveal another exciting chapter. Reindeer bells suddenly dictate the pace, guitar shrapnel flies about, huge beats slice the peace and the disparate parts fit together like a jigsaw of the Mona Lisa. After a while the whole thing gets quite emotional.

After the heartbreak, ‘The Only Moment We Were Alone’ has a clearer agenda. The jangling is more focused as if heading somewhere in particular but that’s not to say that it doesn’t affect. This is the sound of an instrument masquerading as a puppy; the only difference being that it never grows old. The shimmering apocalypse purposely builds to air raid proportions and then downsizes to a more manageable sound fest. The marching stomp that accompanies the journey makes the whole thing all the more enjoyable so much so that the 8 minutes of this song may be among the most beautiful you will ever spend. Explosions In The Sky have admitted that they imagine the scene before they write the music. ‘Six Days at the Bottom of the Ocean’ is based on the Russian submarine that floundered a couple of years back killing all the sailors within. The despair in the otherwise crystal clear playing is evident, the creatures outside so full of life yet of another world shunt by as the chords are chimed in unison. Things take a lighter turn with ‘Memorial’, the juddering strumming recalls Sonic Youth unwinding as they create another classic tale of guitar subtlety. Appropriately enough several maelstroms hide around every corner. Surprisingly the whole thing can seem a little oblique at first but there’s a beating heart ready to hug you if you persist.

The album ends with the undoubted highlight ‘Your Hand In Mine’ which pulls all the extreme emotions together. All the essential ingredients are present. The slow patient build up, the structured drumbeat and sucrose guitars disguised as messengers from heaven. The core of pummelling circular guitars evokes a genius of noise that will tweak your heart until it discards all those failed romances. As the cavalry of Fender Stratocasters ride into the sunset you can’t help but throw imaginary flowers in their general direction. The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place may take a while to sink in but the task is made all the easier when the rewards are this great. The album has the guitar as its centrepiece and the power that is evoked is unlike anything you’ll find elsewhere. There are only 5 pieces of music but despite this fact each part has enough twists and turns to leave your hair in a guzzled mess. Once Explosions In The Sky take a hold of your heart you’ll discover you’ve grown an alternative atria.

Rating: 9/10

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