Brennisteinn (Sigur Rós, 2013)

The opening track of the album "Kveikur" seems to me like metal rock compared with the average volume and tempo of most Sigur Rós songs. I like very much its inner tension, something between math-rock and a horror film soundtrack. And it also has an ejoyable sung line... well, not exactly what I happen to sing in my bathroom, but surely well written and well sung. It's a highly creative piece of music, including electronic and acoustic sounds so perfectly mixed that you couldn't tell a violin from a synth.

A suggestive frame from the official video of "Brennsteinn".

And the dark, aggressive mood of "Brennisteinn" strikes me, as I find here both sides of the band: the ethereal, spacey one and the upsetting, experimental one. More than this: I could listen to this song one hundred times and still each time I'd find something new, a hidden sound, an underlying line, a secret passage. Last but not least, I think Andrew Huang's official video perfectly captures the atmosphere of the track. Pure post-prog pleasure for your eyes and ears.

Mílanó (Sigur Rós, 2005)

This is a musical jewel by the most known Icelandic band ever, coming from their album "Takk...". As any other Sigur's songs, this is a slow series of crescendos, an intense, deep reflection on life. We can only imagine the song is somehow linked to Milan, as the lyrics are in the band's own invented language, called hopelandic. For sure, you'll find here all the Northern, dusk-inspired magic that singles out those musicians.

The band, the snow... what else?

The keyboards are like a snowy landscape, while the electric piano and the bass guitar draw doodles in the air, moving and persistent doodles, as a matter of fact. Vocals are just one more instrument, flowing up and down all through the song and shifting from quiet contemplation to undefined sorrow. Maybe Sigur Rós have a limited range of emotions to communicate, but oh... how perfectly they pass them to the listener's soul!

Hríslan og straumurinn (Eik, 1977)

Most of prog fans out there think that Icelandic prog was born with Sigur Rós a few years ago.To them, this band and this suite will come as a surprise, but Eik were there, among the snowy volcans and the hot geysers of their island since 1971. This suite is a good specimen of their eclectic symphonic rock. Hríslan og straumurinn (meaning "The Twig And The Stream") is the title track of their second and last album, released in 1977. After a long and visionary intro, including classic symphonic rock, jazzy twists and a beautiful flute, comes a melodic choral sung section, somehow not too far from Gentle Giant's model, but lighter in mood and arrangement.

Eik only released two albums, in 1976 and this one in 1977.

After these dreamy vocals, the song completely changes and here you are an up tempo interval, featuring a feast of keyboard progressions and effects. From here to the end of the track - the total running time of the song is more than 14 minutes - you'll find sung sections andf musical interludes in a beautiful succession and showing a wide range of moods. Definitely, following the song title, the listener of this track is like a twig driven by a quick stream... I also imagine this song like a spiritual trip into a hidden world, an uncompromising but pleasant experiment with the full bodied taste of the '70s.

Hoppípolla (Sigur Rós, 2005)

Call it post-rock, post-prog, new ambient, art-rock or whatever you like, this song (and many other ones from this Icelandic band) isn't so far from our old dear prog. Hoppípolla (something like "Hopping into Puddles"), in particular, has a strong symphonic accent, with its dramatic crescendos and the perfect fusion of all instruments in a fluctuating, visionary wall of sound.

The album "Takk..." has a wonderful cover... hasn't it ?

I like the childish mood of the track, its Nordic, nostalgic taste, the smart passages from the loudest to the quietest moments. Most of all, I like the band's maniacal attention to details: volume, vocal effects, instruments choice... all sounds perfect, even the funny, original video with the old people acting like children. So, call this music as you like, I add it to my prog collection anyhow.