Thursday, September 01, 2005
let me butt in on the newness here...
Sigur Ros: "Hoppipolla"
The first time I ever met Jimmy Hughes was at CMJ in New York back in 2000. That night I commandeered his bed after getting totally shit-faced at a Go-Betweens concert. I was completely, irrevocably drunk, as I was every night that week, and told Jimmy that, even though I'd be sleeping in his bed, there'd still be room for him, if he liked. Before falling asleep I somehow had the presence of mind to throw Agaetis Byrjun, which I had bought earlier that day, on the stereo. I was asleep about three minutes later. No spooning occurred that night, unfortunately.
But so, it wasn't Agaetis Byrjun that put me to sleep, because that record's really amazing. It was the drink, pure and simple, although perhaps the drugs Jimmy had put in my drink had something to do with it, too. For a few months that year, Sigur Ros was one of my favorite bands. It kind of passed quickly, though; I never really got into their earlier records, or that () thing. I haven't exactly been lookin forward to their new one, Takk, and in fact I didn't even know they had a new one coming out. A few weeks ago, though, I came across this song somewhere on-line, and it reminded me why I used to like these guys. "Hoppipolla" outsweeps Spiritualized, while also eschewing that dude's ridiculous junk fetishism. It's aching, but offers consolation, and is really just a beautiful song, if a little overwrought. Overwrought works with this kind of stuff, though, so that's actually a mark in "Hoppipolla"'s favor.
Sigur Ros: "Hoppipolla"
The first time I ever met Jimmy Hughes was at CMJ in New York back in 2000. That night I commandeered his bed after getting totally shit-faced at a Go-Betweens concert. I was completely, irrevocably drunk, as I was every night that week, and told Jimmy that, even though I'd be sleeping in his bed, there'd still be room for him, if he liked. Before falling asleep I somehow had the presence of mind to throw Agaetis Byrjun, which I had bought earlier that day, on the stereo. I was asleep about three minutes later. No spooning occurred that night, unfortunately.
But so, it wasn't Agaetis Byrjun that put me to sleep, because that record's really amazing. It was the drink, pure and simple, although perhaps the drugs Jimmy had put in my drink had something to do with it, too. For a few months that year, Sigur Ros was one of my favorite bands. It kind of passed quickly, though; I never really got into their earlier records, or that () thing. I haven't exactly been lookin forward to their new one, Takk, and in fact I didn't even know they had a new one coming out. A few weeks ago, though, I came across this song somewhere on-line, and it reminded me why I used to like these guys. "Hoppipolla" outsweeps Spiritualized, while also eschewing that dude's ridiculous junk fetishism. It's aching, but offers consolation, and is really just a beautiful song, if a little overwrought. Overwrought works with this kind of stuff, though, so that's actually a mark in "Hoppipolla"'s favor.
