BA BA TI KI DI DO (EP)

This is a brilliant piece of work! I listen to this quite a lot and it keeps growing on me. A lot more digestable if you don't quite feel upto listening to a full album by Sigur Ros. This piece is very warm, it reminds me a lot of the track "Kid A" by Radiohead. This is a 20 minute piece that is split into 3 pieces (i think this may have been so it could be put onto both sides of a vinyl). The strange title comes from the only vocals on the EP that appear on the last track. This tune flows beautifully, keeping the same sensual backing sounds going in the background. Ba Ba Ti Ki Di Do is one of Sigur Ros' more daring pieces but it is such a beautiful piece of music. This will leave the listener relaxed and feeling good. A very chilled out piece. The whole piece is mostly based on piano and effects, again having a very post rock sound to it.

Anyone who loves "()" and "Agaetis Byrjun" should definetly find this EP and add it to their collection as I find it just as good as their last 2 albums. The EP may lack any real vocals, guitar and drum parts but it is still a very strong piece. Highly recommended! Godspeed fans will probably like this one too as it is very uplifting, similarly to "Storm" from "Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven" but it is much less dramatic and more mellow.

This excellent 20 minute EP is one of the more intriguing releases from a singularly enigmatic band. This is a total one off, and stands completely apart from the remarkable sequence of albums that started with Agaetis Byrjun. It was originally written to accompany a dance piece (see Verisimilitude's review for details) but unlike some soundtrack work it also stands up well as a piece of music in its own right.

Where Sigur Ros's album releases conjure up images of the vast, almost lunar landscapes of their native Iceland, this ep has more in common with the claustrophobic electronica explored by Radiohead on Kid A/Amnesiac, particularly on the closing track which pits a child's music box ( a recurring theme throughout) against some increasingly discordant sounds. The sound is mostly quite dreamy and minimal, and the decision to leave it as a 20 minute ep rather than turn it into an album was probably for the best - if it went for much longer it would become extremely dreary.

The 3 star rating is not so much for the music itself (which is easily worth 4 stars) but because this is non essential unless you're a fan. Newcomers would be better advised going straight for one of their albums, and some fans of their main output may find it oddly out of step. Post rock fans will love it, as will any fans of adventurous and experimental music.

An excellent, piano/keyboard driven E.P. consisting of three songs that flow very well into each other. This album took a while to grow on me but now I appreciate more each time I listen. The album is mainly instrumental, except for the last song, in which the title of the album is spoken. As I said, this album is driven mainly by piano and keyboard melodies, and doesn't contain much in the way of other instruments, but it doesn't feel lacking in any way. The music itself is ethereal, ambient, and minimalistic. A Good E.P., especially if you're not in the mood to listen to a full album.

Ba Ba Ti Ki Di Do is an EP released on the 24th of March 2004 by Icelandic post rock/ experimental rock act Sigur Ros. The three track suite are songs Sigur Ros wrote for Merce Cunningham's dance piece Split Sides. Radiohead also composed music for Split Sides but their contribution has yet to be released.

The music is almost entirely instrumental except for the strange word in the title which is repeatedly spoken in the last song Di Do. As mentioned the three songs seque into each other to form a suite of sorts. The music is very minimalistic and atmospheric in nature but that´s not unusual for Sigur Ros. There is one important part missing from the music on this EP IMO though and that´s the high pitched and emotional singing of Jón Thor Birgission. Without his vocal input the music is reduced to a sound experiment to my ears. A pleasant experiment but not really something that suits my taste and I can imagine other fans of the band feeling the same way. If you´re open to ambient atmosheric sound experiments this might be your thing. I prefer the extremely beautiful and more song oriented album releases from the band and I can´t give this release more than a 2 star rating. Listen before purchase is my advice.

The sound quality and the musicianship is excellent as usual.