TAKK...

By far my favorite post-rock band, Sigur Ros challenges me to describe their type of music in one sentence. Elegantly blending classical appeal, exquisite vocals, sonorous bursts of instrumentation, and slow-building music, the band clearly fits into the post- rock genre, by my understanding of it.

The music on Takk... is all very breathtaking and ethereal, keeping in line with what limited exposure I've had to their breakthrough album, Agaetis Byrjun. Though, the lyrics on Takk... (and in fact all of Sigur Ros's music) are either derivitive of the Icelandic language or just plain gibberish, they flow and develope into beautiful poetry, reguardless of their meaning. The music has a calming effect and is never scorched with dissonance. Much of the music is built up from a keyboard or organ base progression, but this varies also. Bells, verious percussion, and a brass and string section often back up the basic setup.

Though the band can play the soft, melodic song game very well, Sigur Ros really stand out when they turn up the volume a bit and jam. "Glosoli," "Saeglopur," "Milano," and "Svo Hljott" are beautiful examples. Of the shorter songs, my favorites are the spacy introduction "Takk..." and "Gong," which, taking a diversion from the rest of the album, is fairly up-tempo with a brush-driven drum beat, yet it retains a minor key melody line.

The only reason I can't give Takk... full marks is because sometimes there isn't enough diversion from the well-traveled, slow-building, ethereal chords path. Also, depending on one's taste, the music may seem boring, especially if one goes in expecting a Mars Volta clone. But for an open-minded progger, Takk... has a lot to offer.