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┌─────┐ since 1988┌─────┐
│█████│ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │█████│
│█ █└─┘ p.u.L.s.A.r.p.R.O.U.D.L.Y.p.R.E.S.E.N.T.S └─┘█ █│
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│█████│[MP3] [MP3]│█████│
└──┬──┘ Sigur Ros - ( ) └──┬──┘
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∙∙ ∙∙
∙ Quality · 192kbps/44,1kHz ·· · ·· Grabber · Eac 0.9b4 ∙
∙∙ ∙∙
∙ Mode ···· Full Stereo ·· · ·· Encoder · Lame 3.92 ∙
∙∙ ∙∙
∙∙ Source ··· CDDA ·· · · ·· ·· Label ··· Fatcat ∙∙
∙∙ ∙∙
∙ Tracks ·· 08 · ·· · ·· ·· Genre ··· Alternative ∙
∙∙ ∙∙
∙ Release ·· 23/Oct/2002 · · · ·· ·· Retail ·· 29/Oct/2002 ∙
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· rELEASE.nOTES ·
· · · · · · · · ┘
www.sigur-ros.co.uk
www.sigur-ros.com
about the album
( ) comprises eight untitled songs which sigur r≤s have been playing at concerts
in the past 2-3 years. a 30 second period of silence divides the 71 minute album
in two halves, each half containing four tracks. the first half is light and
optimistic while the second half is bleaker and more melancholic, "plays more
with your emotions", as j≤nsi worded it. there is some experimentation of
instruments in the first half of the album, with some sampling of j≤nsi's voice
and more emphasis on keyboard than guitar (drummer orri plays keyboard on tracks
1 and 3). there is more of the typical guitar, bass and drums line-up on the
second half, j≤nsi bowing guitar as usually.
comparing ( ) to the band's last album, ßgµtis byrjun, it can be described as
more minimalistic and atmospheric than its predessessor. it's a rawer and darker
album and considerably less accessible than ßgµtis byrjun; drum beats are usually
slow (tracks 1 and 3 are drum-free) and the songs take their time to progress
into the trademark sigur r≤s emotional climaxes, making for a more challenging
but more rewarding listen. with its intense highs and lows and its mood ranging
from brittle to brutal, ( ) is very much a headphone album.
the album's entire packaging is completely free of text and markings. you won't
find album credits or tracklistings anywhere on the album. the only thing
representing the album is j≤nsi's handwriting of "sigur r≤s" on the front cover
and a symbol cut out in the slipcase most accurately described as a pair of
parentheses, or two semi-circles. the symbol can be interpreted as either an
emphasis on the album's untitle (the listener is free to make up his/her own
title since there is essentially none) or an emphasis on the division of the
album, the two semi-circles symbolizing the album's two halves. or maybe it
doesn't "mean" anything. every listener is of course free to make up their own
mind.
there are no lyrics on the album. j≤nsi sings in the made-up "language" which
the band calls hopelandic. this is of course not really a language in that sense,
since it is essentially just babbling vocals that fit with the music, like
another instrument. since there are no lyrics, the listener is invited to write
in or illustrate his/her own interpretations of the songs onto the blank pages in
the album's 12-page booklet. sigur-ros.com will have an interactive feature where
fans can send in their own lyrics and a computer program will recognise the most
common words and phrases and form the actual lyrics.
artwork on the album (which is basically just the image inside the parentheses
and the spreads in the booklet) is based on photographs the band took outside
their studio in ßlafoss, which they have manipulated and distorted to their
liking. the images are close-ups of natural elements such as grass, bushes and
ponds. four different versions of the album's packaging will be distriubted
around the world, one in each of the following regions of the world: europe,
america, australia and japan. iceland won't have its own special packaging but
all four versions will be available to buy there. there are different images
inside the brackets for each region and the spreads will also differ.
( ) is produced by sigur r≤s and engineered by ken thomas, who was also their
engineer on ßgµtis byrjun. on the majority of the album the band is accompanied
by the string quartet amina, which comprises four icelandic young women. ( ) was
mixed at peter gabriel's real world studios and mastered at abbey road studios.
the first single/ep of ( ) will be track 1. for b-sides, the band plans to record
the revamped live versions of von and hafss≤l (from 1997's von) in their studio.
nj≤snavΘlin is the radio promo, so that's the first song you're going to hear on
the radio. work on a video to vaka has already begun.
quotes from the band about the album (taken from various interviews)
"we don't care about the media's expectations of this album, we just did this
album like we wanted it to be and that's it. we're confident it's a good album.
aren't follow-up albums always criticised anyway?" (georg)
"we didn't want to put titles on the record just because there are supposed to be
titles on the record. when i refer songs to my friends i always say "check out
track 5", anyway." (kjartan)
"the production on ( ) is a lot less polished than on ßgµtis byrjun. the sound is
much more bare and alive and there are far fewer little slick things and much
less sweet stuff. i think playing the songs a lot at concerts and then recording
them hasn't been a very thrilling experience for us. next time we'll record the
songs as we make them. try to keep them fresh for us." (j≤nsi)
"i think when people listen to our music they take us as really serious persons,
they put us in that "composers" and "artistes" league, which is crap. we make
fart jokes all the time you know, we are not very serious people. when we make
music there is nothing behind it, there is no concept at all." (kjartan)
"we feel this album is a progress from the other album. we didn't *try* to
develop of course, it just happens. it's difficult for us to explain how or why
progress is made because we never think about what we're doing when we make music
and we never analyze or discuss our music among us." (kjartan)
"we took 2 weeks to record the strings for ( ) but we had to do them in 2 days
when we did ßgµtis byrjun. we used people from the icelandic symphony orchestra
for ßgµtis and they had to have everything written out note by note. this time
we used the girls that have been touring with us and just let them "jam" in the
studio until everybody was happy. they played a lot more from the heart without
notes, it came out a lot more sincere." (j≤nsi)
"the recording process was faster on ßgµtis byrjun, for example we did the bass
and drums in only one weekend. this time we spent more time looking for the right
sound and mood. the songs have become really old now and we've played them so
many times so it was a bit difficult to get in the right gear to start recording
them." (j≤nsi)
"i think it's nice to have no titles on the record, it's just the music. but it
will be interesting to see how it goes, it's probably going to be difficult for
the radio people. nothing to hold on to, just music." (j≤nsi)
"the only expectations we have to deal with for this album are our own. we never
think about things like the expectations other people have towards us. we
released a good album last time and we did even better this time." (j≤nsi)
"it's pretty fun confusing people with having no titles on this album. the
listener just names the song based on what he or she hears. we of course have our
own names for the songs but we probably interpret them in a different way than
other people." (j≤nsi)
"we really loved the responses to ßgµtis byrjun we received from foreigners. we
got all kinds of interpretations from people who didn't understand icelandic and
thought we were saying other things and it turned out these people were
interpreting the songs based on their own lives and atmospheres, which was very
precious for us. this is partly the reason why we decided to give people the
chance to write their own lyrics in the booklet." (j≤nsi)
"i think our music is really simple, a little bit na∩ve. we like to kind of look
at different areas, explore things, just like children do." (j≤nsi)
"the booklet in ( ) is empty so people can write down or draw their
interpretations of it. it's a kind of "human experience". everyone has their own
opinions and when people buy the album it's kind of unfinished so people have to
finish it themselves. it's not the singer telling stories, it's sort of a
soundtrack for each person's life. so they can write lyrics for their own lives."
(j≤nsi)
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· tRACK.lIST ·
· · · · · · · · ┘
01. Untitled [06:38]
02. Untitled [07:33]
03. Untitled [06:33]
04. Untitled [07:33]
05. Untitled [09:57]
06. Untitled [08:48]
07. Untitled [13:00]
08. Untitled [11:45]
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tOTAL
[71:47] min
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