Sigur Rós – INNI has arrived

Goodness – it’s been ages since I last posted. No excuse other than that it’s been so very busy. So busy that my head has been a bit of a whirlwind of late and in the evenings I’ve been coming home and making starfish shapes on the sofa until it’s time to haul myself into sleep.

But not this evening. For today, Inni arrived. As some of you will know, Inni is the latest release from Sigur Rós. I blogged about it a month or so back. It’s their first live album and second live film (although the first film, Heima featured live footage with a few talking heads here and there). Inni, on the other hand, is a full on concert film. But one that is unlike any other – it is, quite simply, magnificent.  The director, Vincent Morisset, has created an intensely personal experience by removing almost all sense of place and any awareness of the crowd from the film. And the result is utterly breathtaking, indeed I’ve sat here with an almost ridiculous sense of wonder.  Music and images combine to create an extraordinarily emotional experience.
Apparently ‘Inni’ means ‘inside’ and, as you see and hear this mesmerising film, you understand why they’ve named it so because it really is as though you are being drawn into the music itself.

Ah – I could wax lyrical all night. You just need to watch it (preferably on a big screen and very loudly). Here’s a taste of what to expect…

Sigur Rós – INNI: Festival

The band’s forthcoming live DVD and double album is now available to pre-order from the official website. There are about 4 different versions (of course) including the obligatory Limited Edition. As a taster of what’s to come a clip from the film (of the song, Festival) has been put out, which I’ve embedded below.

I’ve ordered my set. All that remains is for you to decide which one you’re going for because this looks like an essential release…

Mogwai – Earth Division EP

Scottish post-rockers Mogwai’s new EP is out on September 12th but it’s already available to listen to via soundcloud.
It’s really rather a lush EP favouring chamber instrumentation and a hint of neo-classicism with just a sprinkling of twinkling guitars and woozy harmonicas.

The first track is a particularly fetching piano ditty whilst the second introduces those harmonicas and, unusually for Mogwai, a vocal track. The third sees the band back on all too familiar territory with some scratchy guitar noise but stick with it because about 2 minutes in and boom – the guitars fall away and in come the strings with gorgeous effect. The set finishes on a classic post-rock note and a typically catching melody. It’s a great EP and the tracks are well worth a listen. So here they are…

Sigur Rós – INNI

At last. Something new on the horizon from Sigur Rós. Last week the band released a teaser trailer (see below) for something called, INNI.

Today it was revealed that INNI is going to be, apparently, the definitive Sigur Rós live experience. Which is essentially a live performance film and a double album. Whilst it’s a shame that there’s no new material (the band have been on “indefinite hiatus” since 2008) any news of a release by the band is enough to perk my day up considerably.

A large proportion of the film is live footage from their concert at Alexandra Palace in 2008 and was shot by the director Vincent Morisset, who made the Arcade Fire documentary, Miroir Noir.

Here is the teaser trailer and some of the original footage shot by Morisset. It’s pretty damn good and I bet will be absolutely amazing on a big screen with surround sound washing over you. For further details on the forthcoming release just click: here. The film and album are out in November.

Explosions in the Sky

Listening to Codes in the Clouds this week galvanized me to find similarly majestic and inspiring music. I needed to escape. And I found quite a few bands that are new to me and whose CDs are now winging their way to my living room. One I’m really keen to hear in particular is Explosions in the Sky. For more than a decade this four piece instrumental rock band have been creating music that, in their words,”immediately grabs your attention and gets to your emotions”. And the songs I’ve heard so far do exactly that.

Despite having played together for so long they’ve only just released their first video. It’s truly gorgeous. And here it is. Plug in the headphones and take a trip…

Codes in the Clouds

Yesterday I bought a raft of new music from the record label, Erased Tapes. It was discovering this label that helped to inspire this blog. Hearing the music the label puts out for the first time just made me want to rush out and tell everyone about it, “listen to this!” I wanted to cry. “Isn’t it beautiful…” And so this blog was born. And now, here I am again saying the same thing.

It’s difficult to convey the impact some of this wonderfully crafted and curated label’s music has had on me. It goes with me everywhere. It has, almost literally, soundtracked quite a large proportion of my daily travels. And that’s quite fitting because some call much of the label’s output, “cinematic music”. And yet it’s wonderfully free of the restraints that traditional cinematic music or soundtracks can have; with their pre-determined narrative and structure which become indelibly glued to them. With this music you are free to create your own narrative, your own soundtrack, your own story.

One of my favourite bands on the label is, Codes in the Clouds.  I plug myself into their world of roaring highs and simmering lows and just for those few snatched moments on the way to work or after a long day as I make my way home, I dream…

Play track: Don’t Go Awash In This Digital Landscape (feat. Paul Mullen)

Play track: Distant Street Lights (iambic remix)

Play track: We Anchor In Hope (Tom Hodge remix)

You can buy the album these tracks feature on by clicking: this link

Tornado

A new look for the blog and a time to revisit one of my favourite albums. Go Live by Jonsi (lead singer of Sigur Ros). A gorgeous live album recorded during his acclaimed tour in 2010 in a sumptuous package (CD and DVD).

It’s a triumphant record and well worth seeking out. Below is the track Tornado, one of my favourites…

Play track: Tornado