Sigur Rós – ( )

What an impressive pressing. The packaging itself is beautifully made, and the sound quality of the records is as perfect as the music itself. Absolutely stunning!

My copy sounds terrific, no complaints here. So far, my copies (all new) of Sigur Ros albums - Ágætis byrjun, Valtari and now () - are fantastic. Maybe the recent batches have better quality control, or I got lucky with the draw.

Sigur Rós developed into an interesting direction after their masterwork Ágætis byrjun. While the previous album was meticulously orchestrated, this one is looser. The result is more abstract. The defining elements are still here, the minimalist keyboards, the weird bowed guitar and falsetto vocals, and also the epic song scopes.

All songs are officially untitled and sung in Jónsi's made up language. I find it oddly affecting. Well, very few of us are capable of Icelandic and de facto it makes no difference, but I like how you're pretty much invited to make up your own meaning for the songs. They can mean whatever you want and this could be the most complete vision of absolute music in indie rock.

For he orchestration, Sigur Rós are ed by the string quartet Amiina. Their more jam-like approach stands in harsh contrast to the composed ones of Ágætis byrjun.

Among the best songs are the softly melodic 4th track. However the song heavily tips towards the end, with the massive track 6, also known for its signature E-Bow use, track 7, a requiem also known as Dauðalagið, and the incredible closer, also known as Popplagið, led by a beautiful guitar riff and dramatic climax.

Excellent pressing. Vibrant and dynamic throughout and quite loud as well. Atmospheric and well balanced.

Reviews are mixed on this one, so it may be luck of draw. I was unlucky - my copy (bought new in 2002) is abysmal. There is extreme surface noise throughout, and as the record wears on the music completely disappears into a distorted mess. To top it off, side D has a large chunk of what appears to be paper debris pressed into it so tightly that multiple es through the Okki Nokki have not managed to shift it. Sides B-D are pressed way off centre too, causing a distracting amount of wow.

The layout of tracks is poor as well, causing some jarring moments. For example, track 3 segues seamlessly into track 4 on the CD version. Here, track 3 is the last on side A and track 4 is the first on side B, but rather than have the tracks re-edited to remove the segue, we instead have an abrupt cut-out at the end of side A, followed by an equally sudden cut-in at the start of side B.

The album is intentionally split into two halves, with four tracks in each half and a 30-second silence in the middle. This works well on the CD, but instead of the silent interval falling between discs or even sides on this pressing, it's plonked between two tracks on side B.

Overall, this is very much a "sits on the shelf while you listen to the CD" type of pressing.

My copy has minimal noise. It sounds so good on my KEF speakers at high volume.

I can completely empathize with everyone saying that Sigur Rós albums on vinyl are generally very bad pressings filled with pops and cracks etc. I have many of their albums on vinyl and sadly that holds true with all of them. That being said my pressing of this album is absolutely flawless. Completely flat with no pops, cracks, distortion or otherwise. Sounds incredible. Now I just wish the rest of them were this good.

How do they manage to keep pressing record after record when they’re defective? I’ve worked at a backwoods factory run by high school dropouts that manufactured injection molded parts and when the presses would produce a part that was defective, they’d cease production until an engineer fixed the press. The defective part would be thrown into recycling. You don’t just keep manufacturing and wrap them up in shrink wrap and ship them across the planet. How stupid.

Why can’t Sigur Ros have good sounding pressings? The only one of theirs I know sounds good is the one with the angel fetus cover.

Mastering sounds really good on this one. However, I do have a couple pops. Will just have to live with it. Not a flawless pressing but decent enough to enjoy the music.