Sigur Ros; Hvarf/Heim (EMI) BEST OF ELSEWHERE 2007

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Sigur Ros: Von
Sigur Ros; Hvarf/Heim (EMI) BEST OF ELSEWHERE 2007

More mysterious loveliness on a double-disc which, in the release schedule of most bands, might have seemed like a stop-gap measure: previously unreleased tracks and rarities, and stripped-back versions of other material.

If Eric Clapton or the Arctic Monkeys had done this you'd be yawning.

But Sigur Ros from Iceland create such eerie sonic landscapes -- some stretching to an 10 engrossing minutes -- that this has the feel of yet another beguiling chapter in a story you hope will never end.

Sigur Ros have, quite literally, created their own language (Hopelandic they call it) and make the music -- which owes very little to rock, even post-rock -- to match it. Enchanting.

And if it didn't appear in too many other lists of "best albums" it is because I believe too many other writers gave a cursory listen or looke dat the cover and took it to be that stop-gap thing.

Good Lord, a hiatus should always be this good.

By the way, the doco-DVD Heima which is the companion to this double disc is a gem.

Best music DVD of the year? Very likely.

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