Takk...

Takk...
Studio album by Sigur Rós
Released	September 12, 2005
Recorded	Sundlaugin
Genre	Post-rock Ambient Art rock
Length	65:32
Label	Geffen B0005345-02 EMI 337 252 2
Producer	Sigur Rós, Ken Thomas
Professional reviews
The reviews parameter has been deprecated. Please move reviews into the “Reception” section of the article. See Moving reviews into article space. Allmusic link The Guardian 9 Sep 05 The Independent 9 Sep 05 NME (8/10) link Pitchfork Media (7.8/10) 12 Sep 05 PopMatters (6/10) 26 Sep 05 Rolling Stone 22 Sep 05 Slant link Stylus (A) 13 Sep 05 Tiny Mix Tapes (4/5) link
Sigur Rós chronology
( ) (2002) Takk... (2005) Hvarf/Heim (2007)

Takk... (Icelandic pronunciation: [ˈtʰaʰkː], Thanks...^[1]) is the fourth full-length studio album by the Icelandic band Sigur Rós. The first singles, "Glósóli" and "Sæglópur", were released on August 15, 2005 and August 16, 2005 respectively, the former worldwide and the latter only in the United States. The single "Hoppípolla" was released in the UK on 28 November 2005 and entered the singles chart at #35 on 4 December. Upon its re-release in May 2006 it reached #24 in the UK chart.

The album debuted at 27 in the U.S., selling 30,000 copies in its first week of release. On 7 April 2006, Takk... was certified gold by the BPI, marking 100,000 copies sold in the UK. In total, it has sold over 800,000 copies worldwide.

1000 copies of Takk... on vinyl were manufactured and arrived in UK and US stores as of January 2006. It is composed of a gatefold sleeve housing two 12 inch records, with a single die cut page that houses a 10-inch record with a design etched on one side.

Sigur Rós also released music videos for "Glósóli", "Hoppípolla" and "Sæglópur".

An extended Sæglópur EP was released, featured three new songs, which are said to be somewhere in between Ba Ba Ti Ki Di Do, untitled #9 from the Vaka EP, and the end of "Glósóli". The EP also includes a DVD with all three music videos.

Unlike its predecessor ( ), the album's lyrics are mostly in Icelandic, with occasional elements of Vonlenska ("Hopelandic"), a scat-like form of gibberish. The songs "Andvari", "Gong" and "Mílanó" are sung entirely in Vonlenska. Moreover, the song "Mílanó" was written together with the string quartet Amiina.^[2][3]

Rhythmically, Takk... makes extensive use of changing time signatures. In the track "Andvari" for example, the main melody repeats itself every 27 beats, with stress on beats 1, 5, 9, 11, 16, 20 and 25. This could be rendered as seven bars of 4, 4, 2, 5, 4, 5 and 3 beats respectively. Against this there is a steady counter-rhythm of triple time, which could be rendered as eighteen bars of 3/8 time per 27-beat cycle.

The BBC has frequently used tracks from Takk... in its programmes. "Hoppípolla" was employed as the backing music to trailers for the highly-acclaimed nature series Planet Earth and for the end credit of Match of the Day broadcasting the FA Cup Final. "Sæglópur" has been used as a backing tune for the BBC's advertising campaign for the 2006 Wimbledon Championships, while snips of "Sæglópur", "Milanó", "Gong", and "Svo hljótt" appeared in Top Gear. "Sæglópur" was also notably used in Ubisoft's Prince of Persia E3 2008 gameplay debut trailer as well as their televised commercials for the game. The FIA also used "Hoppipolla" at the end of their review for the Formula One Season, aired during the 2009 FIA Gala.

In 2009, British electronic music artist Chicane produced a progressive trance remix of "Hoppípolla", titled "Poppiholla" which has been on rotation on BBC Radio 1's B list in June 2009.

Sigur Rós received three awards at the Icelandic Music Awards in 2006: Best Album Design (along with Ísak Winther, Alex Somers and Lukka Sigurðardóttir), Best Alternative Act and Best Rock Album for Takk....^[4]

Track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Takk..." ("Thanks...")	1:57
2.	"Glósóli" ("Glowing Sole")	6:15
3.	"Hoppípolla" ("Hopping into Puddles")	4:28
4.	"Með blóðnasir" ("I Have a Nosebleed")	2:17
5.	"Sé lest" ("I See a Train")	8:40
6.	"Sæglópur" ("Lost at Sea")	7:38
7.	"Mílanó" ("Milan")	10:25
8.	"Gong" ("Gong")	5:33
9.	"Andvari" ("Zephyr")	6:40
10.	"Svo hljótt" ("So Quietly")	7:24
11.	"Heysátan" ("The Haystack")	4:09

On vinyl, "Milanó" is featured on the single-sided 10" included with the set and is labelled as the final side, effectively moving "Milanó" to the end of the album, after "Heysátan" (indicated by the label which has the albums last tracks on side 2B but features "Milanó" on side 3A. Also on the inside of the sleeve. The tracklisting has "Milanó" on its original place).

Personnel

• Jón Þór Birgisson – vocals, guitar
• Kjartan Sveinsson – keyboards
• Georg Hólm – bass
• Orri Páll Dýrason – drums

Strings: Amiina

• Hildur Ársælsdóttir
• Edda Rún Ólafsdóttir
• Maria Huld Markan Sigfúsdóttir
• Sólrún Sumarliðadóttir

Additional strings recorded in Langholtskirkja, performed by:

Cellos:

• Kristín Lárusdóttir
• Júlía Mogensen

Violas:

• Stefanía Ólafsdóttir
• Eyjólfur Bjarni Alfreðsson

Violins:

• Ingrid Karlsdóttir
• Gréta Salóme Stefánsdóttir
• Matthías Stefánsson
• Ólöf Júlía Kjartansdóttir

Brass performed by:

Trumpets:

• Eiríkur Orri Ólafsson
• Snorri Sigurðarson

Trombones:

• Helgi Hrafn Jónsson
• Samúel Jón Samúelsson

Tuba:

• Össur Geirsson

Percussion/timpani on "Sé lest" performed by Frank Aarnink.

Choir on "Hoppípolla" performed by Álafosskórinn. Directed by Helgi R. Einarsson.

References

1. ^ "eighteen seconds before sunrise - sigur rós news » 2005 » July » 10". sigur-ros.co.uk. http://www.sigur-ros.co.uk/news/?m=20050710. Retrieved 2009-03-08. 
2. ^ "sigur rós - discography » takk... tracklist and credits". sigur-ros.co.uk. http://www.sigur-ros.co.uk/band/disco/takk-credits.php. Retrieved 2009-03-08. 
3. ^ "sigur rós - discography » takk... documentary". sigur-ros.co.uk. http://www.sigur-ros.co.uk/band/disco/takk-documentary.php. Retrieved 2009-03-08. 
4. ^ "eighteen seconds before sunrise - sigur rós news » 2006» January» 25". sigur-ros.co.uk. http://www.sigur-ros.co.uk/news/?m=20060125. Retrieved 2009-02-16. 

External links

• sigur-ros.is Mini-site dedicated to Takk... at the Wayback Machine (archived January 28, 2007)
• Takk... album credits at the Wayback Machine (archived November 29, 2006)
• Takk... at MusicBrainz