Ágætis byrjun

Infobox Album
Name = Ágætis byrjun
Type = Studio album
Artist = Sigur Rós


Released = June 1999
Recorded = Summer 1998 through spring 1999
Genre = Post-rock
Length = 71:51
Label = Fat Cat, Smekkleysa
Producer = Ken Thomas
Reviews =
*Allmusic Rating|4.5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:igae4jn75wal link]
*"Rolling Stone" Rating|4|5 [http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/172054/agaetis_byrjun link]
*"NME" (7/10) [http://www.nme.com/reviews/2689.htm link]
*Pitchfork Media (9.4/10) [http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/21704-agaetis-byrjun link]
*PlayLouder (Positive) [http://www.playlouder.com/review/+089sigurros/ link]
* Robert Christgau (B) [http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=Sigur+R%F2s link] | Last album = "Von brigði"
(1998)
This album = "Ágætis byrjun"
(1999)
Next album = "( )"
(2002)

"Ágætis byrjun" (Icelandic for "An alright start") is the second album by the Icelandic post-rock band Sigur Rós, which was released in 1999. "Ágætis byrjun" was recorded between the summer of 1998 to the spring of 1999 with producer Ken Thomas, and became Sigur Rós's breakthrough album, both critically and commercially. "Ágætis byrjun" represented a substantial departure from the band's previous album "Von", with that album's Cocteau Twins-esque dream pop and extended ambient soundscapes replaced by Jónsi Birgisson's now signature cello-bowed guitarwork and lush orchestration (using a double string octet amongst other orchestral elements).

The album's title came from a friend hearing the first song they had written for the album; what would become "Ágætis byrjun". After hearing the song, he said it was "an alright start"; the name stuck.

Sigur Rós won the 2001 Shortlist Music Prize for this album.

Release

While released to little fanfare, the album quickly gained radio exposure in Iceland, and spent the autumn of 1999 climbing the Icelandic album charts, finally resting at the top for a number of weeks. After surprising success in Iceland, the album subsequently gained strong international buzz with numerous articles in many prominent publications, hype from internet message boards and blogs, as well as often exuberant critical praise. "Ágætis byrjun" was released in the United Kingdom in 2000, and in the North American market in 2001 by Fat Cat Records. In 2001, "Ágætis byrjun" won the inaugural Shortlist Music Prize.

An acclaimed music video was made for "Viðrar vel til loftárása". The album's tracks has also been featured in soundtracks; "Starálfur" was used in "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou" and "Svefn-g-englar" in "Vanilla Sky", among others. The song "Flugufrelsarinn" has been arranged by Stephen Prustman for the Kronos Quartet, and is available on their iTunes-only release "Kronos Quartet Plays Sigur Rós".

tructure

The ten songs on the album include some self-reference: the introduction contains backmasked parts from the title track, and the last song, "Avalon", consists of an instrumental passage from "Starálfur" slowed to one-fourth its original speed. The strings in "Starálfur" itself are palindromic; they are the same forwards and backwards.

All vocals are sung in Icelandic, except for those on "Olsen Olsen", which are sung in the gibberish language Vonlenska. Sigur Rós' subsequent album, "( )", used Vonlenska exclusively for its vocals.

Artwork

The sketch on the cover was drawn by Gotti Bernhöft with a Bic Cristal ballpoint pen. The booklet cover for the CD edition of the album features the line: "Ég gaf ykkur von sem varð að vonbrigðum... þetta er ágætis byrjun" which translates to "I gave you hope that became a disappointment... this is an alright start." This line is a reference to their two previous releases, "Von" and "Von brigði".

Sigur Rós assembled and glued together the cases of the first print of "Ágætis byrjun" themselves. This resulted in many of the CDs being unusable due to glue stains on them.

Track listing

English translations of Icelandic song names are given in brackets.

# "Intro" [The album's packaging leaves the first track untitled, though the band's website gives the piece the name "Intro". It has also been labeled by the band as "Nujryb Siteagá" ("Ágætis byrjun" backwards.)] – 1:36
# "Svefn-g-englar" [Sleepwalkers] – 10:04
# "Starálfur" [Staring Elf] – 6:47
# "Flugufrelsarinn" [The Fly Saviour] – 7:47
# "Ný batterí" [New Batteries] – 8:11
# "Hjartað hamast (bamm bamm bamm)" [The Heart Pounds (Boom Boom Boom)] – 7:11
# "Viðrar vel til loftárása" [Good Weather for an Airstrike] – 10:18
# "Olsen Olsen" – 8:03
# "Ágætis byrjun" [An Alright Start] – 7:56
# "Avalon" – 4:00

Contributors

* Jón Þór Birgisson – vocals, guitar
* Kjartan Sveinsson – keyboard
* Georg Hólm – bass
* Ágúst Ævar Gunnarsson – drums

Notes

External links

* [http://sigur-ros.co.uk/band/disco/agaetis.php "Ágætis byrjun" page] on the Sigur Rós website
*MusicBrainz release|id=743f2ede-a911-4fc9-9d78-c88c2c2fb429