Aside from giving your run-of-the-mill, typically charming, Icelandic-style radio interviews (shudder!), the stoic gentlemen of Sigur Ros create some of the most moving, if difficult to describe, sounds in pop music. Almost willfully difficult over the years, from titling an album ( ) to adopting the non-language dubbed "Hopelandic" for the vocal parts of their songs, the band has nevertheless gained a dedicated following that has led to sales in the millions. Not bad for a band whose sound is essentially instumental, particularly in the vocal-dominated world of pop music. Their latest, Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust (loosely translated as "With a Buzz in Our Ears We Play Endlessly"), manages to effectively mix some of the most pure pop leaning songs we've heard from the band with the cool, distant soundscapes they've always aspired toward. Sigur Ros plays the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall with openers Parachutes Monday night.
MP3: Sigur Ros, from Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust- "Gobbledigook"
Also in town this week is the Canadian band Stars, making their first appearance in the Rose City since the release of last year's In Our Bedroom After the War. Singers Torquil Campbell and Amy Millan have both been busy with projects in recent years (Campbell with the band Memphis and Millan with her surprisingly rootsy solo effort) and this is perhaps at least partly to blame for the step down the band took from their previous release, the excellent Set Yourself On Fire. Still it's hard to argue with results like "The Night Starts Here," and the anthemic "Take Me to the Riot." Stars play Wednesday at the Wonder.
A busy new release Tuesday this week sees the fourth album from Jolie Holland with The Living & the Dead. As usual, it's Holland's voice that stands out as the centerpiece around songs that are, in this case, a bit more reigned in and less jazz-y around the edges than we've heard from her in the past, particularly on her last effort, Springtime Can Kill You. Holland hails from Brooklyn these days, but it's no surprise to find Portland personnel all over the former northwesterner's recording, including M. Ward and Rachel Blumberg, among others. After premeiring a few of the new songs at this year's Pickathon, Holland returns to Portland October 17th for a show at the Doug Fir.
MP3s: Jolie Holland, from The Living & the Dead- "Mexico City" and "Palmyra"
More to come throughout the week, the thread is open....
October 5, 2008 at 4:15pm by inmemoryofjohnpeel
Songs I'd save from the fire? First that comes to mind/hand here in The Soup Caves... Thirty Frames A Second by Simple Minds before they went pop, and several others from the Empires & Dance album.
October 5, 2008 at 4:21pm by jpetersen
Well, no surprise here that you've picked something we don't have on hand. Am I dork if tell you I always kinda liked Simple Minds' pop stuff?
Anything else?
October 5, 2008 at 4:23pm by David Barrar
Is this show available for download as a podcast?
October 5, 2008 at 4:32pm by jpetersen
Hi David,
I'm afraid it isn't at this point, but it's archived for streaming here for the week following each broadcast, both Saturday and Sunday shows.
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