"Heima"

Am immersed in Icelandic heaven. Like Arvo Pärt's work, Sigur Rós' music is so full of reverential austerity it leaves you breathless, your heart thumping with uplifted wonder and brotherly love. Though always otherworldly in essence, SR's music alternates between the depths of choking grief and heights of exultant joy, and is capable of summoning transcendent emotion without overwrought sentimentality. While much of its lyrics are sung in Icelandic ~ and even the band's own invented language, the music is so latent with meaning and life it seems almost unnecessary to be distracted by something like... text.

Last night, we finally watched Heima ("Home"), a documentary about Sigur Rós' homecoming from their exhausting (and exhaustive!) world tour in 2006. What made this return to their homeland so unique and impossibly wonderful is the manner in which they chose to wrap their travels: by playing a series of free concerts at the most remotely isolated of communities all around Iceland... a tribute to its beautiful people and breathtaking landscape.

After her own trip in April, Saint Cat strongly urged us to see the film and visit Iceland. ("The film is sooooo gorgeous, and its landscape looks exactly the way Sigur Rós' music sounds. And you must go. I know you, and I know you'll absolutely love it.") Judging from the stunning footage from the film, I'm reminded of Ireland: What may appear bleak and barren at first glance reveals ridiculously rich, deep, supersaturated hues of exquisite loveliness upon deeper inspection.

(Interestingly enough, despite undeniably strong classical and minimalist elements in Sigur Rós' music, only one member of the band ~ keyboardist Kjartan Sveinsson ~ has any formal musical training. What makes this particularly fascinating is that Sigur Rós and Radiohead are often favourably compared, and Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood ~ now day~jobbing as the official Composer~in~Residence for the BBC ~ is the only classically~trained member of Radiohead. Ironically, both Sveinsson and Greenwood write the orchestral and string accompaniments for their respective bands. Cool, eh?)

Now, my burning envy in friends who've seen Sigur Rós perform in ancient European chapels and living room venues by candlelight is expounded a bazillionfold, and the urge to fly to Iceland and breathe and get lost in sublimity is becoming rather overwhelming. Oh dear... guess here's ever more incentive to get that driver's license!


In the meantime: Sit back, check out the following clips, and spoil yourself a little: turn up the volume and make the thingie go full-screen. Hope it makes you go all gooey, breathless, and melty, too.

Sigur Rós ~ "Heima" (Trailer)

Sigur Rós ~ "Minn Heima (Njósnavélin)" (edited by Duncan Cornell)

In case you're not familiar with his work, I've included the tragically divine Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten and Silouan's Song by Estonian composer Arvo Pärt, one of my abiding favourites. The fact that he's alive and still creating masterpieces blows my mind.

Here is grief so tangible you can actually feel your heart seeping bitter tears down into your forearms. I first discovered Arvo Pärt when I lived and worked in Ottawa, during its coldest winter in 50 years. Listening to the CBC before running the icy two miles in the inky darkness to my kickboxing class, I obliged when host Howard Dyck invited listeners to turn off the lights, get comfortable, and listen to his next selection. I immediately fell ardently in love with Pärt's work, & never made it to the gym that night.

So turn off the lights, click on the links above, lie down somewhere comfy... and get lost.


If you're interested in calorie-free thirds, here's another gorgeous work. The person who posted this clip added some pretty interesting "Pop-Up Video" tidbits of info to help deepen the listener's understanding of the music! tee hee hee

Enjoy, my loves.


Arvo Pärt ~ "Sanctus"




(photo credit: A shot of an Icelandic fjord from "The Torontoist".