Hvarf/Heim

Sigur Rós

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 6, 2007)
• Original Release Date: November 6, 2007
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Xl Recordings
• ASIN: B000W1USNG
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #35,754 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
In Icelandic, the word "hvarf" means "disappeared," and the first five tracks of Sigur Rós's double CD set nearly did disappear, having remained unreleased until this collection. Fans will love new opportunities to enjoy the band's precious style--precious save for "I Gaer," which starts out like a music-box and builds to dramatic, Pink Floyd-esque guitar-rawk proportions. The inclusion of two specific tracks, "Von" (meaning "hope") and "Hafsol," will especially delight longtime SR fans; written and recorded during the group's infancy in 1995, these tracks became treasured live performances, having never been captured on disc as their expanded, evolved versions until now. The disc's second portion, "Heim" ("home") is a six-song acoustic set that shows Sigur Rós in a less grandiose, more delicate light. The original versions of each were spread throughout SR's four previous releases, and all six were captured live-to-disc when the band performed a unique tour comprising surprise concerts in settings ranging from deserted fish factories to darkened caves. (The tour has been released separately as an endearing DVD, a companion to this collection entitled Heima.) While totally acoustic, the songs remain full-bodied, lush and lovely, especially the former underground hit "Ágætis byrjun" and "Heysátan," within which you’ll hear--if you listen closely--the sounds of chirping birds singing along with the orchestral instruments. --Denise Sheppard

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Product Description
November 5 sees Sigur Rós release a 2 CD set featuring all-new recordings titled "Hvarf - Heim". The album has two titles because it is in effect two separate, but complementary, entities with two front covers and is issued as a limited edition run of two discs. Open it one way and it's "Hvarf" ("disappeared" or "haven") a five track electric studio record comprising mainly unreleased rarities from Sigur Rós's back-pages, none of which features on "Heima" (the double DVD release issued on the same day). It features three previously unreleased songs (Salka, Hljómalind and Í Gær) alongside radical re-workings of two tracks from their debut album "Von". Open it the other way and it's "Heim" ("home"), a six track live acoustic record, comprising delicate new unplugged versions of some of Sigur Rós's finest moments, which have never been performed in this way before. The band were originally planning to release a more traditional live album to go with the "Heima" tour film, but instead decided upon "Hvarf-Heim" - infinitely more stimulating and exciting than some "will-this-do?" toss-offs of songs they honed to perfection in the studio aeons ago. Hljómalind / Starálfur is released as a limited edition double A-side 7" vinyl single on October 22 as a taster for the album release, but also to celebrate the UK Premiere of the "Heima" film which is on October 24 as part of the BBC's Electric Proms. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Ear Delicious, November 9, 2007

By	contessa malia (Mililani, Hawaii) - See all my reviews

Sonic awesomeness!Keep in mind folks, this is some of the music from the film Heima, a RETROSPECTIVE you knuckleheads. A couple new tunes. I think the 'electric' is better than the acoustic and I find I Gaer just incredible. I really don't understand the critique that the song is bombastic. It is soaring. Also remember, this band makes music THEY love. They don't make music for us. If we like it, great. If not, great.

Having been to Iceland, the music just fits the country. If you have not been, plan a trip sometime. Incredibly gorgeous but bring lots of money!!!

My favorite song is Hafsol. Bring tears to my eyes every time.

Enjoy! (or not :))

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stop talking and turn up the volume with a good pair of earphones, November 9, 2007

By	J. Hodapp (Indianapolis, IN USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Hvarf - Heim (MP3 Download)

This is one of the most phenomenal pieces of music my ears have ever had the privilege of listening to. It is such a story of ups and downs and beauty and everything being right in the world. I don't think I have ever truly connected so well with melody such as this album. I truly like all of Sigur Ros' prior productions, but some of the songs on this album are truly breathtaking. I highly recommend this album, and if you've never experienced post-rock instrumental music before, download this album, find a good pair of earphones that sound amazing, and prepare yourself for quite the experience.

56 of 72 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Hvarf/Heim, November 16, 2007

By	Mike Newmark (Tarzana, CA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

NPR's Bryant Park Project called their Oct. 5, 2007 interview with Sigur Rós "possibly the worst interview in the history of electronic media." Interviewer Luke Burbank lobbed the musicians unanswerable questions like "Did you think you would be the kind of band that sold two million records?" to which they would look at each other and eventually mumble a thinly veiled kiss-off. It was painful. But perhaps the band simply has as difficult a time talking about their music as we do. When so many of us listen to Sigur Rós, we try to describe it in terms of how it makes us feel, reaching higher and higher for adjectives that might explain its emotional power, but we can't do it. Sigur Rós is a spiritual experience at best--an angel laying its hands on you and flying you above the clouds toward an exalted place.

But if Sigur Rós has a weakness--and it's a significant one--it's that they've been providing this experience for us over and over again since 1999's Ágćtis Byrjun. No other band sounded like them and few were as gorgeous, which legitimized their stagnation for nearly a decade. Hvarf/Heim marks the first time that this weakness seriously detracts from enjoying the music, despite how pretty it can be. It's a lovingly packaged album, full of regal melodies, stretched choirboy chants, sweeping orchestration and the occasional uplifting crescendo, like everything else in their oeuvre.

Granted, Hvarf/Heim isn't the ideal place for Sigur Rós to experiment. Not quite a proper album, this double-disc is part new material, part reinterpretations and part live recordings. Hvarf ("disappear") is the superior disc, offering three new songs ("Salka," "Hliómalind" and "Í Gćr") and epic re-workings of "Von" and "Hafsól" from their 1997 debut, Von. The mention of new Sigur Rós songs should get any fan worked up, but the problems begin with "Salka," which contains a vocal passage ripped from the buildup of Takk's blistering opener, "Glósóli." As someone who listened to "Glósóli" religiously when it first came out, I couldn't help but feel cheated, though at this point in the band's career, they're only cheating themselves. It turns out that the rest of "Salka" plays out like an inverted version of "Glósóli," treading a similar structural path in the same key, but wimping out whenever it threatens to burst.

So, properly speaking, Hvarf contains two new songs. The winner is "Hliómalind," a lush rocker that feels perfect at just under five minutes. It's also the only song here that hints at the band's growth, moving closer to the majestic ebbs and flows of shoegaze than anything they've put to tape. The loser is "Í Gćr," which trudges wearily through some guitar and cello-begotten sturm-und-drang before petering out. "Von" and "Hafsól" trump their poorly recorded originals and should give diehard fans something to celebrate. Both are on the long side at ten minutes each, but they reward patient listening if you're willing to forget that they could have appeared on Ágćtis Byrjun, Takk, or ( ) and no one would have noticed.

Heim ("home") gathers six live tracks from the group's 2006 Icelandic tour, in which they played in various natural locations: green fields, caverns, fjords, and so on. Sigur Rós' music lends itself to Iceland's towering beauty, and they know it: They're releasing a tour DVD, called Heima, later this November. Those who have seen Heima claim it's spectacular, but without the visuals, Heim sounds like it was recorded in a spotless studio. These tracks are all acoustic (duh, how do you plug a guitar into a fjord?), which make them both amazingly boring and extremely enlightening, as Sigur Rós has never sounded this naked. Too often, however, these versions deviate little from their originals structurally, and the up-front pianos and vocals demonstrate that the songs themselves don't carry much weight--a problem that befalls many acoustic sets.

The question of "value" often comes up with inessential releases, and how much Hvarf/Heim is worth probably depends on who you are. Loyal Sigur Rós followers may actually value it the least; for them, that eerie feeling of déjŕ vu won't be worth its ludicrous $16 sticker price. On the other hand, new and casual listeners may find the record beautiful, dazzling, and moving, but that's also part of the problem: With Hvarf/Heim, Sigur Rós have entered the realm of mere words for perhaps the first time since Von, and the adjectives we'll use to describe it won't be quite so sublime anymore.