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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
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Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust
by Sigur Rós
The fifth album for the group was was co-produced by Flood and its first recorded in less than a year.
| LABEL: |
Beggars Xl |
| RELEASE DATE: |
24 June 2008 |
| DISCS: |
1 disc |
| GENRE(S): |
Rock |
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
100
Observer Music Monthly
Med sud I eyrum ... is a beautiful collection that blows Sigur Rós beyond the place they come from, geographically and musically.
100
The Onion (A.V. Club)
It's a gorgeous descent for an inimitable group that knows better than most how to deliver its highs high and its lows low.
95
Lost At Sea
The album is a classic from start to finish, and only adds to the already monumentally impressive discography the band has produced in the past decade.
90
Delusions of Adequacy
Whether it is the new production, the new sounds, the new language or maybe just the unique cover, everything works for Sigur Rós; on Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust is something exceptional.
90
musicOMH.com
Overall though, this is another wondrous album from a band at the height of their considerable powers.
80
NOW Magazine
While there are still plenty of swooshing sounds and heady instrumentation, it’s refreshing to see that Sigur Rós can do more than create aural landscapes.
80
Rolling Stone
The band achieves a new unity in variety here, winding from near-glam romp and fireside-folk warmth to slow-climb grandeur with an attention to the repeated payoff in a sturdy hook and hum-along chorus.
80
Mojo
There's still some beautifully glacial music....but now, occasionally, the Arctic exploration party becomes simply a party. [Aug 2008, p.103]
80
Hot Press
Icelandic eccentrics grasp for greatness.
80
The Guardian
An English-language debut, 'All Alright' proves as unintelligible as past forays into nonsensical Hopelandish, but 'Ara Batur,' featuring both the London Oratory Boys' Choir and the London Sinfonietta, is Sigur Rós' most satisfying epic yet--commercial, credible and glistening with glacial cool.
80
Paste Magazine
Its expertise at majestic drone remains, but the group colors outside of well-established lines this time around, pounding on tribal drums during 'Gobbledigook,' smearing swaths of mellotron across 'Fljótavík' and 'Straumnes,' and pulling back on its patented reverb in favor of crisp, clean lines.
80
Boston Globe
With Med sud, the band proves its indie-pop potential while remaining rooted in its unique brand of spaced-out alt-rock.
80
Sputnikmusic
In this transformation, Sigur Rós have yet again set themselves apart from the rest of the music world, bridging genre gaps and inspiring many others to do the same.
80
Q Magazine
This, though, is accessible without compromise. [July 2008, p.106]
80
All Music Guide
On Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust you can really hear the human hearts behind the wall of sound, and while the emotional impact is on a smaller scale, somehow it is even more affecting.
75
Pitchfork
Ultimately, there are too many wonderful moments here to deem it anything less than a beautiful record, but armchair producers might find themselves similarly wishing for less fat.
75
The Phoenix
Here, as on 2005’s "Takk," Sigur Ros have chosen to distill their rapture epics into shorter, more accessible bursts of swelling beauty. Yet this album still offers all the signature touchstones that make the band so deliciously unlike their post-rock contemporaries.
70
PopMatters
From day one, Sigur Rós have demonstrated that affecting compositions are not the exclusive domain of the virtuoso, by layering simple melodies to create songs that are more moving than the sum of their parts. While that statement still rings true, on Med Sud í Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust the band finally sounds fully confident.
70
Sputnikmusic
So Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust is just another Sigur Ros album, but if I can be the first to say it, our "first vital band of the 21st century" is starting to feel old hat.
70
Drowned In Sound
Once, this band were making music to stare skywards to, to contemplate the vastness of the universe we’re such a tiny part of; now they’ve discovered a hidden reserve of human spirit, sucked it in and produced a record that will reconnect their wealth of talents to listeners fearing they’d forgotten how they’d ever reached such a lofty pedestal. It’s great to have them back.
70
Slant Magazine
Med Sud is less polished than the band's previous outings; it's still lush and finely tuned, but creaky acoustic guitars lend tracks like "Góðan Daginn" and "Illgresi" an intimate quality previously unheard.
70
No Ripcord
Overall, it’s an improvement over the yawnfest of "Takk," but not nearly as consistent as one would like.
69
cokemachineglow
For just over seven minutes, Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust may be the most wonderful, jubilant listen you’ve had yet this year, and, within those two songs, Sigur Rós’s fifth proper album plants the most exciting, empirical stipe of artistic direction the band has forged in over six years or so. The elation doesn’t last.
68
Almost Cool
I'll give them some credit for trying some new things, I only wish they would have taken things a step further.
60
Uncut
Sadly the album’s latter stages revert to type, as Jónsi Birgisson’s quavering choirboy falsetto illuminates glacially paced piano and strings. All achingly lovely in a Coldplay-meets-Clannad way, of course, but Sigur Ros play too safe when they clearly have much more to offer than misty-eyed Celtic abstraction.
60
New Musical Express
There’s no suppressing the fact that, ironically, in loosening up and stretching their wings they’ve become a little more earthbound. Where once they conjured up the sound of, um, glaciers drifting across the surface of the moon, occasionally here it lapses into the sound of a wheelie bin being dragged across HMV’s backyard.
50
Tiny Mix Tapes
Things just go from mad galloping gobbledigook to spongy sentiment.
The average user rating for this album is 8.8 (out of 10) based on 52 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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