26 November, 2005

Jumping into puddles

In case anyone who's interested hasn't visited 'eighteen seconds before sunrise' recently (why not?), Sigur Rós are releasing their first UK single on Monday 28 Nov., on CD and 12" vinyl.

The A-side is 'Hoppípolla', which some may have seen/heard on BBC2's 'Later...' a fortnight ago. It's one of my favourite tracks from 'Takk...', which is currently tying with 'Ágaetis Byrjun' as my favourite Sigur Rós album, and is almost certainly my 'album of the year'. I suppose I'm recommending it....

The B-sides are the brief 'Með Blóðnasir', which seems to be treated as the outro to 'Hoppípolla' in live performances, plus the long-awaited 10-minute studio version of 'Hafssól'. That song has been a highlight of concerts for years, and has considerably evolved from the (frankly unimpressive) 1997 studio version on 'Von'.