The new Sigur Ros album, Takk, was at the top of my list at the end of last year as the most eagerly anticipated releases of 2005. So, alas, the beginning of September was an exciting time for me due to Takk's eminent release. After first listening to it, my response was, "Is that it?" Takk reverts to more manageable, bite-sized sound collages, which left me slightly discouraged and not quite fulfilled. To me, Takk missed something, although I can't quite put my finger on what that "something" is. Were my expectations too high? Under normal circumstances, I judge musician's new records on their own merit, versus comparing them to previous efforts. Judgmental "die-hard" fans piss me off when, for example, Sonic Youth did not record Sister 2004 when they released last year's wonderful record, Sonic Nurse. But, for some reason, I expected more with Takk. I do not want to, by any means, say that Takk is a bad record. No, it is not. But, I liked the longer tracks that dominated ( ).
In the end, I think that Takk just needed a little more oomph. That lack of oomph, notwithstanding, Sigur Ros' singer, Jonsi Birgisson, graced the music world, yet again, with one of the most uniquely beautiful male voices in the world. Even if Sigur Ros ever recorded the worst song known to man, Jonsi's voice would make it tolerable. Seeing Sigur Ros' live performance at the Paramount in September definitely more than made up for my slight disappointment with Takk. Jonsi also scored major points with his vocal contributions to the elegaic and gorgeous double-disc recording "Exactly As I Do," by the enigmatic British expatriate and current Icelandic resident Andrew MacKenzie, a.k.a. Hafler Trio.
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