ALBUM REVIEW: “Go” by Jonsi

April 5th, 2010 • Album Review, Iceland, Rock
Tags: Go, jonsi, Sigur Ros

Among the best soundtracks of all time, people will inevitably cite The Graduate by Simon and Garfunkel or Henry Mancini’s work for The Pink Panther. There is indeed something to be said about these succinct, complete works of cinematic musical composition as they fit within the context of a single film.

You may well be asking yourself why exactly I am talking about film soundtracks given that Go by Sigur Ros frontman Jonsi is not a soundtrack (despite the extended documentary release that coincides with it). On some level, however, this new Jonsi album is a soundtrack without a film. When one listens to this album one cannot help but be taken to a world not our own in the depths of our own imagination. Go provides, for me, the audio track to the ramblings of my mind, and certainly any human could elicit some sort of similarity in my opinion of this disc. Read more »

Jonsi announces film to complement upcoming release

February 26th, 2010 • Commentary, Iceland, Video
Tags: Dean Deblois, Go, Go Quiet, Heima, jonsi, Noah and the Whale, Reykjavik

It would seem that a number of my favorite musicians are now following the trend of producing films to accompany their album releases. Recently, English anti-folk musicians Noah and the Whale released album and film The First Days of Spring, and now Icelandic post-rocker extraordinaire, Jonsi, has announced a film to complement his forthcoming release Go, due in stores early April.

The film, titled Go Quiet, is billed on his website by director Dean Deblois (Director of the Acclaimed Sigur Ros documentary, Heima) thusly: “The concept behind ‘go quiet’ was simple: it’s New Year’s Day in Reykjavík, and Jónsi awakens to a trashed house in the wake of his party. he avoids cleaning up and instead procrastinates by playing songs that reflect the night before, the bittersweetness of new year, and the melancholy of a year gone by”

This full length DVD will be released alongside the album as a part of various special edition packages.

Check out the trailer, it is pretty epic:

Read more »

Preview: Go by Jonsi (with Audio)

February 7th, 2010 • 1 comment Album Review, Iceland
Tags: Go, Go Do, jonsi

Lead singer of the band Sigur Ros, Jón “Jónsi” Þór Birgisson, has dipped his toes into the world of solo work before under the pseudonym “Frakkur,” but none of that early work comes close in quality or sound to his most recent venture, his forthcoming album Go, which is slated for a global release on April 5th. So far, two tracks have been released officially by the artist “Boy Lilikoi” was given away as a free download to fans on December 4th, and, just this week, the second track, “Go Do” (The opening track on the album) was released on YouTube by his label.

In support of the album, Jonsi will tour North America, including two stops in Boston’s House of Blues on May 5 and 6. Tickets are going to be $30 and go on sale on Tuesday 2/9/10. Read more »