Sigur Rós's ( )

Nonfiction, Entertainment, Music, Theory & Criticism, History & Criticism, Reference, Pop & Rock, Rock
Cover of the book Sigur Rós's ( ) by Ethan Hayden, Bloomsbury Publishing
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Ethan Hayden ISBN: 9781623561680
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Publication: August 28, 2014
Imprint: Bloomsbury Academic Language: English
Author: Ethan Hayden
ISBN: 9781623561680
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication: August 28, 2014
Imprint: Bloomsbury Academic
Language: English

Words like "inspiring," "expansive," and "moving" are regularly used to describe Sigur Rós's ( ), and yet the only words heard on the record itself are a handful of meaningless nonsense syllables. The album has no title-or rather, its title is no title: just an empty pair of parentheses. The intention being that listeners will fill in the parentheses with their own title, their own interpretation of the sounds on the record. The CD sleeve consists of twelve pages that are essentially blank, lacking song titles, liner notes or production credits. Instead, it contains only semi-translucent frosted images of abstract natural scenes (tree branches, clouds, etc.), on which the listener is free to inscribe their own notes-or no notes at all. And then there are the lyrics, sung in a deliberately unintelligible tongue called "Hopelandic" which the band invites listeners to interpret freely.

Ethan Hayden's book doesn't try to fill in the gaps between the album's parentheses, but instead explores the ways in which listeners might attempt to do so. Examining the communicative powers of asemantic language, the book asks whether music can bring sense to nonsense. What happens to the voice when it stops singing conventional language: does it simply become another musical instrument, or is it somehow more "human"? What role does space play on ( )? And how do we interpret music that we cannot possibly understand, but feel very deeply that we do?

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Words like "inspiring," "expansive," and "moving" are regularly used to describe Sigur Rós's ( ), and yet the only words heard on the record itself are a handful of meaningless nonsense syllables. The album has no title-or rather, its title is no title: just an empty pair of parentheses. The intention being that listeners will fill in the parentheses with their own title, their own interpretation of the sounds on the record. The CD sleeve consists of twelve pages that are essentially blank, lacking song titles, liner notes or production credits. Instead, it contains only semi-translucent frosted images of abstract natural scenes (tree branches, clouds, etc.), on which the listener is free to inscribe their own notes-or no notes at all. And then there are the lyrics, sung in a deliberately unintelligible tongue called "Hopelandic" which the band invites listeners to interpret freely.

Ethan Hayden's book doesn't try to fill in the gaps between the album's parentheses, but instead explores the ways in which listeners might attempt to do so. Examining the communicative powers of asemantic language, the book asks whether music can bring sense to nonsense. What happens to the voice when it stops singing conventional language: does it simply become another musical instrument, or is it somehow more "human"? What role does space play on ( )? And how do we interpret music that we cannot possibly understand, but feel very deeply that we do?

More books from Bloomsbury Publishing

Cover of the book The Constitution of Spain by Ethan Hayden
Cover of the book The Metalinguistic Dimension in Instructed Second Language Learning by Ethan Hayden
Cover of the book Fear and Misery of the Third Reich by Ethan Hayden
Cover of the book The Firm by Ethan Hayden
Cover of the book Dance Divas: Showstopper by Ethan Hayden
Cover of the book I Went Trick-or-Treating by Ethan Hayden
Cover of the book The Shape of the Liturgy, New Edition by Ethan Hayden
Cover of the book Cuckoo by Ethan Hayden
Cover of the book Futebol by Ethan Hayden
Cover of the book Super Food: Beetroot by Ethan Hayden
Cover of the book The Image in Mind by Ethan Hayden
Cover of the book Music in Shakespeare by Ethan Hayden
Cover of the book The Sexual Politics of Meat - 25th Anniversary Edition by Ethan Hayden
Cover of the book Foucault and Nietzsche by Ethan Hayden
Cover of the book The Many Selves of Katherine North by Ethan Hayden
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy