Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust

Never has a band so quickly become a favorite of mine than when I got Sigur Ros's album Takk... from a friend last year. The Icelandic quartet is a brilliant blend of atmosphere, pop, ambient, rock, and classical. Actually, scratch that. Placing a genre on Sigur Ros is like calling Babe Ruth a baseball player; you've covered a little bit but left so much unexplained.

Whenever I refer Sigur Ros to a friend, I always insist they listen to a song the whole way through. A 30 second clip from iTunes just won't cut it. Why? Because the magic of Sigur Ros is in the gradual dynamics of their songs. They have mastered the (extremely) long crescendo. You might be able to "get" some bands after hearing few 30 second clips, but if you take a musical phrase from a Sigur Ros song out of context, it just doesn't make full sense.

Sigur Ros's newest album, Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust, just released this past week. [The title roughly translates: with a buzz in our ears, we play endlessly....about on par with some of their other strange album titles which translate "a pretty good start", "thanks...", and "haven-home". And then there's the one simply titled ( ).] Med Sud is a bit of a departure from traditional Sigur Ros sound. A little less etherial and much more real. Sigur Ros announces this departure with the two opening tracks, "Gobbledigook" (don't laugh) and "Inni mer syngur vitleysingur". These are both much more upbeat and happy than anything they have ever recorded. This scared me at first, but now I embrace the Sigur Ros head-bob. With the exception of "Vid spilum endalaust", the album slows down a good bit....an a tempo if you will. The jewel of the record, IMHO, comes in track 7, "Ara batur". This slow ballad spends 7 minutes lulling you to sleep before rousing you to tears in the final 2 minutes with lush orchistration, crashing symbols, and the London Oratory Boys Choir. To say this song has a big finish is an understatement. Ara batur belongs in a dramatic movie ending and I don't doubt it will find its way into one someday. The album finishes with "All Alright", the band's first song sung in english....although the words are as hard to understand as ( )'s hopelandic.

Med Sud is Sigur Ros's first album recorded outside of Iceland. Perhaps this was done to symbolize their departure from the old sound. Bands can only get by with a certain sound for so long (save U2) before getting criticized. While the homeland is missed, this new ground is just as beautiful and breath taking.

State College: Not Such A Bad Place

It's starting to sink in that I'm leaving here soon. I have spent a large part of the past two years making fun of State College, yankees, and the north in general. But, I have to admit there are some things I'll truly miss here. I'll miss the serene winter nights when the moonlight is both soaked up and amplified by the snow covered earth. I'll miss the ridge of mountains that explode into view driving only a mile east of downtown. I'll miss the flashing yellow streetlights at 2am.

I'll miss E-Free. Especially all the great people I made music with there. I have never felt so appreciated as I have at this church.

I'll miss my best friends here: Chris, Jeremy, Scott, Tim, and Pete (among others).

I'll miss the E-Free softball team. As terrible as we are, we had fun losing together.

Places around town I'll miss: Otto's Pub, The State Theater (though I didn't go there as much as I would have liked), Herwig's, Faccia Luna, Pete's house, Jeremy, Chris, JJ, and Alex's apartment (specifically the den with the XBOX 360 and Halo 3).

God has been good to me here. Big suprise.

A Good Way to Live

Just wanted to share a great passage from Psalm 19 that I just read:

"The law of the Lord is perfect,
reviving the soul.
The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy
making wise the simple.
The precepts of the Lord are right,
giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the Lord are radiant,
giving light to the eyes.
The fear of the Lord is pure,
enduring forever.
The ordinances of the Lord are sure
and altogether righteous.
They are more precious than gold,
then much pure gold;
they are sweeter than honey,
than honey from the comb.
By them is your servant warned;
in keeping them there is great reward."
[Psalm 19:6-11]

I can't recall ever reading or hearing verses 7 and 8. They observe the goodness of the laws of God from a few different angles. "Reviving the soul" points out that following God's laws can bring you out of a numbed rut....something I have experienced a bit of lately. "Making wise the simple"--A simple man can obtain wisdom by simply following some outlines laid out by God. "Giving joy to the heart"--Here, the Psalmist moves from practicality to hedonism. God's laws are not just practical--they are life-giving and enjoyable. "Giving light to the eyes"--Following God's ways reveals things.

I'm having a tougher time interpreting "The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever." Anyone have any insights?

So much of Christianity today is based around feelings. So much of everything today is based around feelings. Feelings are great, and not to be ignored, but in the words of my wise friend Dave Bachman, "feelings make poor leaders". If we just "follow our heart", we have a deceitful leader.* If we decide to follow God's ways, we have the greatest leader imaginable.


*Jer 17:9

Pictures of Sydney

Well, a couple months ago I promised pictures of Sydney Kate. Here they are at last! These are four recent photos (just taken a few days ago). Enjoy the overload of cuteness!