Product Description

Known primarily for his haunting falsetto and other-worldly presence as the singer in Sigur Rós, Jon Thor (Jónsi) Birgisson had--together with his partner Alex Somers--been exhibiting artwork and staging exhibitions under the name Riceboy Sleeps for two or three years before the early fruits of the musical side of this collaboration surfaced in physical form for the first time, with the track "Happiness", on the exemplary Dark was the Night Red Hot compilation.

The first full length release from Jónsi and Alex--Riceboy Sleeps (the name having migrated from artist moniker to album title)--is human in a profound and verging-on spiritual way. It says nothing, literally, and yet living through its 68-minutes you emerge feeling much has been revealed. Its slowly evolving abstract landscapes are both edifying and life-affirming. The record works as a whole, and exists in a contemplative dream-state, unconstrained and mesmeric, seemingly outside time.

Played solely on acoustic instruments in Iceland (and featuring long-time string collaborators Amiina, as well as the Kopavogsdaetur choir) and then endlessly toyed with on solar-powered laptops in a raw food commune in some far corner of Hawaii, Riceboy Sleeps has a suitably "organic feel" to it; the wave-like lapping of its tidal flow buried beneath analogue hiss, crackle, pulse and distortion; the creaking of rigging and sometimes indeterminate falling delicately over; and on "Howl", ruminative animal chirrups, grunts, snorts and purrs.

Sometimes it feels like a record coming back at you across the seas of time, with ancient Washington Phillips-style tumbling musical figures and stumbling crescendos as slow as a sunrise, or a weightless mantra-like choir singing from somewhere in the Middle Ages down the centuries.

Track Listing

1. Happiness
2. Atlas Song
3. Indian Summer
4. Stokkseyri
5. Boy 1904
6. All The Big Trees
7. Daniell In The Sea
8. Howl
9. Sleeping Giant

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3596 in Music
• Released on: 2009-07-20
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: CD
• Dimensions: .11 pounds

Customer Reviews

Stunning in its other-worldly beauty
This is a very impressive piece of ambient Icelandic acoustic music. Very ethereal and the strings and occasional wordless choral vocals give it a "church like" feeling. Similar in mood to Eno's "Thursday Afternoon" but wider ranging in its textures. It also reminded me in parts of their fellow Icelanders múm, and naturally of some of the quieter passages of Sigur Ros's music without sounding directly like them. Easily the best thing I've heard so far in 2009 and it reveals new qualities with each playing. Quite beautiful

haunting
I'd imagine most people who purchase this album will be Sigur Ros fans and many reviews have tried to draw comparisons between the two groups. I, however, think it stands up in its own right and is distinctive enough to leave an impression.

Out of curiosity I'd watched the video to "Daniell in the Sea" on youtube and was immediately impressed by its otherworldly atmosphere and beautiful choral arrangement. Wondering whether this was a typical example of Riceboy Sleeps I then listened to a couple more tracks and realised that the rest of their music was equally haunting.

When trying to describe the sound I keep thinking of an orchestra playing underwater as daft as that sounds. The instrumentation is uncertain although strings can be heard drifting in and out of focus as well a number of intriguing samples. Occasionally I'm reminded of the quieter moments of Sigur Ros but most of the time I'm immersed in the overall atmosphere of the music.

For me the best tracks are those that utilise voices such as "Boy 1904" and the aforementioned "Daniell in the Sea". Jonsi's unique voice is only noticeable on one track and even then it's used more as a texture rather than a lead melody.

A couple of tracks don't particularly stand out or go anywhere but taken as a whole it's a beautiful and haunting record. Play it late at night and it works perfectly.

Most beautiful album ever?
Riceboy Sleeps

I think this CD could well be the most beautiful album ive ever heard. I drift even further away listening to this than a Sigur Ros release-which is definitely saying something! This is certainly music that can't fail to bring objective thought into your mind; with pictures and thoughts-pondering on what life can be like. The direction that this CD takes in the story of Jonsi and Sigur Ros is that Sigur Ros have been known for making otherwordly music that in the case of () is amazingly crafted, and emotionally crushing, and in the case of Takk... majestic and joyous. The joys of Takk... pale in comparison to this. This album is utterly overflowing with radiance and describes being in Love with somebody so deeply that it is almost too much to bear. So all I can add is to say that if you are even considering buying this album, then you definitely should, and here's to hoping my wife (of the future) likes this CD.