VALGEIR SIGURÐSSON – Draumalandiđ

Bedroom Community

A movie soundtrack by Sigurđsson, and heaven knows how difficult this writer finds reviewing this kind of release without having watched the connected images, as in this circumstance. Sticking to sheer sounds, there’s no problem whatsoever in declaring that they’re as beautiful as we always anticipate from this label. Bedroom Community’s usual suspects are all in attendance: Nico Muhly arranging, Ben Frost adding restless textures somewhere, Sam Amidon singing (in Icelandic!) the opening song, obviously a local folk tune slightly warped by the studio treatment. The music’s overall character tends to a region which could be described as “evolution of late Philip Glass”; there are segments and themes that openly recall the erstwhile minimalist master’s orchestral method quite directly. Except for the closing track “Helter Smelter”, which is really too pompous a finale for my taste, the music is fairly delicate and well articulated, bearing the weight of a mere listen (minus the visual content, I mean) somewhat effortlessly. Better if taken in little doses and at the right moments, Draumalandiđ is a fine opus in the area for which it was designed, though not a truly memorable album.