SIGUR RÓS
Ba Ba Ti Ki Di Do
CDEM638
CDS
EMI 2004

The excellent Sigur Rós return after almost two years of silence, with this, their first post Fat-Cat release. Composed for American choreographer Merce Cunningham’s dance piece Split Sides, which was premiered at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in October last year. The three tracks, Ba Ba, Ti Ki and Di Do, were composed independently of the choreography, and only confronted to Cunningham’s work on the night of the premiere.
Built around four sound sources, including piano, music box, miked-up ballet shoes and electronic playback, these compositions are very different from Sigur Rós’s usual work, yet, the influence of their music is palpable all the way through. Despite the lack of guitars and Jón Þór Birgisson’s haunting voice, the band retain the emotional canvas of their previous work.
Here, each track appears to echo the previous one and build on its original structure to develop further. Ba Ba and Ti Ki are entirely instrumental with music boxes providing the most obvious identifiable sonic element, but on Di Do, Sigur Rós inject some cut-up samples of Cunningham’s voice. While the music boxes are still perceptible in the background, the voice elements provides a interesting layer of noise that appears to interact with the music for a moment before drowning it entirely.
Due to its specific purpose, this EP is likely to surprise and disconcert some of Sigur Rós’s fans, yet these three tracks are superbly crafted and find the band in total creative mood.

ANIMAL COLLECTIVE
Who Could Win A Rabbit
7FAT15
7”
Fat-Cat Records 2004

The last year has undoubtedly been that of Animal Collective. Despite having been around for a few years now, the band really came to the attention of the world with no less than three albums last year. Here Comes The Indian and Campfire Songs were the simple continuation of the outfit’s earlier albums, collected on one release by Fat-Cat ahead of the band’s first album for the Brighton-based label, yet they proved to be extremely surprising and intriguing for most. Having digested the work of The Incredible String Band, The Beach Boys and many more, Avey Tare and Panda Bear, the most constant nucleus of this ever-changing formation, set off to create something extremely personal and different from almost anything around. Sung Tongs, the band’s fifth album, released earlier this year, built on the pair’s earlier work.
Taken from the aforementioned album, Who Could Win A Rabbit is perhaps one of the band’s most accessible songs. Sounding at times like a drunken pop song, the title track is in fact an exhilaratingly happy and twisted piece of work. At just two minutes and nineteen seconds, this is a maelstrom of found sounds, acoustic guitars and tribal-like vocals and drumming, summing up perfectly what Animal Collective are about, that is pop music without attitude, folk without pretensions, and experimental music without non-sense. The track is backed with the previously unreleased Baby Day. Already a live favourite, this song is apparently more peaceful then Who Could Win… Yet, with its constant linear drumming and weird glitchy noise forming its backbone, it is as disconcerting as anything the band has ever produced.
Released exclusively on seven inch, Who Could Win A Rabbit is a welcome addition to the band’s discography, and is an ideal point of entry for their work.