Von

幽微如独身前往人心极地，寒凉中仍指望星火。 冰岛天团宛如远古预言般撼动人心的降临。 如果你想知道Sigur Rós为何被称为仙团，可能要从他们第一张专辑开始听起，当时他们对人的处境便敏锐得一览无遗，黑暗与光亮都不避讳，器乐的使用如帘幕开启般穿梭各个结界，人心的蝼蚁更四窜而出。 《Von》是Sigur Rós发行在1997年的第一张专辑，在他们广为世人知道以前，你可藉由这张专辑，感受到Sigur Rós一路以来的轨迹。强大的洞察力，与其著眼于细微处意旨的巨大，当时便有下针如巨斧的气势。Von的意思为希望，这张专辑人的气味颇重，以俯瞰的角度，观察在地如斯憔悴的人类，开场曲〈Sigur Rós〉如深海女妖的召唤，阴森处有鬼魅细语方歇，沙沙的铃鼓声，与盘旋于天际的声效，人在危险的边缘安歇，回到本为兽的灵敏感官，才真正安心。 这张在音乐格局上已相当宏观，第二首〈Dögun〉从开场森罗殿转向破晓之境，配上方言祷告的吟唱，先人风骨杂沓消失在远方，〈Hún Jörð〉（原意为地球）美声配上如散弹枪般四处迸射的鼓声，戛然而止。〈Leit Að Lífi〉空间音效产生的呼啸张力，瞬间断讯，呼应歌名，人生需要多大的意志才能搜寻得到，〈Veröld ný óg óð〉反拨弦的力道陈述歌曲要重振勇气的意涵，第六首〈18 sekúndur fyrir sólarupprás〉长达18秒的寂静，以及最后一首〈Rukrym〉，前奏的宁静窜入第五首〈Myrkur)（原意为黑暗）的部分颠倒演奏，打破旋律的定律，黑暗也随之破碎而散落。 这张专辑乍听极其幽微，如你独身前往人心极地，寒凉中仍指望星火。令人想起天使长久以来不解的疑问：「人算什麽？祢竟顾念他？」（出自圣经诗篇），而这亘古答案，他们在1997年时就给了。 The heaps of praise during 2000 surrounding 1999's ?g?tis Byrjun brought surprisingly little attention to Sigur Rós' first record, released in 1997. Remaining available only through the band's Icelandic label, it took some effort to obtain, but those who did get a copy probably found it to be just as adventurous as Ag?tis. Though darker and more fractured than the string-laden nooks of the follow-up, it's just as sprawling and outright bombastic. It's remarkable that such a young band would be this experimental at this stage in their lifespan, but the sheer breadth gets to be an albatross. Poking fun at '70s prog rock is just as easy as shooting at cement gargoyles on a suburban rooftop, especially when you're an indie kid or a fan of post-rock. But Sigur Rós makes Yes look like the Minutemen. Whittled down to 40 minutes, Von would be considerably more effective than it already is. As a mood setter, the 10-minute opening track really takes about three minutes to do what it needs, and a few other spots seem to drag on for the sake of sucking time. That doesn't prevent Von from being impressive, veering from Gavin Bryars-style aquatic minimalism to My Bloody Valentine-style dream pop. Varying states of isolationist ambience run throughout, whether evoking unrest or tranquil rest. You can practically envision a stray headboard floating through the Sinking of the Titanic-type passages, and the lush "Myrkur" comes from a planet where MBV's Kevin Shields and Kitchens of Distinction's Julian Swales are accorded the level or worship that Earth gives to Hendrix and Clapton. And then there's that voice, one of the most distinctly unintelligible voices since the Cocteau Twins' Liz Fraser. Boy? Girl? One would be hard-pressed to guess without liner notes. Based on pure sound, Von is just as much of a treat as the acclaimed follow-up.