Sigur Ros' Film Stirs, Tunes Safe

Icelandic rock gods Sigur Ros look stunning in their gorgeous new documentary Heima, which followed the band on last year’s whirlwind homecoming tour. The wilderness provides the perfect backdrop to their experimental post-rock and "homespun laissez-faire philosophy,” says LAist’s glowing Joshua Pressman, and "their national-hero identity becomes far more palpable."

The accompanying album, Hvarf/Helm, is less thrilling, says Allmusic’s Jason Lymangrover in awarding the double-discer 3 of 5 stars. One disc is a collection of rarities; though "consistently sprawling and lunar, " they don't break any new ground. The other is acoustically performed re-makes of old favorites, many warmer than the originals, but otherwise not a departure, which may be, he adds,  "perfectly fitting for a slow-motion shot of an iceberg melting in a spring sunrise." (More music stories.)