1001 Other AlbumsAfter realizing that the last two albums I had listened to both had “II” in the title (that is, the Roman numeral for 2), I casually asked Mastodon for recommendations of more albums with “II” in the title…and I promptly got 30 dumped in my lap. I then realized that we have a handful of albums in The List that meet this very random but simple criterion. And so, I thought that, as an easy way to pick the next albums to write-up, I’d go through our II albums. So, here we are, a new series called “Too Much To Listen To”, but, you know, with “II”s. And, obviously, these posts will only go up on a Tuesday – or, as the kids say,* “II-sday”. ((*No kids say this.))
Before turning to our first II, I wanted to say that I think it’s interesting we have so many IIs for a list of must-hear albums. Are these IIs more representative of the band’s sound? Are they better than their predecessors (the “I”s)? Or were the submitters simply thinking “hehe, that’s how we’ll get them!”, knowing that the curious listener would need to at least listen to the “I”s as well? And, why do so many bands name an album “II”? Is it laziness or marketing genius? A hint that it may be more of a contract fulfillment thing, or a product of a rather successful writing process during the previous album?
Well, in this series, we’ll be taking a look at both the II that is in The List, and the I that is not, to see if we can guess what the sitch is with each pair. In the last post of the series, I’ll also include the list of all the other II albums that Mastodonians recommended but aren’t officially on The List.
So, our first II album is the neoclassical Epicycle II by multi-instrumentalist Gyða Valtýsdóttir, founding member of múm (who is also on The List); the album is number 403 on The List, and was submitted by yours truly (Mastodon handle: buffyleigh).
Epicycle II has become one of my go-to albums throughout the pandemic. Though not released until the end of August 2020, it was my most-listened-to album that year, and, out of all the other fantastic albums in my Top Albums of 2020 list, it remains my most-listened-to album of 2020. It has such a magical feel to it, in part due to the help of Gyða’s fellow Icelanders, including Jónsi and Kjartan Sveinsson of Sigur Rós, Anna Thorvaldsdóttir, Ólöf Arnalds, Skúli Sverrisson, Úlfur Hansson, Daníel Bjarnason, and María Huld Markan Sigfúsdóttir, among others. The track “Liquidity”, featuring Kjartan on piano, is one of those breathtaking songs that is a journey in itself, a song that I swear I can visualize Gyða singing and playing her cello in my mind, though I’ve never seen a video of her performing it. It instantly calms my brain, and I’ve been known to skip right to it, and then keep hitting the back button to replay the track over and over and over…
And so, how does Epicycle II connect to the first Epicycle? Well, on the surface, other than both being very lovely, the two albums don’t obviously connect at all. Epicycle, released in 2016, is a bit of a concept album, a collection of songs and composers from 100AD to 1970 that have influenced Gyða musically, including pieces from Schubert, Schumann, and Hildegard von Bingen; Epicycle II, on the other hand, are all songs written either by Gyða or by the artist she collaborates with on that track. Perhaps because it is a collection, Epicycle feels like a compilation, while Epicycle II has a lovely cohesive flow to it. Epicycle is primarily just Gyða on her cello, while Epicycle II features a lot more instrumentation (including electronic work) and, as mentioned above, a LOT of collaborators. Epicycle is quite light on vocal work, while Epicycle II is full of it.
The connection, perhaps, lies in the list of collaborators. My hunch is that including and featuring all these contemporary musicians simply continues the list of Gyða’s musical influences from the first Epicycle, but this time closer to home, in terms of both time and location. And it’s this that makes Epicycle II stand above Epicycle for me – the musical talent that comes out of Iceland is mindboggling, and II gives us just a taste of what is going on there right now. At any rate, listening to Epicycle before Epicycle II is not required, and I can’t promise that you’ll like the other if you like one of them; however, I’d definitely recommend taking a listen to both.
- Bandcamp: Gyða Valtýsdóttir – Epicycle II
- Discogs: Gyða Valtýsdóttir – Epicycle II
- Bandcamp: Gyða Valtýsdóttir – Epicycle
- Discogs: Gyða Valtýsdóttir – Epicycle
#1001OtherAlbums #2020s #AnnaThorvaldsdóttir #ÓlöfArnalds #ÚlfurHansson #DaníelBjarnason #GyðaValtýsdóttir #Iceland #IIMuchIIListenII #Jónsi #KjartanSveinsson #MaríaHuldMarkanSigfúsdóttir #neoclassical #SkúliSverrisson
