Sigur Rós
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| Sigur Rós
<tr style="text-align: center;"><td colspan="3">Image:KOTeb5f8 sigurros.jpg </td></tr> | ||
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| Background information
<tr><td>Origin</td><td colspan="2">Iceland</td></tr><tr><td>Genre(s)</td><td colspan="2">Post-rock, Ambient</td></tr><tr><td>Years active</td><td colspan="2">1994–present</td></tr><tr><td style="padding-right: 1em;">Label(s)</td><td colspan="2">Geffen |
Sigur Rós (['sɪɣʏr rous] ) are an Icelandic post-rock band with melodic, classical and minimalist elements. The name is Icelandic for "victory rose" and is pronounced "see oor roce". The band is known for their ethereal sound and lead singer Jónsi’s falsetto. Some of the band's contemporaries include múm and Amiina; both of which hail from the same creative and vibrant Icelandic post-rock music scene.
Contents |
[edit] History
Jón Þór (Jónsi) Birgisson, Georg Hólm and Ágúst Ævar Gunnarsson formed the group in Reykjavík in August 1994. Their name is taken from Jónsi's younger sister Sigurrós, who was born the same day as the band was. They soon won a record deal with the local Sugarcubes owned record label, Bad Taste. In 1997, they released Von (Hope) and in 1998 a remix collection named Von brigði. The name is Icelandic wordplay: Vonbrigði means "disappointment", but Von brigði means "hope alteration".
International acclaim came with 1999's Ágætis byrjun (An alright start) for which the band were joined by Kjartan Sveinsson. The album's reputation slowly spread by word of mouth over the next two years. Soon many critics worldwide hailed it as one of the best albums of its time and the band was playing with Radiohead and other big names. Three songs, Ágætis byrjun's title track, its first single "Svefn-g-englar", and a live take of the then-unreleased "Njósnavélin" (to become "Untitled #4") appeared in the Cameron Crowe film Vanilla Sky. Their music has also appeared in 24 (the TV series), CSI and CSI Miami. In 2004 Wes Anderson used "Starálfur" in The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou as did the Emmy winning 2005 TV film The Girl in the Caféand "Untitled 3" (a.k.a. Samskeyti) can be heard in the final scene from the Greg Araki film Mysterious Skin.
After the release of Ágætis byrjun, the band became perhaps most well known for Jónsi's signature style of playing guitar with the bow from a cello, accentuated with reverb, creating a sweeping, fluid sound that is unique for an electric guitar.
Drummer Ágúst left the band after the recording of Ágætis byrjun and was replaced by Orri Páll Dýrason. In 2002, their highly anticipated follow-up album ( ) was released. Upon release all tracks on the album were untitled, though the band later published song names on their website. Famously all of the lyrics on ( ) are sung in vonlenska (also known as Hopelandic), nonsensical vocalisations which resemble the sound of the Icelandic language. It has also been said that the listener is supposed to interpret their own meanings of the lyrics which can then be written in the blank pages in the album booklet.
In October of 2003, Sigur Rós joined Radiohead in composing music for Merce Cunningham's dance piece Split Sides; Sigur Rós’s three tracks were named Ba Ba Ti Ki Di Do and released in March of 2004. The band's 1997 debut album Von also finally found a U.S. and U.K. release in October of 2004.
Their latest album, Takk... (Thanks...), combines their second album's style with a more rockish, structured sound, and was released on September 13, 2005, with a legal download of their first single, "Glósóli", made available on August 15. For North American fans, "Sæglópur" was made available for download on August 16. "Hoppípolla", the second official single from Takk..., was released on November 28 alongside a new studio remake of "Hafsól", a song that was previously released on the band's 1997 debut, Von. "Hoppípolla" was used in the trailers for the BBC's natural history series Planet Earth in 2006, as well as the closing credits for the 2006 FA Cup final and ITV's coverage of the 2006 Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race, adverts for the BBC's coverage of England games during the 2006 FIFA World Cup, on television advertisements for RTÉ's gaelic games coverage in Ireland and on an advert for Oxfam. It was also utilised on the trailer of the film Children of Men. Following this, demand for the single grew. It was made more widely available by EMI in consequence.
An extended Sæglópur EP was released on July 10, 2006 in most parts of the world and on August 8 in the United States. Its original release date was May 8, but because of the sudden demand of "Hoppípolla" it was pushed back from that date. Sigur Rós recorded three new songs to appear on the EP ("Refur", "Ó Fridur", and "Kafari").
In July 2006, Sigur Rós finished a major world tour with stops in Europe, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Japan. They followed up with a series of free outdoor concerts throughout Iceland in July, which were filmed for a future DVD release. The band is currently taking a break from touring and recording.
To date, Sigur Rós has sold over 2 million albums worldwide.
[edit] Band members
- Jón Þór “Jónsi” Birgisson - vocals, guitar, bowed guitar, keyboards, harmonica
- Georg “Goggi” Hólm - bass guitar, glockenspiel
- Kjartan “Kjarri” Sveinsson - keyboard, piano, organs, guitar, flute, tin whistle, oboe, banjo (1998~present)
- Orri Páll Dýrason - drums, keyboards (1999~present)
Former members
- Ágúst Ævar Gunnarsson - drums (1994~1999)
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
 (Hope) <center>1997 |
 (Disappointment or Hope Alteration) <center>1998 |
 (An alright start)<center>June, 1999 |
 <center>October 28 2002 |
 <center>(Thanks...) September 12, 2005 |
[edit] Singles and EPs
- Svefn-g-englar (1999)
- Ný batterí (2000)
- Steindór Andersen / Rímur EP (2001)
- Untitled #1 (a.k.a. Vaka) (2003)
- Ba Ba Ti Ki Di Do (2004)
- Hoppípolla (2005) #24 UK
- Sæglópur (2006)
- Note: The last entry was a DVD/CD single "doublepack" that also featured previous videos for tracks such as Hoppípolla. Due to this, it was excluded from the UK Singles chart.
[edit] Other works
- Smekkleysa í hálfa öld (1994)
- Popp í Reykjavík (album) (1998)
- Popp í Reykjavík (film) (1998)
- Englar alheimsins (album) (2000)
- Englar alheimsins (film) (2002)
- Hlemmur Soundtrack (2002)
- Hrafnagaldur Óðins (2002])
- The Loch Ness Kelpie Soundtrack (2004)
[edit] Music Videos
- 2000 Svefn-g-englar (August Jakobsson)
- 2001 Vidrar Vel Til Loftárása (Celebrator = Arni & Kinski)
- 2003 Untitled 1 (a.k.a. Vaka) (Floria Sigismondi)
- 2005 Glósóli (Arni & Kinski)
- 2005 Hoppípolla (Arni & Kinski)
- 2006 Sæglópur (Sigur Rós & Eva Maria Daniels)
[edit] Music on Films & TV
- 24 ep 1.19 6pm - 7pm, Ný Batterí.
- Vanilla Sky (2001), "Svefn-G-Englar", "Ágætis Byrjun", and a live recording of "Untitled 4 (a.k.a. Njósnavélin, The Nothing Song)."
- Immortel (Ad Vitam) (2004), "Hjartað hamast (bamm bamm bamm)"
- The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004) Starálfur.
- Mysterious Skin (2004), "Untitled 3 (a.k.a. Samskeyti)" end credits.
- Screaming Masterpiece (2005), live performance.
- The Girl in the Café (2005), Starálfur.
- Top Gear ep 8/6 2005 Bíum Bíum bambaló
- Planet Earth (2006), BBC trailer used "Hoppípolla."
- Roving Mars (2006), "Glósóli" end credits.
- Children of Men (2006), trailer features "Hoppípolla."
- CSI: Crime Scene Investigation ep. 2.8 Slaves of Las Vegas (15 November 2001) "Svefn-g-englar."
- CSI: Miami ep. 1.24 Body Count (19 May 2003) "Untitled 3 (a.k.a. Samskeyti)"
- Restoration Village ep 4/9 Scotland (18 August 2006) Starálfur & Viðrar vel til loftárása
- Queer As Folk (Season 2; Episode 2), "Svefn-G-Englar"
- ITV News - 3 October 2006 - Hoppípolla
- Sky Sports October Ad
- Angels of the Universe (2001), wrote two songs on the soundtrack (the rest by Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson)
- Oxfam Advert - Hoppípolla
- X-Factor ITV - Hoppípolla
- 2006 Wimbledon Championships (2006) - BBC trailer used "Sæglópur"
[edit] Trivia
- Drummer Orri is nicknamed 'the animal' because his father's name is Dýri, which roughly means 'animal'. He is listed in the Icelandic phone book as "Orri Páll Dýrason, janitor", although he has never had this occupation. Orri's wife is listed as "janitor's wife".
- Bassist Georg is educated as a filmmaker. He is occasionally referred to as 'white fang' after his ability to catch trout with his teeth.
- Keyboardist Kjartan is the only member of Sigur Rós who has studied music. He composes the string arrangements for the band.
- Singer Jónsi uses a cello bow on his guitar. Ágúst, the former drummer, got the bow for his birthday and Georg started using it with his bass. It sounded horrible, so Jónsi tried it on his guitar instead, producing the band's now-signature sound. Jónsi has since used the bow at every concert.
- Their first album is entitled Von, which means "hope". Their following album was a remix album of Von, called Von brigði, which means "hope alteration", while "vonbrigði" means "disappointment". The title of the third album, Ágætis byrjun, means "An alright start". The last lyrics of the album are "we sit down excited / listen to ourselves play the music / but the sound wasn't good / we were all in agreement / we will do better next time / this is an alright start". These lyrics refer to the band's listening to Von upon its completion, agreeing that the next album they make (Ágætis byrjun) will be better.
- The first three of the band's music videos were originally meant for different songs, but split decisions were made before shooting to change to the final songs. The Svefn-g-englar video was originally meant for Viðrar vel til loftárása, the Viðrar vel til loftárása video was originally meant for Starálfur and the Vaka (untitled #1) video was originally meant for Njósnavélin (untitled #4).
- In 2000, Sigur Rós did the voices for an Icelandic children's mathematics video game called Reiknibíllinn (the Calculation Car).
- In June of 2000, Sigur Rós made an unannounced surprise appearance at a small music shop in Reykjavík under the alias band name W.H.M. Insiders have later revealed that this abbreviation stands for We Hate Music.
- The producers of the Late Show with David Letterman offered the band 3 minutes to play on the show in early 2001. The band declined because of the short time slot and were then offered a compromise of 4 minutes. This time slot was still far too little for the band, whose songs are 7-8 minutes long on average.
- Sigur Rós have an impressive celebrity fan base. Celebrities that have either attended Sigur Rós concerts or raved about them in the press include Eric Szmanda, Brad Pitt, Madonna, Tom Cruise, Gillian Anderson, Jason Lee, Tommy Lee, Natalie Portman, David Bowie, Björk, Moby, Meg White and bands such as Metallica, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bush, Coldplay, Foo Fighters, Rage Against the Machine, No Doubt, and Radiohead.
- New Jersey post-hardcore band Thursday recorded a cover of "Ny Batteri" that was rumored to be for a compilation album; the track later appeared as the bonus song for the UK and Japanese releases of War All The Time.
- Associated act Amiina are sometimes introduced by Sigur Rós directly, and then Amiina serenade the audience while Sigur Rós get ready. Amiina helping on Takk... tour.
[edit] External links
- Eighteen Seconds Before Sunrise - Official site, including many music and video resources.
- www.sigurros.is - Another Official site, created for the release of Takk.
- Label website
- Official Myspace Page
- Sigur Rós interview at musicOMH.com
- Sigur Rós at Last.fm
- Sigur Rós Lyrics at Lyriki, the lyrics Wiki
- Sigur Rós Discography - extensive discography
- Sigur Rós Download options - Live recording download information
| Sigur Rós |
| Jón Þór Birgisson | Georg Hólm | Kjartan Sveinsson | Orri Páll Dýrason |
| Former Members: Ágúst Ævar Gunnarsson |
| Discography |
|---|
| Albums: Von | Von Brigði | Ágætis byrjun | ( ) | Takk... |
| Related articles |
| Amiina | Hrafnagaldr Óðins |
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