Sigur Rós

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sigur Rós is an Icelandic post-rock band with melodic, classical and minimalist elements. The name is Icelandic for "victory rose" and is pronounced "see oor roce", or ['sɪɣʏr rous] in the International Phonetic Alphabet, although a more popular (and incorrect) variation in the English-speaking world is 'sigger ross' or 'sigger roy-ss'. The band is known for their ethereal sound and lead singer Jónsi's near flawless 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.

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. They soon won a record deal with a local 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". (In English, the album is sometimes known by the alternative name "Recycle Bin".)

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 the television series 24, and in the 2004 films Mysterious Skin and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou where the song Starálfur was heard.

After the release of Ágætis Byrjun, the band became perhaps most well known for Birgisson'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. Some lyrics are sung in "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' 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...), falls between the styles of their first two albums, 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 which was previously released on the band's 1997 debut, Von. Hoppípolla was used in the trailers for the BBC's natural life programme Planet Earth in 2006, as well as the closing credits for the 2006 FA Cup final and following this, demand for the single grew. It was made more widely available by EMI in consequence.

An extended Sæglópur EP has been pushed back from its original release date, May 8. This is likely due to Hoppípolla's sudden demand. The EP will likely see release some time this summer. Sigur Rós have recorded four songs to appear on the EP (Sæglópur, Refur, Ófriður, and Kafari).

Sigur Rós has sold over 2 million albums worldwide.

Sigur Rós is currently on a major world tour with stops in throughout Europe, United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Japan.

Band members
Jón Þór "Jónsi" Birgisson - Vocals, Guitar
Georg "Goggi" Hólm - bass guitar
Kjartan "Kjarri" Sveinsson - keyboard Piano, Organs, Guitar, Flute, Tin whistle, Oboe, Banjo (1999-present)
Orri Páll Dýrason - drums (1999-present)

Former members
Ágúst Ævar Gunnarsson - drums (1994-1999)

Discography
Albums
Von (Hope) (1997)
Von brigði (Hope alteration) (1998)
Ágætis byrjun (An All Right Start) (1999) Voted best Icelandic album of the 20th century
( ) (2002) #51 US, two Grammy nominations, one for Best Alternative Music Album, the other for Best Recording Package
Takk... (Thanks... or Thank you...) (2005) #16 UK (Gold Album), #27 US, #1 Iceland, #5 Portugal (Gold Album) #18 AUS

Singles and EPs
Svefn-g-englar (1999)
Ný batterí (2000)
Hjartað hamast (2000)
Viðrar vel til loftárása (2000)
Olsen olsen (2000)
Starálfur (2000)
Flugufrelsarinn (2000)
Steindór Andersen / Rímur EP (2001)
Untitled #1 (A.K.A. Vaka) (2003)
Untitled #8 (A.K.A. Popplagið) (2003)
Ba Ba Ti Ki Di Do (2004)
Glósóli (2005) (Europe only)
Hoppípolla (2005) #24 UK
Gong (2005)
Sæglópur (2006) (Japan only)


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