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Sigur Rós is an Icelandic post-rock band with shoegazing elements. The name is Icelandic for "victory rose". It is pronounced 'see ur rose'.
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History
Jón Ţór Birgisson, Georg Holm and Ágúst formed the group in Reykjavík in August 1994. Their name is taken from Jónsi's sister Sigurrós, who was born the same day. They soon won a record deal with a local record label, Bad Taste Records. In 1997, they released Von (Hope) and in 1998 a remix collection named Von brigđi. The name is a play on words in Icelandic since Vonbrigđi means 'Disappointment but Von brigđi means Hope alteration.
International acclaim came with 1999's Ágćtis 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. Two songs, Ágćtis Byrjun's 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.
After the release of Ágćtis Byrjun, the band became perhaps most well known for Birgisson's signature style of playing guitar: with the bow from a cello. This combination of musical instruments produces a strange, yet somewhat harmonic sound that sometimes creates a lot of feedback. Ágúst originally wanted to use the bow while playing his bass guitar, but that did not sound right to the band members.
Drummer Ágúst left the band after the recording of Ágćtis Byrjun and was replaced by Orri Páll Dýrason. In 2002, mixed reviews greeted their highly-anticipated follow-up, ( ). The album has no song titles and Jónsi sings entirely in Hopelandic (an improvised nonsense language resembling the sound of Icelandic). This generally more subdued collection of eight lengthy tracks alienated some listeners and enraptured others.
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. Meanwhile, a new album, rumored to fall somewhere between the styles of their two major releases, is currently being recorded and is slated for a September 2005 release.
Band Members
- Jón Ţór "Jónsi" Birgisson - Vocals, Guitar
- Georg "Goggi" Hólm - bass guitar
- Kjartan "Kjarri" Svensson - keyboard (1999-present)
- Orri Páll Dýrason - drums (1999-present)
Former Members
- Ágúst Ćvar Gunnarsson - drums (1994-1999)
Discography
Albums
- Von (1997)
- Von brigđi (1998)
- Ágćtis byrjun (1999)
- ( ) (2002)
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)
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)
External links
- Eighteen Seconds Before Sunrise (http://www.sigur-ros.co.uk) - Official site, including many music and video resources.
- Sigur Rós Torrents (http://www.drrnwbb.com/bt/) - Torrents of various Sigur Rós concerts / rare songs and DVDs.
- SigurRós.de (http://www.sigurros.de) - German-language homepage /including many collector stuff and a big discography.de:Sigur Rós
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