Sigur Ros Wikipedia

Sigur Rós (['sɪɣʏr rous] (help·info)) is an Icelandic post-rock band with melodic, classical and minimalist elements. The band is known for its ethereal sound and lead singer Jónsi’s falsetto. Some of the band's contemporaries include múm, The Album Leaf, and Amiina; all of which hail from the same creative and vibrant Icelandic post-rock music scene.
Contents
[hide]
1 History
2 Band members
3 Discography
3.1 Albums
3.2 Singles and EPs
3.3 Other works
3.4 Music Videos
4 Music on Films & TV
5 Trivia
6 Notes
7 External links
[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 Café and "Untitled 3" (a.k.a. Samskeyti) can be heard in the final scene from the Greg Araki film Mysterious Skin. They are also used in Enki Bilal's Immortel (Ad Vitam).
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.


Sigur Rós concert in Reykjavík 2005
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 has started work on a full-length follow up album to Takk..., which they expect to finish recording this year.[1] They will also be performing twice in the United States in February.[1]
To date, Sigur Rós have 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

1. Von
(Hope)
1997

2. Von Brigði
(Disappointment or Hope Alteration)
1998

3. Ágætis byrjun
(An alright start)
June, 1999

4. ( )
October 28, 2002

5. Takk...
(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"
E4_(TV) Advert (The O.C.) (2006) - Sæglópur
Did you hear the news? (2006)- Vaka
[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, Gwyneth Paltrow and bands such as Metallica, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bush, Coldplay, Foo Fighters, Rage Against the Machine, CKY, No Doubt, Radiohead and Silverchair.
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 often performs live and in the studio along with Sigur Rós, and is helping with the Takk... tour.
[edit]Notes

^ a b Maher, Dave. "Sigur Rós: "New Album in the Works"", 01.15.2007, pp. 1. Retrieved on 01.15.2007. (in English)
[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
Ný Batterí - A Sigur Rós fanlisting
Sigur Rós