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Sigur Ros Information
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'Sigur Rós' is an Icelandic post-rock band with shoegazing and minimalist elements. The name is Icelandic for "victory rose". It is pronounced 'see oor roce', or in the International Phonetic Alphabet, although a more popular and common (and incorrect) variation is 'si-gar ross'.
History
Jón éžór (Jónsi) Birgisson, Georg Hólm and égúst é†var Gunnarsson formed the group in Reykjavék 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 égætis 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, égætis 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.
After the release of égætis 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 égúst left the band after the recording of égætis Byrjun and was replaced by Orri Páll Dé½rason. In 2002, their highly anticipated follow-up album ( ) was released. There are no definitive titles for the eight compositions on the disc. All lyrics are sung entirely in "Hopelandic", an improvised nonsense language created by Jón éžór Birgisson which resembles the sound of the Icelandic language.
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. Hoppépolla, the second official single off of Takk..., was released on November 28 alongside a new studio remake of Hafssól, a song which was previously released on the band's 1997 debut, Von.
Band Members
*Jón éžór "Jónsi" Birgisson - Vocals, Guitar
*Georg "Goggi" Hólm - bass guitar
*Kjartan "Kjarri" Sveinsson - keyboard (1999-present)
*Orri Páll Dé½rason - drums (1999-present)
Former Members
*égúst é†var Gunnarsson - drums (1994-1999)
Discography
Albums
*Von (Hope) (1997)
*Von brigði (Hope alteration) (1998)
*égætis 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...) (2005) #16 UK, #27 US, #1 Iceland
Singles and EPs
*Svefn-g-englar (1999)
*Né½ batteré (2000)
*Steindór Andersen / Rémur EP (2001)
*Untitled #1 (A.K.A. Vaka) (2003)
*Ba Ba Ti Ki Di Do (2004)
*Glósóli (2005) (Europe only)
*Sæglópur (2005) (US only)
*Hoppépolla (2005) #35 UK
Other works
*Smekkleysa é Hálfa é–ld (1994)
*Popp é Reykjavék (album) (1998)
*Popp é Reykjavék (film) (1998)
*Englar Alheimsins (album) (2000)
*Englar Alheimsins (film) (2002)
*Hlemmur Soundtrack (2002)
*Hrafnagaldur é“ðins (2002)
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