Sigur Ros

Sigur Ros biography

Sigur Rós () is an Icelandic band known for its ethereal sound, frontman Jónsi Birgisson's falsetto vocals, the use of bowed guitar and the noticeable incorporation of classical and minimalist aesthetic elements into their music. "Sigur Rós" is Icelandic for "Victory Rose". The band was named after Birgisson's sister.

Jón ížór "Jónsi" Birgisson (guitar and vocals), Georg Hólm (bass) and í�gíºst í†var Gunnarsson (drums) formed the group in Reykjaví­k in August 1994. Their name is Icelandic wordplay: while the individual words Sigur and Rós mean, respectively, Victory and Rose, "Victory Rose" wouldn't be grammatically correct; the name is actually borrowed from Jónsi's younger sister Sigurrós, who was born the same day as the band was formed, and then split into two words. They soon won a record deal with the local Sugarcubes-owned record label, Bad Taste. In 1997, they released Von (pronounced , meaning "hope") and in 1998 a remix collection named Von brigí°i (). This name is also Icelandic wordplay: Vonbrigí°i means "disappointment", but Von brigí°i means "variations on Von". The band was joined by Kjartan Sveinsson on keyboards in 1998. He is the only member of Sigur Rós with musical training, and has contributed most of the orchestral and string arrangements for their later work.

International acclaim came with 1999's í�gí¦tis byrjun ( "An all right start"). The album's reputation spread by word of mouth over the following two years. Soon critics worldwide hailed it as one of the great albums of its time, and the band was playing support to established acts such as Radiohead. Three songs, "í�gí¦tis byrjun", "Svefn-g-englar", and a live take of the then-unreleased "Njósnavélin" (later 'un-named' "Untitled #4") appeared in the Cameron Crowe film Vanilla Sky. The former two also subsequently appeared in the US version of the television series Queer as Folk. Their music has also appeared in the TV series 24 with "Ní½ batterí­", and with "Svefn-g-englar". 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. In Enki Bilal's Immortel (Ad Vitam) the song "Hjartaí° hamast (bamm bamm bamm)" is used. The song "Svefn-g-englar" was also used on V (2009 TV series) on November 24, 2009 and features prominently in Café de Flore (film) released in 2011.

After the release of í�gí¦tis byrjun, the band became well known for Jónsi's signature style of reverb accentuated guitar work using a cello's bow.

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