Sigur Rós | |
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Background information | |
Origin | Reykjavík, Iceland |
Genres | |
Years active | 1994–present |
Labels | FatCat, Geffen, EMI, XL, Smekkleysa, Parlophone |
Associated acts | Amiina, Circe, Jónsi & Alex, Jónsi, The Album Leaf |
Website | sigur-ros |
Members | Jónsi Birgisson Georg Hólm Orri Páll Dýrason |
Past members | Ágúst Ævar Gunnarsson Kjartan Sveinsson |
Sigur Rós (Icelandic pronunciation: [ˈsɪːɣʏr ˈroːus]) is an Icelandic post-rock band from Reykjavík, who have been active since 1994. Known for their ethereal sound, frontman Jónsi's falsetto vocals, and the use of bowed guitar, the band's music is also noticeable for its incorporation of classical and minimalist aesthetic elements. The band is named after Jónsi's sister Sigurrós Elín.
Jón Þór "Jónsi" Birgisson (guitar and vocals), Georg Hólm (bass) and Ágúst Ævar Gunnarsson (drums) formed the group in Reykjavík in January 1994. The band's 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 a few days before 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, because they thought the falsetto vocals were very cute and would appeal to teenage girls. In 1997, they released Von (pronounced [vɔːn], meaning "hope") and in 1998 a remix collection named Von brigði ([vɔːn ˈprɪɣðɪ]). This name is also Icelandic wordplay: Vonbrigði means "disappointment", but Von brigði 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.