what is sigur rós?
a rock band from iceland. the members of the band are:

jón þór birgisson (nickname jónsi) - vocals, guitar, synth
kjartan sveinsson (nickname kjarri) - piano, keyboards, guitar, flute
georg hólm (nickname goggi) - bass, xylophone
orri páll dýrason (nickname erm.. orri) - drums, keyboards

has that always been the line-up?
no, the original drummer, águst, left the band to in 1999 (shortly after the recording of ágætis byrjun), in order to pursue a career in graphic design. he was replaced with orri. kjartan joined the band around 1998.

when did sigur rós form?
in august 1994, the same day jónsi's sister, sigurrós, was born (hence the band name).

what does 'sigur rós' mean?
sigur rós translates directly to 'victory rose'. sigur rós was named after jónsi's little sister, whose name is sigurrós (without a space). sigurrós is a fairly common female name in iceland. 
 
what's that song where the bassist uses a drumstick?
this song is called hafssól and is on sigur rós's first album, von. the version they play at concerts is a revamped rendition of the song, and it has in fact been changed so drastically since it was recorded that the band plans to record this version in their studio and release it soon.

what language does jónsi sing in?
on the first three albums (von, von brigði, ágætis byrjun), jónsi sang most songs in icelandic but two of them (von and olsen olsen) were sung in 'hopelandic'. all of the vocals ( ) are however in hopelandic. hopelandic (vonlenska in icelandic) is the 'invented language' in which jónsi sings before lyrics are written to the vocals. it's of course not an actual language by definition (no vocabulary, grammar, etc.), it's rather a form of gibberish vocals that fits to the music and acts as another instrument. jónsi likens it with what singers sometimes do when they've decided on the melody but haven't written the lyrics yet. many languages were considered to be used on ( ), including english, but they decided on hopelandic. hopelandic (vonlenska) got its name from first song which jónsi sang it on, hope (von).

where can i find sigur rÑs lyrics and translations?
you won't be able to find lyrics and translations from ( ) because the vocals don't contain lyrics [see question above]. the band had planned to do official translations of ágætis byrjun in 2000 with the help of a grammarian but no progress has been made in this matter.

where can i find full versions of new songs?
live recordings of the new unreleased songs can be found on various peer to peer media such as soulseek and kazaa. loads of concerts and videos can also be found on the ftp.

there is a long silence in my copy of ( ), is this normal?
yes, that's what it's supposed to be like. the abrupt end of track 4 is followed by 36 seconds of silence, which signifies the division of the album's two halves: the "sweet" half and the "heavy" half.

where can i buy sigur rós's first two albums, von and von brigði?
you can order sigur rós's first two albums from the band's online store, called klink. please note that von brigði is not an original album, it's a remix album of von. there is, however, one original sigur rós song on it, called leit af lífi.

how old are the members of sigur rós?

jónsi is 30, born april 23rd 1975.
georg is 29, born april 6th 1976.
orri is 28, born july 4th 1977.
kjartan is 27, born january 2nd 1978.

can i use music by sigur rós in my student film?
you can use sigur rós's music as long as it won't be used for commercial purposes. if the film reaches a prominent or internationally recognised film festival, you will have to contact the management because we don't have permission to grant publishing and master rights to films screened at these kinds of large-scale events.

is there a sigur rós ftp site?
yes, the address is sigur-ros.serveftp.com. username and password: anonymous. if there are too many users you can try our ftp mirror at freebox.mistur.org (anonymous as well).

is it true that jónsi is gay?
yes.

and that he's blind in one eye?
yes.

what equipment does sigur rós use to create their unique sound?
most people are curious to know what jónsi does to make his guitar sound like it does. he uses a gibson les paul guitar and a cello bow with a lot of rosin, through a lot of reverb.

do the members of sigur rós speak english?
yes, they all speak english. georg speaks most fluently (having briefly lived in england) while jónsi has the thickest icelandic accent. most icelanders speak english.

what is englar alheimsins (angels of the universe)?
englar alheimsins is an icelandic film by friðrik þór friðriksson. the soundtrack for the film was a score by hilmar örn hilmarsson, a famous icelandic composer. the soundtrack also features two songs by sigur rós (bíum bíum bambaló and dánarfregnir og jarðarfarir). these two songs appear in the climax of the film. for more information click here. another soundtrack that sigur ros have been involved with was that for the documentary film hlemmur, about homeless people living in the main bus station in reykjavík. this instrumental electronic soundtrack will be released at some point.

where can i get the englar alheimsins film and soundtrack?
on the smekkleysa website, www.smekkleysa.net.

have sigur rós ever collaborated with mogwai?
no. there are a couple of mp3s going around named e.g. "sigur ros & mogwai - luvstory". these mp3s have nothing to do with sigur rós, nor with mogwai. they were made by the korean band 500won project whose name was put on the mp3 by someone outside the band, which resulted in sigur rós and mogwai fans spreading the mp3s around the internet.

There is a long history of the connection between music and politics, particularly political expression in music. This expression has most often used anti-establishment or protest themes, although pro-establishment ideas are also used, for example in national anthems and patriotic music.

Politics in different musical genres
Folk music has a tradition of political content, with songs sung to commemorate popular uprisings and strikes, and to protest against injustice and social inequity.

Classical music has often been used to glorify political leaders, largely because the patronage of the rich or powerful was the main source of income for composers in previous centuries; see for example Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser, French overture. In recent times this has become less prevalent; the Master of the Queen's Music in the U.K., for example, is no longer required to compose hagiographies to Elizabeth II. Even in the past classical composers registered dissent: Beethoven removed a dedication to Napoleon from his Third Symphony to protest against Napoleon's crowning himself Emperor.

Popular music since the middle of the 20th century has increasingly featured politically-inspired lyrics. It has often been used to express anti-war sentiments; Jimi Hendrix famously satirised the U.S national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner," through the use of extreme distortion and feedback as a protest against the Vietnam War. The majority of political popular music has an anti-establishment or left wing perspective. Conservative and libertarian lyrics are mainly found in country music and heavy metal. In western popular culture, it is rare except in times of war for pro-establishment music to gain a foothold in the popular consciousness. The punk rock genre was overtly political: its genesis in the mid-1970s was as a reaction to the aloofness of the bands in the rock scene at that time, and its lyrics often espoused anarchy or revolution. This position was epitomised by artists such as Crass and the Dead Kennedys, who were inspired by anarcho-syndicalism (see Punk ideology). Black music has a long tradition of protest, from the blues performers of the early 20th century, up to and including the rap and hip-hop more recently popular.

Censorship of music
Main article: Censorship of music
Governments have often sought to place restrictions on the performance of certain types of music.

Totalitarian regimes in particular have censored music for the same reasons that they are prone to censoring literature, theatre, cinema, painting and other art forms.

Islamic fundamentalist governments, such as in Iran under the Ayatollahs and Afghanistan under the Taliban, have at times banned music completely, at least that of a secular nature. Similar laws were invoked in the 17th century in Britain under the Commonwealth of England.

In western democracies songs have been banned from receiving radio airplay due to their lyrical content, although this is often an action taken by radio stations rather than governments themselves. This has often had a counter-productive effect, with the records concerned increasing sales due to the curiosity engendered by the ban: in 1977, year of Queen Elizabeth's silver jubilee, the Sex Pistols' single God Save the Queen reached number two in the U.K. Top 40 after being banned, largely for political reasons.

In the U.S.A., religiously-inspired outrage has also been known to lead to the public burning of music considered unholy: in 1966 recordings by The Beatles were destroyed by conservative Christians in the U.S.A. after John Lennon compared the band's popularity to that of Jesus.

The Soviet Union censored all art forms, including music, during its existence. Many of its prominent composers obviously felt restricted by this censorship, which often dictated that all pieces end in a major key and be uplifting. Several, such as Dmitri Shostakovich, often ran into trouble with the censors (such as after Shostakovich's Fourth Symphony) and became increasingly sarcastic and frustrated. Shostakovich himself is said to have slept by his door, ready to be deported to Siberia without waking his family.

Music in the political process
Candidates for public office often have campaign theme songs which they play at appearances. These songs are usually contemporary popular songs without explicit political content, though they may have easily politicized or sloganized lyrics. In both the United States and the United Kingdom since the 1990s, all the major political parties have appropriated popular songs at election time, not always with the consent or approval of the recording artist. It has also often been the case that, while the song's chorus may be "on message", the lyrics to the verses may espouse a different viewpoint that shows the party in a less than complimentary light. See coverage of this issue in the UK Guardian newspaper.

During the 1800s, particularly in the United States, political campaigners composed songs praising their favorite candidate, or criticizing their candidate's opponent. This practice gradually died out during the twentieth century.

Unions have a long tradition of rousing or mournful songs, usually consisting of popular and/or folk tunes with pro-union lyrics or lyrics commemorating union organizers or events. These were often sung at events or during marches and while on picket or strike lines. (see Seeger 1985).

New musicology
New musicology is the cultural study, analysis, and criticism of music. It is often based on the work of Theodor Adorno (and Walter Benjamin) and feminist, gender studies, or postcolonial hypotheses. As Susan McClary says, "musicology fastidiously declares issues of musical signification off-limits to those engaged in legitimate scholarship," including politics.

Madchester refers to the scene that originated in Manchester during the late 1980s and early 1990s when bands recording for the city's successful Factory Records amongst others began to attract a lot of popularity.

During this period rock bands such as Inspiral Carpets (from Oldham), The Stone Roses, The Farm (from Liverpool), and The Happy Mondays emanated from Manchester as well as electronic music outfits such as 808 State and A Guy Called Gerald. The city had earlier seen punk rock outfits such as Buzzcocks, The Fall and Joy Division (from which New Order grew), and Manchester band The Smiths were one of the most popular indie groups of the 1980s. These earlier groups are not properly Madchester bands, but they are often compared to Madchester bands because of their origin in Manchester.

The Madchester sound is difficult to define, but generally includes a combination of psychedelia, guitar rock, and house music, and encompasses bands as disparate as The Stone Roses, who were more reminiscent of 60s guitar rock than dance music, and the Happy Mondays, who were an integral part of the rave scene in Manchester. As many Manchester bands unrelated to the club scene were labelled Madchester, the term is somewhat disputed. Producers such as Paul Oakenfold, Martin Hannett, Andrew Weatherall and Stephen Hague had a significant impact on the Madchester scene, frequently incorporating elements of the mid-tempo "Balearic" dance style associated with Ibiza nightclubs at that time.

It was also during this time that there was an influx of drug culture into the city (predominantly Ecstasy) that helped fuel the rise of some of the most popular dance music clubs of the time, such as Fac 51 Haçienda. "The Haçienda" was run by Factory Records record label impresario Tony Wilson and Factory Records also signed many of the artists associated with the Madchester scene, such as the Happy Mondays, New Order and The Other Two.

The 2002 film 24 Hour Party People is a semi-satirical depiction of the rise of Factory Records and many of the bands associated both directly and indirectly with the record label.

Shoegazing is a style of music that emerged in the UK in the late 1980s. The defining opener of the genre is said to be Isn't Anything by My Bloody Valentine, released in 1988 (see 1988 in music), though many would argue the band are worthy of appreciation outside of the narrow confines of the genre.

Shoegazing is characterised by the use of distortion and the fuzzbox, droning riffs and a Phil Spector-esque wall of sound from the noisy guitars. Vocals are typically subdued in volume and tone, but underneath the layers of guitars was often a strong sense of melody. While the genres which influenced shoegazing often used drum machines, shoegazing more often featured live drumming. Chapterhouse utilised both samples and live drumming, while drummers such as Chris Cooper of Pale Saints and the late Chris Acland of Lush often displayed complex drum patterns.

The name was coined by the New Musical Express, noting the tendency of the bands' guitarists to stare at their feet (or their effects pedals), seemingly deep in concentration, while playing. Melody Maker preferred the more staid term The Scene That Celebrates Itself, referring to the habit which the bands had of attending gigs of other shoegazing bands, often in Camden. The key record labels associated with the genre were Creation Records (My Bloody Valentine, Ride, Slowdive) and 4AD (Lush, Pale Saints).

The Velvet Underground was often cited as a major influence, as the band had been on the C86 movement before it. Many of the bands eschewing the punk era altogether, although punk-era bands such as The Cramps, Pere Ubu and The Birthday Party proved influential in some cases, especially with the forerunners of the genre. However, in the main, artists such as The Jesus & Mary Chain and especially the Cocteau Twins and Spacemen 3 (and later Spiritualized) gave birth to the genre directly rather than through oblique influences.

Michael Azerrad's Our Band Could Be Your Life traces shoegazing to a Dinosaur Jr tour of the United Kingdom. While not generally classified as a shoegazing band, Dinosaur Jr did share a tendency to blend poppy melody with loud guitars. Early Boo Radleys tracks were firmly modelled on the first two Dinosaur albums.

The first stirrings of recognition came when indie writer Steve Lamacq referred to Ride in a review for the NME as "The House of Love with chainsaws", a reference to . In the United States of America the music is sometimes now referred to as "dream pop".

The genre label was quite often mis-applied. Key bands such as Ride, Chapterhouse and Slowdive emerged from the Thames Valley and as such Swervedriver found themselves labelled 'shoegazers' on account of their own (coincidental) Thames Valley origins - despite their more pronounced Hüsker Dü stylings. Curve were once described as "the exact point where shoegazer meets goth" and the genre did overlap with others to some extent. It was certainly the case that bands such as Blur, on occasion, adopted elements of shoegazing ('She's So High' for instance) on a purely commercial basis. The careers of Thousand Yard Stare and Revolver were caught up in a general backlash which affected the scene. In spite of this, bands like Chapterhouse, Ride and Slowdive ("the My Bloody Valentine Creation can afford" went one wry review) did leave behind several albums that on reflection have stood the test of time as indicative of 90s British indie.

Slowdive eventually became the alt.country-leaning Mojave 3, while other shoegazing bands either split, or moved in other directions. Andy Bell of Ride, for example, later joined Oasis after his own Britpop project Hurricane #1 faltered. Several former members of shoegazing bands later moved towards post-rock and even trip hop.

After the initial first wave of bands whose careers petered out in the early 1990s, or moved in different directions, a number of bands such as Bethany Curve and Brian Jonestown Massacre were able to take inspiration from these groups and pursue new audiences. In recent years the NME has recently pointed out the shoegazing influence in a number of up and coming bands, which it has called "nu-gazing". Bands of this nature include Televise, Air Formation, Scarling., Autolux, Amusement Parks on Fire, Joy Zipper, M83, Ulrich Schnauss and Engineers.

The genre, though derided to some extent by the music press at the time, has left something of a legacy, as the new crop of bands demonstrates. The last album by My Bloody Valentine, Loveless, released in 1991 is critically acclaimed to be the landmark album of shoegazing, with Ride's first album Nowhere seen as a close contender.