Sæglópur

Oóh, Ícelænðic. Niftý.

It should have been done with dolphins.
Or maybe octopi?

Nice choice, PZ. Their live show is a great experience. I saw them in September last year in Minneapolis... worth catching if they're in your area.

I have to laugh because just a couple days ago, a memory of a childhood movie seeped to the surface: The Adventures of Milo and Otis. Looking on Youtube for clips to bring back those memories, I found this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTqShTxTAw0 I think the person actually put the whole movie to Sigur Ros... :)

Oh I see tentacles! Cool!

"This video is not available in your country or domain."

And I´m in Iceland. :(

Nice song, nice video.

I love Sigur Ros. Here is the trailer for their full length documentary "Heima". I own it and it's amazing!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZYIfUdIyfs

Amazing band. I want to see them live so badly.

Definitely worth another listen. Kinda reminds me of Hiroshima.

The cephalopod looked like it had seventeen or so legs.

Agreed...Sigur Ros is awesome.

Wow, a professor who listens to Sigur Ros? :D I always knew you were cool, P.Z. :D

Saw them in 2005. It was an amazing show. Very moving. Exquisitely performed. One of my favorite shows of all time.

I like the video, and I kinda get the emotion being portrayed, but....could someone post the lyrics, cuz I couldn't tell what they were saying.

Thanks :-)

interesting...not my usual taste (northern europe indie is a but TOO indie for me) but i like the layers (that's one thing european groups do well...layering tons of sound and making it sound good)...pretty cool video tho

saw them in Brisbane a few years back - definitely worth seeing live!

Oh Boy....PZ Likes Sigur ros. It just make so much sense...the best band highlighted on the best science blog. They're worth traveling several hundred km to see.

Sæglópur, á lífi
Kominn heim
Sæglópur, á lífi
Kominn heim
þaõ kemur kafari
Komin heim
þaõ kemur kafari
Komin heim

A lost seafarer, alive
Has returned home
A lost seafarer, alive
Has returned home
A diver comes
Has returned home
A diver comes
Has returned home

Agaetis Byrjun is my second favourite album of all time. Just stunning.

Wow, this song has been stuck in my head for about the last two weeks (yes, the first time I heard it was in those Prince of Persia commercials on TV). Great song.

Here's the commercial:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQnX8QDc9mw

PZ, the octopus is not in the band and wouldn't be at the show, sorry I had to ruin it for you.

Saw them a few years ago in Sydney, still call it the best show I've been to out of hundreds.
Kind of regretting selling my ticket to last years concert..

#18 - I think that's supposed to be "það".

wow. this blog usually occupies my scientific and religious interests... but now my musical interests too? sigur ros is one of my favourite bands. and from what i've seen on their live shows on TV and DVD and whatnot... yeah. you do kinda wanna see 'em live.

also, youtube really doesn't do this song justice. on CD and vinyl it just rocks your face off.

I have seen them live and they were amazing.

I saw them live once, and they were pretty amazing. The weirdest part though was looking at the seat next to me and realizing I was sitting next to Paul Allen.

I'd love to see them live, too. I have a couple of their CDs... they're lovely and unusual.

I've got a four track EP (I don't know what its name is; there's no text on the either the disc or the packaging) that's just stunning.

Should they tour Australia and actually come to Adelaide then I'd love to see them. But, so far, they're among the artists who, rather annoyingly, don't seem to realise there's a city of a million people between Melbourne and Perth.

I love them, but I wish they'd get a bit more exciting with some of the stuff they have. As beautiful as their music is, I couldn't listen to more than one song of theirs in a day because it's just so laid back... Hopipolla being the exception to that.

Look at that! I like Icelandic music. Our neighbours in the North-West always seem to have the coolest stars :)

Agreeing with all; Sigur Rós makes this blog even cooler than I thought it was.

@TK: Try their newest album, "Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust" if you haven't already. You can listen to the whole thing streaming at their website here: http://www.sigur-ros.co.uk/band/disco/medsud-dot.php

Saw them last year at Benaroya Hall in Seattle. Easily one of the best concerts I've ever seen, the encore especially. They benefit from places with great acoustics.

Hell fucking yeah. Kudos PZ. I didn't know you were a sigur ros fan. You just earned yourself four and a half cool points.

I blogged about this well over a month ago! I never expected to see it here. lol. Did you hear it on the Prince of Persia commercial like I did?

Wow, I like it. Sounds "Bjork-ish" and I love Bjork.

One of my favorite Sigur Ros tunes. Nice choice, PZ.

I missed the Prince of Persia commercial, but I did learn about these guys after hearing that one tune (the nothing song, I believe) at the end of Vanilla Sky.

I've seen Sigur Ros times... each one unique and amazing... I saw them in Portland last October. Brilliant show. I've got some pics and a review here:
http://jazzsick.wordpress.com/2008/10/07/sigur-ros-pdx2008/

It's good to see PZ Myers is a fan, too... it's not all about science. Sometimes it's about musics, too. :)

~Dan
http://jazzsick.wordpress.com/

(photo: Oct 6 2008 taken by me in Portland, OR)

Well, the photo in comments didn't work... anyway, here's the link to it...

http://www.unemployedingreenland.com/pics/sigurros2008/sros03.jpg

It's my fave...

~Dan
http://jazzsick.wordpress.com/

Not bad, but I've always found Sigur Ros a bit too airy and minimalist. Russian Circles be more mah style: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hh5ni5L-MSc

i've liked Sigur Ros since i first heard them, but, when it comes to thinking up melodies, they sure do keep well within their comfort zone. Saeglopur is a wee bit like most of everything else they do.
but when they deviate even slightly from their regular way of working (say, when they use all the horns and things on Takk, or do an outside concert like on the Heima documentary), they do some really otherwordly beautiful stuff.

You guys are kidding, right? The singer's voice was so grating, I couldn't get through a minute of it.

I saw them in Amsterdam last year, and was underwhelmed - I'd expected an eye-catching video/light show on the backdrop, to match the visuals of their videos, but all we got was the occasional close-up shot of the guitar. The music on its own was not enough for me, I'm afraid.

I've got gift certificates to spend. More awesome music suggestions, please!

Who cares what "everybody" thinks. As they quote in one of their videos (mentioned below), a quote by Thomas Carlyle, "If you look deep enough you will see music; the heart of nature being everywhere music."

I am immediately at peace listening to Sigur Ros. Love these guys. To me their music is the connection between humanity and the human experience of nature and the universe.

Best for driving through an atmospheric landscape and just taking it all in.

Check out the video for Svefn-g-englar. INCREDIBLE.

Videos: http://sigur-ros.co.uk/media/dldvideo.php

Also, in addition to the trailer posted above... Apple has an HD version of it. Much better representation of the landscape...

http://www.apple.com/quicktime/guide/hd/heima.html

My partner and I saw them play at the Hollywood Bowl a few years back and were blown away. The sound they put through the air that night was transporting, and we found ourselves carried away to the band's personal rendition of Iceland. As much as I love their albums, I wish they were able to capture their live sound.

Should you ever have the opportunity to see them, do so. That's really all I can say. O.K., one other thing: do check out their other videos. Well directed, well filmed, poignant work.

Wait a second PZ, you mean you didn't go see them during their Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust tour?

Seriously?

Even though they had, like, 20 dates in the US, and half a dozen in mexico + canada?

That was very stupid of you, they were awesome.

I hope you at last got the Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust deluxe album, it's beautiful.

Mmm... I love Sigur Ros a lot. Their music is fantastic, beautiful. And Saeglopur is definitely one of my favourite songs by them. I was actually quite surprised to see that you'd be talking about them here, but given the video has tentacles, it all makes sense.

(Also, Sigur Ros are one of the reasons I would absolutely love to go to Iceland some day.)

They ARE jawdropping live, although they also have a soporific effect that lends itself better to seated than standing. I suggest a warm but rainy night at a festival for maximum atmosphere. Just remember to keep those tentacles snug.

@Mark #49

They ARE jawdropping live, although they also have a soporific effect that lends itself better to seated than standing.

The latest album (Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust) is more playful and fanciful, more folksy, it expands on the path taken by Takk... (which is already far less ethereal than () or Ágætis byrjun)
I wouldn't qualify Sigur Rós as "soporific" though.

Masklinn, I completely agree and I have a lot of time for their music spanning all their albums. However, live, I found their performance to induce a sleepy feeling, but this might've just been because I was tired. That said, their show was outstanding visually and musically, and I would see them again tomorrow :).

I saw them in Brisbane a few years ago, and they were UH-MAZING. We left the show pretty breathless and wanting to see them again, such an incredible experience. Glad you like them, PZ!

I saw Sigur Ros live a few years back, supporting Radiohead. They were mildly interesting for a couple of songs, but too one-paced for an entire set. Birgisson's use of the cello bow on his guitar, again, was interesting to begin with but got boring quite quickly. They're probably more fun to listen to in a sensory deprivation tank, or under the influence of powerful hallucinogens. Or both, if you're brave, reckless, and unconcerned about ever coming down. :)

Saw them live this summer at "way out west", not my cup of tea but quite an impressive show.

Very nice.

Puts me in mind of Trent Reznors slower more instramental stuff.

IMHO Takk... is by far their worst album. I find most of the songs on it grating and difficult to listen to. My favourites are () and Von. But yes, Sigur Rós are definitely on my list to go see live.

One might also be interested in Röyksopp, a Norwegian Electronica duo.

For instance, "What Else Is There" (the extro song of Cashback) from their album "The Understanding":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOt15JsLloU

The singer on "What Else Is There?" is one half of electronic music duo The Knife. I strongly recommend their album Silent Shout. The title track from that album

@35, I suspect you mean that it sounds *Icelandic*. Icelandic bands singing Icelandic sound like they're singing Icelandic, whatever next? (Except, of course, when Sigur Ros don't sing Icelandic at all but a faked-up syllabary designed to sound like it's Icelandic if you don't know any Icelandic, e.g. everything they sing on ().)

(the scary thing to me is how much of it I can understand in realtime just through knowing early Middle English and smidgens of Old English; there are a *lot* of shared roots.)

Similarities in the video at the end to Michaelangelo's Pieta grabbed me back to some of the lovely (and there are some)memories of my Catholic childhood...

Not awake yet--

Similarities at the end of the video to Michaelangelo's Pieta grabbed me back to some of the lovely memories (and there are some) of my Catholic Childhood.

One thing I like about this blog is that everyone writes so well...sorry, guys.

I'm just made strangely happy by a thread with so many thorns in it.

I realize that makes me weird, even for here.

Never heard of the artists before, but the music sounded cool, though something I don't think I'd "listen" to for long, though it'd be great in the background while I worked or did other stuff. As for the video, YOU BASTARD!. I'm once again _so_ missing living in Santa Barbara where I could go freediving on my way into work in the morning. Now I'm in Sebastopol, 30 minutes from the cold cold cold ocean.

I happen to agree with most of Mr. Myers comments on religion, but I did not know that I liked the guy until he posted a Sigur Ros video. Sigur Ros is great. It does seem to throw me into a reflective mood for hours though.

*sigh* Sigur Ros is lovely - Takk's one of my favorite CDs right now.

I saw them at the Festival Hall in London, they were supporting Godspeed You Black Emperor, who frankly were in a different class.

I've seen them twice: in a festival and in a concert hall... on both occasions I was surprised at how much sound they generate. You wouldn't think it to listen to their albums, but when live, those melodies are teased into a *wall* of sound that hits and doesn't let go... 'twas nice :)

sounds rather like weather report in their "8:30" days...but i'll stick with wayne, joel and jaco.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7fOetV0ha4

Seen 'em 3 times and each time was the closest this atheist has come to a religious experience.

This video is not available in my country. I wonder why there are such unnecessary and stupid limitations on the internet. It's supposed to be international, isn't it? I never thought it would help reinforce barriers, I always thought it would help bring them down.

While we're pimping SR, I'll also toss Yndi Halda, Olafur Arnalds, Mono, This Will Destroy You and 65daysofstatic into the recommendation hat.

Nice.

I'll have to include them in my next youtube/music post after I recover from my current Heavy Metal obsession.

For those in the 3rd world, try Sigur Rós-Sæglópur - I think it's the same video. Summary: big scary tentacle thing drowns sweet little boy to strains of angels crying or something. All harmony and rhythm and a little too unstructured and schmaltzy for my taste.

My favorite science blogger, and you love Sigur Ros, perfect!

You should definately purchase their DVD Heima which is by far the most amazing thing they've done, next to seeing them live of course.

When I go into space, the playlist will consist of Sigur Ros, Explosions in the Sky and Boards of Canada.

'S funny: I find myself enjoying people with connections to Sigur Ros more than Sigur Ros themselves. If you find SR vocals a tad off-putting, try Hammock or The Album Leaf.

And for a wonderful Icelandic album, try "The Ghost That Carried Us Away" by Seabear. Playful, childlike music with whisper vocals.

Sigur Ros and GYBE!? In the same concert??

Oh. My. Dog...

<faints/>

Maybe not to everyone's taste, Mr. Myers?

I think you can bet on it.

Live? Really? I don't know... but if this is representative of their wider music, the idea of sitting for an hour or two listening to them play chords and ululate with great mediocrity makes me want to blow my brains out. I mean, really there's nothing to this. Vanilla.

Or... not to my taste. ;^}

I saw them live at Red Rocks in Colorado last summer... phenomenal.

I saw Sigur Ros in November and they just blew me away. Like everyone else I know that likes them I found out about them because of Planet Earth, but they can be even better than that amazing track. They were just awesome - they used really simple lighting (mostly yellow beams of light from above the stage, not a very technical description, sorry!) and had their videos playing on a screen behind them. I'm not usually a gushy person but there was something really moving about it. Seriously PZ, it's worth going to great lengths to see them.

Ooh, I've seen them live! You are so cool, PZ.

I love post rock! Sigur Ros is fantastic live.

I saw them live in NYC while touring for "( )". Great show. Great band.