sigur rós scores an upcoming episode of ‘the simpsons’
sigur rós have scored part of an upcoming episode of the simpsons. the episode, which will feature new, original music by sigur rós, as well as their take on the simpsons’ theme song, will air on may 19th. in the episode, entitled “the saga of carl,” homer, moe, lenny, and carl team up to buy a winning lottery ticket, but after carl snags the ticket and flees to his home country of iceland, the guys head there in hot pursuit. the band’s music scores homer’s visit to iceland, marking an unprecedented musical collaboration between the show and a band; with this episode, sigur rós have written and performed more original music for the simpsons than any other outside band in the show’s history.
says simpsons creator matt groening, “i’m a longtime fan of sigur rós, and we’re honored to bring their icelandic, ambient moods to our goofy cartoon show.”
listen to new single ísjaki
the new single ísjaki from the album kveikur can now be listened to here, in our first ever lyric video:
folks in germany, austria and switzerland unable to play the above can watch through vimeo
kveikur is released worldwide june 17th (18th in north america) and can now be pre-ordered on itunes. pre-orders on itunes come with an immediate download of ísjaki.
brennisteinn
folks in germany, austria and switzerland unable to play the above can watch through vimeo
directed by andrew huang. taken from the forthcoming album kveikur.
new album kveikur out june 17/18
we are happy to announce that our new album kveikur will be released worldwide on june 17th (18th in north america). the self-produced album contains nine tracks and is our first as a trio.
info / preorder: www.sigur-ros.co.uk/kveikur
bits and bobs on tumblr
this week on the band’s tumblr we’re releasing glimpses of new live artwork in the form of animated gifs, as well as a look back at some rare live material from the vault you’ve probably not seen before.
if you’re into that sort of of thing, have a look at sigurros.tumblr.com.
new year, new tour, new music
2013 promises to be an interesting year in the sigur rós universe. having started 2012 with the ambient-leaning and largely-untourable valtari album, they closed with a hometown show in reykjavík hinting at broad changes to come. playing the new song brennisteinn with valtari still very much in the air, the band put a marker in the ground for how their world might look as a newly-forged three-piece (without departing keyboard player kjartan sveinsson).
now, on the cusp of 2013 touring, the sigur rós are – as we write – in portugal rehearsing more new material to be unveiled across europe, the usa and south east asia. coming to a show is the only way you’re going to experience this stuff outside crappy youtube clips in the coming months. you know what to do.
matched to this is a new show looking to eclipse the band’s previous high-water marks of live presentation. new visuals, new lights and new stage set, and not forgetting a new player (welcome ingrid on viola). plus, of course, the new songs.
oh, and we are excited to announce that supporting on all european dates is the excellent blanck mass and in north america, tim hecker (dc – ottawa) and oneohtrix point never (toronto – sta barbara).
below is a preview of what to expect in 2013, featuring an (extended) snippet of new studio material.
new album coming in 2013
as sigur rós revealed in yesterday’s live q&a, the band is currently in a studio in los angeles mixing a new album, due for release in 2013. more details to come soon.
answering questions from fans, sigur rós also confirmed that kjartan has departed from the band: “yes he has left the band. he said he spent half his life in the band and it was time to do something different. (…) he wanted to do other kinds of music. good for him.”
the band also revealed a short preview of the new album and upcoming tour:
i am sigur rós ask me anything
sigur rós will participate in a reddit ama live q&a session with fans at 3pm est (noon pst, 8pm gmt) tomorrow, jan 24. as is implicit in the name you will be able to log-on to the news and entertainment site and ask the band whatever you want, on the understanding that they will do their best to answer honestly. the now three-piece band will be live online talking direct to you from the recording studio in los angeles where they are presently working on new material, for around an hour. they are also planning a brief glimpse into their near future with a video clip of new material scheduled to go live simultaneously.
edit: the full q&a is available to read here: http://redd.it/177fzp. some hightlights are below.
2013 world tour dates
in addition to the announced european and north american tour dates throughout early 2013, there is also an extensive series of dates across asia and europe from may 2013 onwards.
on may 10th, sigur rós pay their first visit to indonesia – before continuing to japan and south korea. following on from this there will be a series of summer festival appearances across europe; germany, the netherlands, poland, switzerland, united kingdom, denmark, finland, czech republic and latvia. full details are on our tour page – keep an eye on that page too for any updates or potential additional concert announcements.
valtari film experiment dvd
in the new year, all 16 valtari films will be collected together on blu-ray / dvd and download for release as the valtari film experiment. the release will include all 14 films commissioned by the band, alongside the two winning entries from the parallel public competition, plus three additional making-of features. released february 11th in europe (dvd/blu-ray/download) and march 15th in north america (dvd/download).
tracklist
| 1 | varúð | inga birgisdóttir |
| 2 | valtari | christian larson (feat. ekki múkk, valtari, rembihnútur & varúð) |
| 3 | ég anda | ragnar kjartansson |
| 4 | ekki múkk | nicholas abrahams |
| 5 | varðeldur | clare langan |
| 6 | leaning towards solace |
floria sigismondi (feat. dauðalogn & varúð) |
| 7 | seraph | dash shaw/john cameron mitchell (feat. rembihnútur & ekki múkk) |
| 8 | dauðalogn | ruslan fedotow |
| 9 | rembihnútur | arni & kinski |
| 10 | fjögur pínó | alma har’el |
| 11 | ég anda | ramin bahrani |
| 12 | varðeldur | melika bass |
| 13 | varúð | björn flóki |
| 14 | dauðalogn | henry jun wah lee |
| 15 | fjögur pínó | anafelle liu |
| 16 | varúð | ryan mcginley |
store sale
to celebrate the opening of the new webstore, we’ve taken 20% off everything in the shop that pre-dates the current album valtari for any orders made by fri dec 7th. the only thing this doesn’t include is music, the rest is open season.
merchandise from ágætis byrjun, ( ), takk.., heima, með suð, jónsi and jónsi & alex is all available now with the discount.
promo code: SIGURMAS
store: http://sigur-ros-store.com
- enter the promo code in the cart BEFORE checkout
- click to validate the code on the link that appears
- you will see the amount discounted in the cart summary before you check out.
valtari film experiment worldwide screenings
on the weekend of december 7-9, dozens of screenings of the valtari film experiment will take place worldwide in all seven continents. the valtari film experiment program collects 16 commissioned “official” and fan-created short films created to coincide with the album valtari. read more & apply for consideration to host your own screening here.
valtari film competition winners
in september, sigur rós invited filmmakers and fans to create an original video for one of the tracks from their new album valtari, to be included in their official mystery film experiment showcase. in keeping with the mystery film experiment concept, the brief was completely open for entrants to take inspiration from the world around them to devise and execute a masterpiece.
the band went over all the film entries and were astounded by many of the films:
almost one thousand people (or rather, one thousand teams of people) have poured theirs hearts and souls into a bewildering variety of films that has frankly threatened to overwhelm us. wow! people have entered from all corners of the globe, inspiring us with so many and varied interpretations of the band’s music. and, without wanting to get too dewy-eyed, it really has been a humbling experience. thank you one and all for your truly amazing efforts.
everyone always says it’s hard judging stuff, but 834 films?! it’s safe to say this has been a difficult and at times divisive exercise. so much artistic endeavour! it’s impressive and not a little bewildering. but, watching in shifts, each and every film was eventually adjudged and a shortlist drawn up.
overall winner – fjögur pínó by anafelle liu, dio lau and ken ngan
people’s choice winner – dauðalogn by ruslan fedetow
mystery film experiement q&a and screening
on the 12th of october in london, there will be a valtari mystery film experiment screening taking place in the bfi southbank cinema as part of the bfi london film festival.
for their most recent album, valtari, sigur rós gave a dozen filmmakers the same budget and an open creative brief to interpret their music. the results so far have been by turns surprising, elegiac and uplifting slices of cinema from such directing talent as alma har’el, ramin bahrani and ryan mcginley. we are delighted to be premiering a number of brand-new videos in the series from filmmakers including floria sigismondi and john cameron mitchell as well as showing the existing videos on the big screen and speaking to the some of the talent behind this most poetic of film experiments.
we’ll have more information about the nature of the evening in due course.
tickets are available now for bfi members and from the 24th of september for the general public. more details are available here.
vote now in the valtari film competition
sigur rós are inviting film makers and video directors to create an original video for one of the tracks from their new album valtari. in keeping with the mystery film experiment concept, the brief is completely open for entrants to take inspiration from the world around them to devise and execute a masterpiece.
voting is open from september 12th until september 18th.
the winning video selected by the band will receive an official place – alongside all the other creative artists and directors – in the mystery film experiment pantheon showcased on the front page of sigur-ros.co.uk. additionally, the winning film maker/director will receive $5,000 cash prize.
the highest voted film maker/director will have their video featured across sigur rós youtube and social media channels, as well as receive a free merch package signed by the band.
update: the voting element of the competition is now over, for the next phase the band will chose their favourite for the overall winner.
2013 uk & european tour
sigur rós follow up their run of summer festivals by announcing their first headline tour since 2008 for uk/europe in february/march 2013. the 15-date run will see the band take the stage alongside all the additional players and expanded brass and string sections of the summer shows. this time, however, they will be incorporated into a completely new show, which also comes with the potent promise of brand new material, post-dating even this year’s ambient-leaning ‘valtari’ album.
“you are limited to what you can accomplish with the 20-minute changeovers and all other constraints of a festival,” says bassist georg holm. “to us, this summer’s really been one long warm-up for what’s to come.”
there are rumblings from within the band of a “hard left turn” in terms of what these changes might constitute. suffice to say, for now it’s set to be a compelling ‘watch this space’ scenario.
15 dates are in portugal, italy, the netherlands, germany, switzerland, belgium, france and the united kingdom. we’ll have details on general ticket sales soon, but to find out about the fan presale – make sure you are on our mailling list, you can sign up by clicking on “presale info” here
the new tour has begun
last night sigur rós stepped on stage for the first time in four years, at the mann center in philadelphia. the 11 piece live band will be touring four continents over the next few months, at summer festivals and headlining shows. check out the tour dates here. you can read what others are saying about the shows on the review pages, where we encourage you to leave any thoughts/reviews you might have about the show.
sigur-ros.co.uk were in attendance of the tour rehearsals and last night’s show. we filmed some snippets and moments that caught our eye:
philadelphia, july 29th setlist:
- ekki múkk
- varúð
- ný batterí
- í gær
- e-bow
- sæglópur
- svefn-g-englar
- viðrar vel til loftárása
- hoppípolla
- med blóðnasir
- olsen olsen
- festival
- hafsól
- (encore)
- dauðalogn
- popplagið
philadelphia, july 30th setlist:
- ekki múkk
- varúð
- ný batterí
- í gær
- vaka
- sæglópur
- gong
- andvari
- viðrar vel til loftárása
- hoppípolla
- med blóðnasir
- olsen olsen
- festival
- hafsól
- (encore)
- glósóli
- popplagið
latest mystery film experiement video
the fourth instalment of the “valtari mystery film experiment” is by icelandic directors arni & kinski. their video for rembihnútur focuses on meditation:
the much needed changes in the world will happen through changes within each and every one of us. we all want and need love. this film is a celebration of sigur rós’s music and the benefit it is having in the elevation of consciousness that is happening with humankind. people are finding strength in love, care, and respect for themselves, each other, and the world we live in.
more information is here
valtari film competition
as part of our mystery film experiment video series, we are inviting film makers and video directors to create an original video for one of the tracks from valtari.
the brief is completely open and the winning video will receive an official place – alongside all the other creative artists and directors – in the mystery film experiment pantheon showcased on the front page of our site. additionally, the winning film maker/director will receive a $5,000 cash prize.
valtari film competition details
mystery film experiment series announced
sigur rós have given a dozen film makers the same modest budget and asked them to create whatever comes into their head when they listen to songs from the band’s forthcoming album. the idea is to bypass the usual artistic approval process and allow people utmost creative freedom. among the filmmakers are ramin bahrani, alma har’el and john cameron mitchell. the first video, by ragnar kjartansson, is a video for ‘ég anda’ (i breathe). more videos will be released over the forthcoming months.
further details are on the valtari videos page.
valtari hour – global listening party
this thursday, may 17th, there’ll be a global ‘valtari’ listening party. at 7pm in each time zone around the world, fans can listen to a stream of the album here on our website. using the #valtarihour tag, fans are invited to tweet and post photos to instagram of their own listening parties!
in conjunction with our own online listening party, at the same time (7pm local time) there will be a series of broadcasts of the album on a variety of radio stations in the the united states as well as in-store plays at record shops. we’ll have more details of them in advance of the valtari hour.
sigur rós to headline iceland airwaves
sigur rós have been confirmed as headliners of the year’s iceland airwaves festival. the band last played at the festival in 2001 and last played in iceland in 2008. the concert takes place in the laugardalshöll arena on sunday november the 4th,
tickets go on sale on may 16th via midi.is, there will also be an allocation to iceland airwaves ticket holders – full details is available on the concert page for the event, or on the icelandairwaves.is website. note that there is special offers for those who have already bought their iceland airwaves 2012 ticket.
hey, we’re on instagram
a quick note to let you know that we’ve joined instagram and will be posting some random things there regularly from now on. if you don’t have instagram you can follow the posts on our tumblr page if you’d like:
two new vinyl releases on record store day
celebrating record store day 2012, sigur rós released two limited vinyl pressings last saturday to independently owned record stores in europe and north america: ekki múkk 10″ single in europe, and hvarf/heim double lp in north america.
north american dates
in addition to the osheaga date that was announced a few weeks back, sigur rós will perform a series of solo and festival shows in the united states and canada.
- the mann, philadelphia: july 30th
- prospect park, brooklyn, nyc: july 31st
- echo beach, toronto: august 1st
- lollapalooza, chicago: august 4th-5th
- paramount, seattle: august 8th
- edgefield, portland: august 9th
- hollywood forever cemetery, los angeles: august 12th
a full list of the announced worldwide shows are available on our tour page
