Sigur Ros / Rarities, Live and EP's

Sigur Ros

Day two of Sigur Ros' music finds some of their interesting recordings outside of the magnificent albums they've released. Enjoy these fine Sigur Ros songs.




Sigur Ros / Von Recycling Bin
Released 1998

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von brigði is a remix album and was released in iceland 1998. it contains remixes of songs from 'von' by various icelandic electronic acts, including one track by sigur rós themselves. the track, called "leif af lífi", was originally supposed to be on 1997's von but mixing could not be finished in time.

Sigur Ros / Ny Batteri EP
Released 2000

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this single was the second uk release for sigur rós and was released in may 2000 in the uk only. the single opens with an extended brass intro of ný batterí, called rafmagnið búið. tracks 3 and 4 are the same tracks as appeared on the englar alheimsins soundtrack. in early 2006 ný batterí was re-stocked and re-issed.

Sigur Ros / Untitled #1 (Vaka) EP
Released 2003

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this single and dvd was released in may 2003, following the october 2002 release of ( ). the single was released in 3 formats: 1) 3" mini-cd; 2) 5" cd with dvd; 3) 10" limited vinyl gatefold sleeve with an artwork stencil. the 3" and 5" cd's contain vaka (track 1 from '( )') and 3 short b-sides. the band had closed their set with tracks 2 and 3 from this single during their spring 2003 tour, calling the two songs "smáskífa" (single) on their setlist. track 2 was originally meant to be a remix of vaka but it turned out into a different song altogether, although you can still hear some remnants of vaka in the track. track 3 features a solo on piano by drummer orri. the dvd accompanying the 5" cd contains the three music videos the band has made thus far: svefn-g-englar, viðrar vel til loftárása and vaka. the menu screen has a video which the band shot of some birds on a wire, with track 4 from the single playing.

Sigur Ros / Ba ba ti ki di do
Recorded 2004

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this ambient 20 minute song is split into three individual tracks and derives its puzzling title from the only spoken sounds uttered in the piece. it is composed of four primary instruments: piano, music box, miked-up ballet shoes and electronic playback. the song was written for merce cunningham's dance piece 'split sides' which was premiered october 14th 2003 in the brooklyn academy of music. the music and choreography of split sides were composed independently of each other and were first introduced to one another on the premiere night, leaving the musicians a window of opporunity for improvisation. sigur rós left room for interaction with the choreography when composing the song and watched the dancers' movements closely as they turned their music boxes and tapped their ballet shoes.

the song's final chapter, di do, features cut-up samples of choreographer merce cunningham's voice, which foreground the rhythm of the song's crescendo. at this point in the premiere performance of split sides, a stunning coincidental synchronisation occurred between the dancers' movements and the music. Sigur Ros / Hoppípolla
Recorded 2005

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this single, released in the united kingdom in november 2005, includes two tracks from takk plus the studio recording of the live favorite, hafsól (often spelled "hafssól"). hafsól is often referred to as the song where the bassist uses a drumstick and was frequently been played as a set closer during concerts in 2000-2005. hafsól first appeared on von in 1997 but its live version has changed so much since then that fans wanted to hear a studio recording of it. the band acquiesced and produced this 10 minute b-side.
Sigur Ros / Sæglópur
Recorded 2006

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the sæglópur ep, released worldwide in the summer of 2006, contains two discs: a cd containing four tracks and a dvd containing the band’s videos to glósóli, hoppípolla and sæglópur. the cd contains a 14 minute b-side split into three parts, whose titles are taken from fragments of sæglópur lyrics.
Sigur Ros / Hlemmur Soundtrack
Recorded 2002

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recorded in 2002 as the score to the icelandic documentary "hlemmur", this soundtrack was first sold to the public in spring 2003 european and american tours. it is expected to be released at some point through the band's own record label, krúnk. this instrumental electronic soundtrack is composed of 19 tracks, some of which are variations of the same theme.

Sigur Ros / Live Montreux Jazz Festival
Recorded 2001

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a great soundboard recording from their 2001 tour.

Sigur Ros / Live on NPR
Recorded 2005

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an amazing set recorded live on NPR radio in 2005.