Ethan Hayden - Sigur Róss ( )

SIGUR RSSPraise for the series: It was only a matter of time before a clever publisher realized that there is an audience for whom Exile on Main Street or Electric Ladyland are as signifi cant and worthy of study as The Catcher in the Rye or Middlemarch... Th e series... is freewheeling and eclectic, ranging from minute rock- geek analysis to idiosyncratic personal celebration The New York Times Book Review Ideal for the rock geek who thinks liner notes just arent enough Rolling Stone One of the coolest publishing imprints on the planet Bookslut Th ese are for the insane collectors out there who appreciate fantastic design, well- executed thinking, and things that make your house look cool. Each volume in this series takes a seminal album and breaks it down in startling minutiae. We love these. each one a work of real love NME (UK) Passionate, obsessive, and smart Nylon Religious tracts for the rock n roll faithful Boldtype [A] consistently excellent series Uncut (UK) We... arent naive enough to think that were your only source for reading about music (but if we had our way... watch out). watch out).

For those of you who really like to know everything there is to know about an album, youd do well to check out Continuums 3313 series of books PitchforkFor reviews of individual titles in the series, please visit our blog at 333sound.comand our website at http://www.bloomsbury.com/musicandsoundstudiesFollow us on Twitter: @333booksLike us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/33.3booksFor a complete list of books in this series, see the back of this book. i For more information about the series, please visit our new blog: www.333sound.com Where youll fi nd: Author and artist interviews Author profi les News about the series How to submit a proposal to our open call Th ings we fi nd amusing ii Sigur Rss ( )Ethan Hayden NEW YORK LON DON NEW DELHI SY DN EY iii Bloomsbury Academic An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Inc 1385 Broadway 50 Bedford Square New York London NY 10018 WC1B 3DP USA UK www.bloomsbury.comBloomsbury is a registered trade mark of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc First published 2014 Ethan Hayden, 2014 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers. No responsibility for loss caused to any individual or organization acting on or refraining from action as a result of the material in this publication can be accepted by Bloomsbury or the author. gtis byrjun Words and Music by Jn Birgisson, Georg Hlm, Agust Aevar Gunnarsson and Kjartan Sveinsson Copyright 2000 Universal Music Publishing, Ltd. All Rights in the United States and Canada Controlled and Administered by Universal-Polygram International Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved Used by Permission Reprinted by Permission of Hal Leonard Corporation gtis byrjun Words & Music by Jn Birgisson, Georg Hlm, Kjartan Sveinsson & Agust Gunnarsson Copyright 1998 Universal Music Publishing Limited.

All Rights Reserved. International Copyright Secured. Library of Congress Cataloging- in-Publication Data Hayden, Ethan. Sigur Rss ( ) / Ethan Hayden. pages cm. (3313) Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-62356-892-4 (pbk.: alk. paper) 1. Sigur Rs (Musical group). Untitled album. I. Title.

ML421.S52S54 2014 781.64dc23 2014009099 ISBN: PB: 978-1-6235-6892-4 ePDF: 978-1-6235-6293-9 ePub: 978-1-6235-6168-0 Typeset by Refi neCatch Limited, Bungay, Suffolk iv To those for whom language comes only with great difficulty,or not at all v vi ContentsAcknowledgments viii ( Nonsense Voice Space Hope ) BibliographyIndex vii Acknowledgments Th anks fi rst and foremost to Ally Jane Grossan, David Barker, Kaitlin Fontana, and everyone at Bloomsbury. I very much appreciate the opportunity to write with and for you, and am very grateful for all of your help. My dear friend Christopher Culp alerted me to the possi bility of writing for this series, and then patiently proofed an early draft of the text. It would be no understatement to say that this book would not have happened without him. Much of this book was inspired by the critical and creative work of Steve McCaff ery and James Currie, both of whom were extremely helpful in pointing me toward various sources during my research. Steve McCaff ery and Jaap Blonk were kind enough to sit down with me for interviews, neither of which made it into the fi nal manuscript, but both of which considerably informed my work, and for that I am very grateful.

Many thanks, of course, to Sigur Rs, as well as John Best, Clare Wright, Edna Pletchetero, and Bjrn Flki. Cant wait to hear whats next! My research was assisted in ways large and small by Susan Fast, Robert Hoeing, Zane Merritt, Rob Phillips, Simon viii AC K N OW L E D G M E N T S Reynolds, the University at Buff alo Libraries, Joe Vogel, Naomi Yang, and all the cited authors. My interest in issues of voice, nonsense, and sound poetry has been nurtured over the years by Tony Arnold and Babel Vocal Ensemble, Esin Gndz, Cort Lippe, and Jeff rey Stadelman. Much thanks is also due to Brendan Fitzgerald and Wooden Cities, my friends, colleagues, and continuous sources of inspiration. Th ey gave me an acoustic space to use my voice, as well as (perhaps more importantly) something to do when I wasnt writing this book. Th e following individuals, publishers, and archives have graciously granted permission to reprint their material: Jaap Blonk, Judith Habermas and Dumont Buchverlag, Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., Steve McCaff ery, Jane Reichhold, Christian Vander and Magma, and the John Yang Archive.

Exhaustive attempts have been made to locate all copyright holders and to clear reprint permissions, and sincerest apologies are off ered if any errors have been made or if any acknowledge ments or rights have been unintentionally overlooked. To properly thank my wife, Brittany, for her love, encour agement, joy, patience, and sanity would require a trans cendence over the limitations of language of which a book like this is particularly incapable. So to her I must merely, inadequately, and wholeheartedly say: thank you. ix Track Listing 1. untitled [Vaka] (6:38) 2. untitled [Samskeyti] (6:33) 4. untitled [Njsnavlin] (7:33) 5. untitled [lafoss] (9:57) 6. untitled [E-Bow] (8:49) 7. untitled [Daualagi] (13:00) 8. untitled [Popplagi] (11:45) x ( Silence. untitled [Popplagi] (11:45) x ( Silence.

Not a sound. Not a cough or a sniffl e. Th e sound of captivation, of awe. A moment of collective attention. An eternal instant. In February 2006, Sigur Rs performed at Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth, Texas.

I had never been to a rock show in an opera house. I had never been to one where everyone remained seated for the duration of the performance. And I had never before experienced such an enrapturing silence. Aft er concluding a set of magnifi cent, beautifully per for med pieces, the band returned to the stage and began their encore with Virar vel til Loft rsa. In the middle of the song, there is a caesura, a break that, on the record, 1 lasts only about four seconds. But tonight this rest was extended into the grandest of grand pauses.