Tag Archive Sigur Ros

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Ballet in Music Videos

A Venn diagram of music videos and ballet would have pretty small overlap. Music videos of the MTV-type often rely on dance, but it’s usually popular styles. Ballet film projects are rare outside of a pandemic, and usually rely on classical music. But where pop music, film, and ballet come together is a very happy place for me. So I’ve rounded up some ballet music videos for this post. Only after I put the list together I realized how Iceland-heavy the list is. That’s strange, because ballet is one of the few art forms I don’t particularly associate with Iceland.

PNB soloist Dylan Wald in The Calling. Photo © Angela Sterling c/o PNB
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Discovering the Dark in Sigur Rós’ Valtari Videos

Sigur Ros at HarpaWhen I saw Sigur Rós at Airwaves this year, I was surprised by the dark imagery that came to mind. I always thought of Sigur Rós as very positive. They are named “Victory Rose” after the singer’s baby sister; even their creepiest-sounding album, Von, means “Hope;” the song “Starálfur” was the sound of wonder reborn in Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou; and when I first discovered the band, the lyrics were all in “Hopelandic.” But most of all there is the sound. How can music be dark when it sounds like sunlight shining through ice? Read More

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If Sigur Ros is Post-Rock, What is Post-Sigur Ros?

Sigur Ros at Airwaves 2012When the Sigur Rós show ended, I drifted like a dust mote, following the crowd of thousands walking back to the 101. Outside, everyone stopped to stare at the sky. The Northern lights danced as a meteor shower sent dozens of shining white falling stars through the green waves. Read More

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Sigur Rós at Airwaves

crowd waiting for Sigur Ros concert

Waiting for Sigur Ros

On the final night of Airwaves 2012, Sigur Rós played their first home town show in years. The only venue in town big enough was the sports stadium in Laugardalur. My English friend and I arrived at the stadium about fifteen minutes before the doors were scheduled to open. The line ran the length of the building, and soon wrapped around out of site. Even so, someone pulled into an empty parking spot right in front of us. Thousands of people were going to this show, but most of them were walking. Read More

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Sunday Airwaves Sunday

Asgeir TraustiSunday at Airwaves 12

I was the first one up in my dorm room at KEX on Sunday morning, which means I was the only one to (barely) make it downstairs before they quit serving breakfast at 10:30. It was already hard to find a seat for KEX’s first show of the day, Ásgeir Trausti. I hung out after breakfast and tried to write. I hadn’t really written anything since Thursday morning, and some things were already blurry (I had completely forgotten the wedding celebration at the Of Monsters and Men show until I read it somewhere else). Read More