Reykjavik
Reykjavik appears in 2 Songsheets issues: Post-Rock and Bristol Trip Hop. 2 artists in the archive came from here, including Sigur Rós and Björk.
Reykjavik's post-rock identity is inseparable from Sigur Rós, whose 1999 album Ágætis byrjun brought an ethereal, orchestral grandeur to the genre, sung in Icelandic and the band's invented "Hopelandic" language, recorded partly at their Sundlaugin studio. The city's geographic isolation and dramatic landscapes seemed to infuse the music with a particular sense of space and beauty that distinguished it from the more urban, industrial sounds of other post-rock centers. Though a small scene, Iceland's contributions through Sigur Rós and later bands like Múm (who blended post-rock with electronica) carved out a distinctive Nordic aesthetic that influenced the genre's more ambient, uplifting tendencies in the early 2000s.
Scenes
Artists from Reykjavik
- Sigur Rós
Formed in January 1994 by Jón Þór 'Jónsi' Birgisson, bassist Georg Hólm, and drummer Ágúst Ævar Gunnarsson, and named Sigur Rós — 'Victory Rose' — after Jónsi's newborn sister.
- Björk
Björk has been a pop star since she was eleven years old, and the strange thing is she never had to choose a lane to stay one.
