Sigur Ros
 

Just got into this band recently and I love what I've heard. Any other fans out there? Any recommendations on other bands that may be similar (though I don't know if there are any)?

I love Sigur Ros. ( ) and Agaetis Byrjun are amazing albums. Other bands that are similar are Godspeed You Black Emperor and Mogwai. They are good but not as good as Sigur Ros, IMO.

Lot's of bands sound like them, but very few sound exactly like them or are as good. Here's a few suggestions:

My Bloody Valentine: Loveless the grandaddy of the whole early-ninties dream-pop scene. Louder and more distorted than Sigur Ros but with a similar sense of mutated harmonies and blended sound. Also check out Slowdive's Just for a Day (slightly more mellow and more dreamy than MBV) and Lush's Split.

Cocteau Twins: Heaven or Las Vegas This album sounds like it was a big influence on Sigur Ros: nonsense lyrics, layered/phased electronics etc.

Stereolab: Emperor Tomato Ketchup Probably Stereolab's best album, it's more minimalist and driven than Sigur but similar sounding.

Mercury Rev: Deserter's Songs this is a terrific album, a little more orchestral than Sigur, but just as etherial and beautiful. Also check out the Flaming Lips' The Soft Bulletin.

Polyphonic SpreeThe Beginning Stages Of... excellent band/cult formed by the ex-leader of Tripping Daisy, their music was recently in an Apple commercial. Dreamy/gospel-y/rockish. Really a great album, check it out.

Spacemen 3: Playing With Fire Seminal fuzz-guitar/minimalist record, sounds like the onset of strong drugs. Many bands, including Sigur got some of their guitar sound from them.

Goldfrapp: Felt Mountain they sound like a more folkish and nordic Portishead with an edge. This album compliments Sigur Ros' first one very well, not sure why.
...let me know if you need more.

Big fan of Sigur Ros here, too. I saw them last Februrary and it was spectacular. It was the night that Bush's 48-hour limit on Hussein ended, so imagine watching the video for Song 1 or 4 (I can't remember which is the single) from ( ) and thinking about the pending war. Intense stuff.

You might check out Mum, an Icelandic labelmate that is much more electronic-based than SR, but is equally, if not - at times - more, gorgeous than their colleagues. The Album Leaf opened for Sigur Ros when I saw them live, and they were certainly comparable (even some of the Ros's members played with them) but a little too new age-y for my taste.

Thanks everyone. I am a huge My Bloody Valentine fan and also have music by slowdive, Mercury Rev, and Spacemen 3. I will have to check out some of those you listed though.

Also, anyone know who does their videos? I find them very powerful.

The last 4 tracks on their first album are easily some of the most gorgeous things I've ever heard.

I still haven't heard ( ).

You should also check out Aphex Twin, Quasimoto, Prefuse 73, Akufen, and Squarepusher.

I have that ( ) album, that first song is really cool.

Some good ones have already been mentioned, although I agree completely that no band sounds exactly like them. The Album Leaf is somewhat comparable musically. Also Mogwai, Godspeed You Black Emperor and Tortoise. Mercury Rev, although their stuff is hit or miss with me. Spiritualized maintains that dreamy, post-rock sound, and Glenn Kotche's Introducing has lots of the same ethereal touch, though it is mainly a percussive album.

Something that might interest you would be Auburn Lull. They only have one album so far, Alone I Admire. It was released in 1999 and reissued last year on Darla Records, so it shouldn't be too hard to find/order. For what my opinion is worth*, it easily matches and more often than not exceeds Sigur Ros in sheer beauty. I use the same phrase to describe it to people that I do when I first heard Sigur Ros- "If your house started on fire while listening to it, you wouldn't be too quick to move." :) Could be considered a classic if more people knew about it.

Of course, nothing sounds exactly like Sigur Ros, and it's tricky to name something that falls in line with their sound. GYBE and Mogwai appeal to the same crowd usually, but they also get much, much louder than Sigur Ros do (except for the last 5 minutes of ( )... ) which might not be what one is looking for.

I guess I can also mention Low for the sake of being the first to.

*As for what my opinion is worth: I have a tattoo of the Agaetis Byrjun album cover on my leg. When I say Auburn Lull is as gorgeous as Sigur Ros, I mean it!!! ;)

I am also a big fan of Sigur Rós. They are just amazing, especially their music videos, which are entirely different from any other music videos I have seen.

For those that have never seen it, I recommend you check out their website, <a href="http://www.sigur-ros.com/">www.sigur-ros.com</a>, and check out their music video "Untitled #1 [a.k.a. vaka]<a href="http://www.sigur-ros.co.uk/media/dldvideo.html">here</a>. They have it in RM and WM format, high and low quality. Once I saw that video, I was hooked on their music.

They also have quite a number of other videos and recordings available for download. Once I find myself a job, I plan on expending quite a bit of $ on their CD's. They are one of the few bands out there that I like enough to do so.

:thumbsup:

Additionally, I'd recommend scottish band Aereogramme, both their albums "A Story In White" and "Sleep And Release" are somewhat similar and magnificent.
Also Labradford, especially the "Mi Media Naranja" album.

If you are thinking about making some GY!BE and Mogwai purchases, be warned that it isn't very similar tonally. While Sigur Ros might sound like loss, the former two sound like suicide.

-edit to add-

I agree with the Labradford statement - very layered melodies that stretch out over 7 minutes. Just when you think you get used to it, something else has creeped into the mix and you get hooked on that.

Aereogramme might be something you wait on if you get into Mogwai. It's a bit more rockin' than Sigur Ros, even though their latest, Sleep and Release, is all over the place stylistically.

I still stand by my Mum suggestion!!!

What have I been thinking?!? Get Yume Bitsu - anything - RIGHT NOW.

Wow. You are all outdoing yourselves, and I praise you for it. Last night I was able to download a few songs from some of the bands, and was quite impressed. Don't get me wrong though, I do this so I can find more bands I like, then I pick them up if I can. I am heading down to Florida next week, so I'll bring a list of some of my new found glories to a few CD stores and see what I can pick up. Thanks again. And feel free to keep em coming as more and more good ideas are sprouting. I'll try check out some of the others tonight and formulate my CD buying list.

The only reason I ever started listening to them was because of the recommendations of people on this forum. They make some cool ****ing music. :up:

Anybody watch the Untitled #1 Video? I would like to hear what some other people thought of it.

I found it to be incredibly powerful emotionally, and very sad. It remains one of my favorite Sigur Rós songs/music videos.

I loosely referred to it above, but here is the deal. 9:30 Club put on Sigur Ros' 3 videos as pre-show entertainment (Svfen-g-Englar, Viorar vel til Loftrasa, and Vaka/Song #1). The first two I had seen and knew well; "Song #1" on the other hand shocked the hell out of me. It was the night that the 48-hours Bush gave Hussein to leave Iraq ended. There was a lot of tension that night, especially considering the show was in DC. Needless to say, looking at the faces during the video proved that there had never been a time to freak out more people.

As stated above...try Mogwai. They rock.

I'll second the Mum recommendation. Make sure you get the Icelandic Mum and not the metal band. And if you like Mum, check out Boards of Canada, Dntel and The Postal Service.

Be sure to check out Sigur Ros' collaboration with Hilmar Orn Hilmarsson (Icelandic composer) - The Angels of the Universe soundtrack.

I highly, highly recommend Coil's Moon's Milk (in Four Phases), especially the songs "Rosa Decidua" and "A White Rainbow". Like Sigur Ros, the music cannot really be described to someone, it must be heard.

If you're going to check out Godspeed You Black Emperor! then you should also look into the various side projects of the many band members:

A Silver Mt. Zion (aka The Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra and Tra-La-La Band)
Set Fire to Flames
Fly Pan Am
Exhaust

Other bands you might be interested in:

Au Revoir Borealis
Slowdive
Bark Psychosis
Spiritualized

Yes, I'm a professional music addict.

Fly Pan Am is fantastic. Funk rhythms with blasts of crunchy noise: the sort of thing you want to dance to, but have no idea how to begin.

A Silver Mt. Zion's first album, He Has Left Us Alone But Shafts of Light Sometimes Grace the Corners of Our Rooms, is a great piece of chamber music as equally haunting as yearning. Actually, I'm rather positive that any Sigur Ros fan will want this. Constellation Records has the best packaging. Period. Nice mentions, RevLiver.

How is Exhaust? Been looking for them and coming up with nothing.

If Slowdive is mentioned, I'd also recommend Low. Especially the "The Curtain Hits The Cast" and the "Things We Lost In The Fire" albums.

there is Sigur Ros first album 'Von.' I think it is completely instrumental but for one or two tracks (been a while since I listened). Very experimental but it is a good listen.

Thanks a lot everyone, now I'm formulating my list for my trip to Florida. Hopefully I'll be able to pick up some of this.

Here's some of what I ended up buying while on my vacation:

Albums by:

Sigur Ros
BT
Thievery Corporation
Mogwai
Telepopmusik
Plastina Mosh
Polyphonic Spree
Ozomalti

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll order more off of the internet next time I want to treat myself.