Sigur Rós - Nýja Lagið (live at the Icelandic Opera House, 12th June 1999)

Just over ten years ago, a four-piece Icelandic band were ready to set an astonishing new album loose on a very much unsuspecting world.



At a time when the music industry was asleep at the wheel during the onslaught of manufactured pop and nu-metal, Ágætis byrjun was the soundtrack for waking from the most beautiful coma. In the present day, from the echoes of the sonar that kicks off 'Svefn-g-englar' to the winding down, subterranean-esque ebb-and-flow of closer 'Avalon', it stands up as one of the last classic albums of the 20th century. It is a stonewall masterpiece. It broke them into the public eye and the hearts and minds of many critics and music fans. They have come close to matching the brilliance of this record on many occasions, but I don't think that they'll ever be able to better it. I can only hope that they prove me wrong.

To celebrate Ágætis byrjun's 10th anniversary, the eighteen seconds before sunrise site is giving away a media bundle, featuring an MP3 of 'Hafsól' and a HQ video of the live rarity 'Nýja Lagið'. Both performances are taken from the band's subliminal concert at the Icelandic Opera House on the day that Ágætis byrjun was released. Here is a fairly good quality version of the 'Nýja Lagið' performance from YouTube:



If the media bundle floats your boat, you may also like to know that the full Icelandic Opera House set can be found at victoryrosemusic.blogspot.com (MP3 - see victoryroselossless.blogspot.com for FLAC files).

In other Sigur Rós news, they will be performing at the Icelandic Folk Music Festival on the 4th of July. The band will play the entire Odin's Raven Magic suite alongside Steindór Andersen and Páll Guðmundsson, leading exponents of the art of 'Rimur'.