Sex, Mozart and chanting monks … the 20 best Euro-pop UK hits – ranked!
As Nena’s 99 Red Balloons turns 40, we look back at the best continental foreign-language songs that achieved cross-Channel success
October 2023
Jónsi from Sigur Rós makes a volcano: ‘It goes straight up the arse to rattle your bones’
An immersive exhibition at Mona in Hobart merges music, sound and scent to evoke an eruption, from an artist who is always finding new ways to move his audience
June 2023
Sigur Rós: Átta review – too much amorphous euphoria
‘I felt violated. It was a dark period for all of us’: Sigur Rós on their nightmarish recent years
April 2023
‘Anything is possible’: why Iceland has become a classical music powerhouse
Outstanding new composers and genre-hopping experiments are not the sole reasons the Iceland Symphony Orchestra’s UK tour is so anticipated – the country itself is a seed bed for musical talent
March 2023
Christine and the Queens announces artists for 2023 Meltdown festival
French pop singer invites Sigur Rós, Jim Jarmusch and more for June festival at London’s Southbank Centre
Inspired by a 14th-century poem, the Icelandic band conjure otherworldly grandeur on this long-awaited live recording
October 2020
Sigur Rós criticise 'unjust' second trial for Icelandic tax evasion
Band repaid money plus fines and interest but case at different court could land them in jail
August 2020
‘I love gay techno!’ Sigur Rós singer Jónsi on his bold new direction
Best known for his angelic vocals with the Icelandic rock band, Jónsi Birgisson is turning his hand to future pop, perfumery and sex toy-themed art
September 2019
Best culture of the 21st century
The maddest house party ever – Ragnar Kjartansson on making The Visitors
Set in the home of eccentric Americans, The Visitors is 64 hard-partying minutes of songs, cigars and sorrow. As it’s named the best artwork of the century, the artist relives its creation
March 2019
Sigur Rós band members charged with tax evasion by Icelandic authorities
Musicians accused of evading 151m Icelandic krona in tax through incorrect tax returns from 2011 to 2014
October 2018
Sigur Rós drummer quits band following rape allegations
Orri Páll Dýrason accused of sexually assaulting fan while she was asleep
June 2017
Icelandic band Sigur Rós pledge celebration of equality at Margaret Court Arena show
Rockers will turn 27 July concert into protest against tennis legend and will sell T-shirt to raise funds for same-sex marriage advocacy group
May 2017
The weirdest musical TV cameos: from Bob Dylan to the Purple One
Prison, casket or Taj Mahal – where's the strangest place an album was recorded?
April 2017
Reykjavik calling: how Sigur Rós started a musical revolution in Iceland
The post-rock band have just had a three-night celebration of their work in Los Angeles. Here, their peers explain why the band’s sound continues to resonate
June 2016
Sigur Ros’s Georg Holm on Iceland at Euro 2016: ‘It’s kind of beautiful to watch’
The founder member of Sigur Ros on scaring people in pubs and watching England v Iceland: ‘I think we do stand a chance. It’s a pretty good achievement’
April 2016
Avalanches confirm first live shows in 15 years as Splendour in the Grass announces lineup
Australian band, who will also play Spain and England, will be joined at the festival by the Strokes, Sigur Ros and the Cure
February 2016
Bookish blasts
The best books-and-music pairings
Listening to music and reading not only can go together, but can make fantastic partners and intensify both experiences. Here are your favourite pairings – with couples like Stephen King and Petshop Boys, sci-fi and Aphex Twin or Atwood and Beach House
January 2016
TV review
Storyville: The Golden Age of Circus – The Show of Shows review: a dreamy vision of bygone big tops
A wordless spectacle of vaudevillian footage – underpinned by the lofty sounds of Icelandic band Sigur Rós – that bewitchingly bridges past and present
