First the good news, the Icelandic band Sigur Rós are celebrating the 20th anniversary of their iconic album Ágætis Byrjun. The anniversary edition of the album is being released in various formats including a limited edition deluxe box set, a cd expanded edition, an LP Edition, and a deluxe digital edition.
The limited edition boxset includes
- 84 page cloth-bound book
- 2x LP of Ágætis Byrjun
- 2x LP: Live at íslenska óperan 1999
- 3x LP: demos, rarities and early live recordings
- digital download of all music
The lavishly packaged, limited edition, seven vinyl album set will include early versions and demos of the songs on the record, as well as never before songs that for the first time draw a line back to early influences which would soon become undetectable in the rootless beauty of the finished article.
The live LP contains the tracks
- Intro
- Von
- Syndir Guðs
- Flugufresarinn
- Olsen Olsen
- Ágætis byrjun
- Viðrar vel til loftárása
- Svefn-g-englar
- Ny batterí
- Nýja lagið
- Hafssól
The demos and rarities LP contains the following tracks
- Svefn-g-englar (Live at Popp í Reykjavík, 1998)
- Starálfur (Original speed version)
- Flugufrelsarinn (1998 Demo)
- Ný batterí (Instrumental)
- Hjartað hamast (bamm bamm bamm) (1995 Demo)
- Viðrar vel til loftárása (Alternative ending)
- Olsen Olsen (1998 Demo)
- Ágætis byrjun (1998 Demo)
- Hugmynd 1 (1998 Demo)
- Hugmynd 2 (1998 Demo)
- Hugmynd 3 (1998 Demo)
- Debata mandire (Live at Laugardashöll, 1999)
- Rafmagnið búið (From Ný batterí EP, 2000)
More details of the anniversary edition can be found at the bands website.
Now for the bad news. The members of the band were indicted on new tax evasion charges following an investigation by the Icelandic government. The band is cooperating with the authorities and have vowed to clear their name. Singer Jon Thor Birgisson is being charged with evading roughly $240,000 in income taxes in addition to $105,000 in taxes on his income. Other band members are being charged with not reporting a total of $1.6 million in income, equating to over $700,000 in taxes.
Stay tuned for details as this develops. As of now, no court date has been set yet.
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