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It's a few days before the release and the first still edition hadn't arrived. a concert was organised at the icelandic opera house to celebrate the album's release. a release date had been set for 12 june 1999, a solid date that we felt we could meet. now what? we were sitting at a rather glum meeting when suddenly a man from the west came and told us "this is no problem, i'll handle the manufacturing, anything is possible." this news was met with great relief - it's all going to work out.
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naturally, the boys wanted a totally unique sleeve which didn't coincide with any standards, and no factory wanted to produce it. a giant weight was lifted off our shoulders - we could see the road at the end of the tunnel.Īnd then there was the small matter of packaging. the boys worked like dogs in núlist throughout the winter and mixing finally began in april of 1999. no matter how hard they tried, there simply weren't enough hours in the day. eventually it became clear that it would be impossible to finish the album as scheduled. the songs were recorded in studios sýrland and núlist. The band worked incessantly in the studio, day and night, to realise their ambitious ideas in time for the release date. the album was to be released in october 1998, with plenty of time before christmas. the band had planned the process from start to finish, with a solid work schedule having been drawn up. soon it became clear that the band's vision of the album was crystal clear. eventually we recruited ken thomas, who had been a big fan of "von", to record the album and oversee the studio work. the budget was under constant revision as the band's ideas were very ambitious - a big string band, a brass band, etc. you could feel the interest in the band mounting.Ĭontract negotations were lengthy and many meetings were held. i remember a performance of "flugufrelsarinn" at the icelandic music awards, as well "svefn-g-englar" at a packed concert in the music club gaukur á stöng in 1998. i recall having heard three songs from the album being played publically before the band went into the studio. it was my impression that this was a particularly creative time in the band's career, although the band hadn't been playing many of the songs that would later appear on "ágætis byrjun". dave and alex from fat cat records had previously heard "von" but this was the first time they sigur rós perform live. Sigur rós performed at a music festival in 1998 along with gus gus, hilmar örn, einar örn and mark bell, if i remember correctly. shortly thereafter began talks about making a remix album for "von" ("von brigði"). i first remember meeting kjartan when sigur rós held their release concert for von. i had known the band for a few years before ágætis byrjun. The release of ágætis byrjun was an especially memorable time for myself and an important chapter in the history of smekkleysa records. ási, smekkleysa records (the band's record label in iceland) It won numerous awards, and has appeared on multiple critics' lists of the best albums of the 2000s.To celebrate ten years of ágætis byrjun, we asked people close to the band for their memories of the recording and release of the album.
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According to their label Smekkleysa, the album sold 10,000 copies on its first year of release in Iceland, earning the band platinum status. It received a 2000 release in the United Kingdom and a 2001 release in the United States.
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Ágætis Byrjun became Sigur Rós's breakthrough album, both commercially and critically. Ágætis Byrjun represented a substantial departure from the band's previous album Von, with that album's extended ambient soundscapes replaced by Jónsi Birgisson's cello-bowed guitarwork and orchestration, using a double string octet amongst other chamber elements. The album was recorded between the summer of 1998 and the spring of 1999 with producer Ken Thomas. Ágætis Byrjun (Icelandic:, A good beginning) is the second studio album by Icelandic post-rock band Sigur Rós, released on 12 June 1999. Label: XL Recordings – XLLP610, XL Recordings – XLCD610, Krúnk – XLLP610