The Red and Black

Issue date: 1/10/08 Section: Out & About

Media Credit: Courtesy Sigur Rós Icelandic band Sigur Rós posted an offer on its Web site that gave fans the chance to screen a documentary of its recent tour in theaters across America. [Click to enlarge]

When Icelandic band Sigur Rós posted an offer on its Web site to show its new film, "Heima," in the hometowns of those interested, University student Michael Bykhovsky took the group up on the idea.

"I didn't think much of it at first, but I figured I might as well try," said the senior from Alpharetta. "Next thing I knew, XL Records contacted me about bringing the movie to Athens and promoting it."

Bykhovksy decided that Sigur Rós and "Heima" would fit in at Athens Ciné rather than other local theaters.

"The appeal of Ciné as an art house goes hand in hand with Sigur Rós and their music," he said.

Kamala Lyons, public relations director at Ciné, said the screening fell perfectly into the theater's schedule - but for one day only.

" (Sigur Rós is) hard to define exactly - kind of ethereal, atmospheric and can be both powerfully intense and sweetly delicate at the same time," Lyons said of the band's music.

Together since 1994, the band consists of Jón þor Birgisson (vocals, guitars), Kjartan Sveinsson (keyboards), Orri Páll Dýrason (drums) and Georg Holm (bass).

The group's first album, "von," was quickly dubbed experimental. The next album, "ágætis byrjun" (translated to "a good beginning"), was released in Iceland in 1999 only to be found by record executives in the UK for a 2000 worldwide debut of Sigur Rós.

"They're one of those bands that you can't place a strict genre on, but that's what makes them unique," Bykhovsky said. "I first heard them in early 2002 when I picked up "ágætis byrjun" on a whim, and I immediately fell in love with their music."

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