According to reports from Pitchfork's Scandinavian bureau, two members of Icelandic space-rock quartet Sigur Rós have formed solo projects. Frontman Jonsí Thor Birgisson has been hard at work for some time writing songs for a project he calls Frakkur, while keyboardist Kjartan Sveinsson has formed a band called The Lonesome Traveller with Sigur Rós drummer Orri Páll DýRason and María Huld Markan of the string quartet Amina.

Birgisson reportedly premiered his work as Frakkur "in full costume," with a full band on May 1st in Reykjavík at the five-year anniversary party of the Kitchen Motors arts collective. In tow were a group of jazz musicians-- including guitarist Hilmar Jenssen, Pachora bassist and Laurie Anderson collaborator Skúli Sverrisson, pianist Matthías Hemstock (playing percussion, actually), and yes, Sigur Rós/Lonesome Traveller drummer Orri Páll DýRason (on pots and pans)-- as well as the girls choir of Kársnesskóli. An MP3 of the performance, which lasted all of 11 minutes, is available at Sigur Rós' official website.

Sveinsson, meanwhile, made his debut with The Lonesome Traveller two weeks ago in the fjords village of Ísafjörður, covering four Sigur Rós songs ("Lugufrelsarinn", "Dauðalagið", "Hjartað Hamast" and "Leit af Lífi") in an alt-country vein. There is, however, no word yet as to whether he plans to write material of his own for the project. MP3s of this performance are available at the Sigur Rós site as well.

In related news, a documentary has been made which follows Sigur Rós throughout their 2003 summer tour. Cleverly titled Sigur Rós on Tour, the film will premiere this fall, and is said to feature new original music by the band-- some of which should appear on their forthcoming fourth full-length, which is presently slated for a 2005 release. A trailer is available at the Lortur production company's website.

.: Sigur Rós: http://www.sigur-ros.com

Sigur Rós on Tour: http://www.lortur.org/inproduction/02.htm