Pitchfork

Need to add a little ethereality to your day? Some monumental crescendos and panoramic wilderness scenes? Sigur Rós is there for you, as the band pre-released their new EP/DVD yesterday on iTunes. Titled Saeglopar, the audio/video release officially arrives in North American on August 8 via Los Angeles-based indie label Worker's Institute, which has released music by Amiina and Jóhann Jóhannsson.

Featuring one track from Takk and three new tracks expanding on music from both the Baba Tiki Dido EP and the Untitled EP, Saeglópar also contains three videos, which, incidentally, the BBC recently used for all trailers of its Wimbledon 2006 coverage. ‘Cause, you know, nothing says tennis like a few tow-headed kids wandering through the Icelandic countryside building cairns and setting vans on fire.

Saeglopar:

Disc One (Audio):

01 Saeglopur
02 Refur
03 O Fridur
04 Kafari

Disc Two (Video/DVD):

01 Saeglopur
02 Glósóli
03 Hoppipolla

Sigur Rós is currently wrapping up their summer tour, playing a show in Luxembourg and Lisbon, with a two-day stop in Spain for the Summercase Festival. The final show in Iceland will be broadcast to the National Film Theatre in London live via satellite.

Dates:

07-12 Luxembourg - Neumunster Abbey
07-14 Barcelona, Spain - Summercase Festival
07-15 Madrid, Spain - Summercase Festival
07-16 Lisbon, Portugal - Pavilhão Atlântico
07-30 Reykjavik, Iceland - Klambratún Park

Departing from their Iceland-only policy, Worker's Institute has more releases coming out this fall, including a new album, Lightness, from Peter and the Wolf. The Austin, Texas-based band, led by Red Hunter, has developed a following by playing in such atypical venues as graveyards, abandoned buses, and (my personal favorite) on a secret island accessible only by canoe. Peter and the Wolf is in the midst of touring the US with a "junk orchestra" of friends and local musicians, as well as getting ready for a sailboat tour of the Eastern Seaboard this fall with Jana Hunter and Castanets.

Another forthcoming release is Wolves, the debut album from Glaswegian band My Latest Novel, which Worker's is releasing in partnership with the UK's Bella Union. The final October release on Worker's is a three-track single from Icelandic act Amiina (currently touring with Sigur Rós), containing the song "Seoul" from their forthcoming LP, plus two B-sides.