Hot List Hits and Misses: Sigur Ros and Kina
The Hot List has been a Rolling Stone tradition since 1986. All this week, Rock Daily takes a look back at the people and trends that stayed smoking and the ones that cooled off. Today, we visit 2000.
Hot Hit: Sigur Ros. Named 2000’s “Hot Band,” the Icelandic quartet had just released their breakthrough album Agaetis Byrjun. They told David Fricke in 2000 that they would give English a chance, but their subsequent releases have stuck to their strange pidgin language they call Hopelandic. Those albums, incidentally, have been some of the finest rock of the 21st century, including this year’s Med sud I eyrum vid spilum endalaust.
Hot Miss: Kina. A tough-minded R&B singer who had a hit with “Girl From the Gutter” in the summer of 2000, Kina was part of a movement of hard-nosed, esoteric singers like Macy Gray and Kelis. Unfortunately, following her self-titled debut, Kina fell off the map. Even more unfortunate: she shared a spread in the 2000 Hot issue with Aaliyah, who died in a plane crash less than a year later. A bummer year for R&B.
Related Stories:
• The 2008 Rolling Stone Hot Listbr> • Album Review: Sigur Ros, Med sud i eyrum vid spilum endalaustbr> • Album Review: Sigur Ros, Agaetis Byrjunbr> • Album Review: Kina, Kina