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Published on 8/28/08
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Highline Ballroom; Wed 5
It looked like something out of the Book of Exodus, as if a biblical plague of musical gadgets had been visited upon the altar of Good Shepherd–Faith Presbyterian Church. The occasion last April was a headlining performance by Amiina, whose name, most had previously assumed, was Icelandic for “string quartet that plays with Sigur Rós.” And there were, in fact, a few lonely violins and cellos scattered among the detritus. They were just hard to spot between the Celtic harps, glockenspiels, wineglasses, singing saws, electric guitars and toy bells.
The members of Amiina—Edda Rún Ólafsdóttir, Hildur Ársælsdóttir, María Huld Markan Sigfúsdóttir and Sólrún Sumarlidadóttir—got together while attending the Reykjavík College of Music in the ’90s. Sigur Rós came calling soon after, providing the quartet an opportunity to work out conservatory-honed skills in front of audiences of thousands.
Since 2004, Amiina has been crafting original music: a gnomic mix of rainbow-hued reveries, quirky lullabies and pixie vocalises in four-part harmony. Brian Eno, the Penguin Cafe Orchestra and, naturally, Sigur Rós come to mind as forebears, but Amiina has a sound all its own. Most of the music the group played in April came from its self-released full-length debut, Kurr, newly reissued for domestic consumption by the Ever label. Such ethereal sounds might seem like an odd fit for the Highline, but the transformative power of Amiina is not to be underestimated.
