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Product Description
Review
Icelandic quartet Amiina conjure up dreamy, melodic soundscapes suffused with the fairytale mysticism and undulating landscapes of their native - hang about, haven't we heard all this before?
Indeed we have. Iceland's musicians - who seem, curiously, to number more than the actual population - seem fated to have their music endlessly described in terms of their physical and cultural landscape.
Intricate melodies are weaved by 'mischievous elves'; abstract moods are 'glacial'; anything featuring heavy beats or blistering basslines is like an 'erupting volcano' or a 'tectonic rift'.
Yet to listen to Kurr, the debut album from Amiina - a talented all-female four piece who have been experimenting with music together since meeting at Reykjavik's College of Music in the 1990s - is to be somehow transported to their homeland.
Part of the reason perhaps is that the album is reminiscent of other Icelandic acts we know and love. You may, on listening to Kurr, recognize the guileless experimentation of Björk, the melodic whimsies of Múm and the emotive introspection of Sigur Rós (whom Amiina accompanied on tour between 2005 and 2006).
But there are major differences. Kurr (revealingly, the Icelandic word for birdsong) holds no truck with rhythmic complexity, artful aesthetics, nor high, ineffable drama. Theirs is a pure, irenic vision that unfurls serenely via a veritable wonderland of instrumentation, everything from violins, guitars and keyboards to wine glasses, bells, metalophones, Celtic harps, water glasses, musical saws, glockenspiels and kalimbas.
The resultant sound is not, as you might expect, clanky kitchen-sink experimentalism; rather, Kurr is a gently rippling stream of enigmatic moods and textures. The individual tracks, though readily identifiable ('Rugla' is uplifting, childlike, 'Glamur' is decidedly languorous, 'Seoul' pretty and innocent) fit together so organically you'd swear it was one long soundtrack.
It might be tempting for some to dismiss Kurr as fey, maudlin even. But waging journalistic war on a record as tranquil as this would - to borrow a memorable simile from the late Kurt Vonnegut Jr. - be akin to putting on a full suit of armour and attacking an ice cream sundae.
A crime far worse, surely, than quixotic metaphor. --Paul Sullivan
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
31 of 31 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Is there such a thing as an Icelandicophile? I think I am becoming one.
Like most who may have had their curiosity peaked by this album, I was drawn to it because of the link to the wonderful Sigur Ros. For the record, Amiina have featured heavily on those records - principally as an ad-hoc chamber quartet.
Well 'Kurr' treads the same kind of spacial soundscapes, but in a much more delicate way. The rock elements are absent and replaced with a glacial beauty of drifting strings, spectral glockenspiel and subtle electronica. It's like going for a stroll in a snow-capped forest or walking on a lonely beach on a winter morn. Quite beautiful.
Essentially, this is not about songs but moods, which means that it is aimed at quite a specialist audience. Nevertheless, fans of Eno, Boards of Canada, Sigur Ros etc, will have the patience to let this record's fragile qualities shine through.
Oh, and with a sleeve like that, how on earth can you resist. I have grown to love the whole package.
Like most who may have had their curiosity peaked by this album, I was drawn to it because of the link to the wonderful Sigur Ros. For the record, Amiina have featured heavily on those records - principally as an ad-hoc chamber quartet.
Well 'Kurr' treads the same kind of spacial soundscapes, but in a much more delicate way. The rock elements are absent and replaced with a glacial beauty of drifting strings, spectral glockenspiel and subtle electronica. It's like going for a stroll in a snow-capped forest or walking on a lonely beach on a winter morn. Quite beautiful.
Essentially, this is not about songs but moods, which means that it is aimed at quite a specialist audience. Nevertheless, fans of Eno, Boards of Canada, Sigur Ros etc, will have the patience to let this record's fragile qualities shine through.
Oh, and with a sleeve like that, how on earth can you resist. I have grown to love the whole package.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I bought this album solely on the clips on amazon and I have to say that those clips give a very good indication to the album so if you like the clips, grab the album.
Amiina sounds like a music box left on for decades in a lonely barn. It has more of a carving landscape sound than hooks and tunes. Each song floats in plinking away and whirling around chords. Never will it jump out into a frenzy and never will it see you headbanging or foottapping. Instead you will float on its airy vibes and be entranced by its simple, delicate and yet complex arrangements of music boxes, vibraphones, acoustic guitars and ethereal swirls of the occasional voice.
It took me a few minutes on the first listen to realise I'd stopped what I was doing and was just simply hypnotised.
While its not to everyone's taste (again see the clips) I cannot really find fault in this inventive and original album of alternative chamber music.
Amiina sounds like a music box left on for decades in a lonely barn. It has more of a carving landscape sound than hooks and tunes. Each song floats in plinking away and whirling around chords. Never will it jump out into a frenzy and never will it see you headbanging or foottapping. Instead you will float on its airy vibes and be entranced by its simple, delicate and yet complex arrangements of music boxes, vibraphones, acoustic guitars and ethereal swirls of the occasional voice.
It took me a few minutes on the first listen to realise I'd stopped what I was doing and was just simply hypnotised.
While its not to everyone's taste (again see the clips) I cannot really find fault in this inventive and original album of alternative chamber music.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Product is excellent, and the album is awesome. Amiina are the best! They sounds so nordic and peaceful.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Elevate Your Social Standing
An album that will enrich your music collection. Play this at your next dinner party to be the voted "coolest host in town." Quirky, esoteric but most of all... Icelandic.
Published 11 months ago by www.top-tunes.info
amazing!
i hadnt really heard much from these icelandic girls but after this cd i am now hooked they are amazing and so good to chill out to and in a morning make you wake up in a happy... Read more
Published on 14 May 2010 by Alexander Robson
Nice ambience
Listening to Amiina is a very interesting experience. The music exhibits a wide range of instruments from classical violins, viola etc, to a saw and wine glasses. Read more
Published on 17 Dec 2009 by J. Robson
Unexpected pleasure
This is a beautiful album, as well as one of the best CD covers available, the music is a complete joy.
Published on 1 Mar 2009 by Mr. M. J. Upton
Winter music
To be honest, Amiina didn't really grab me the first time I listened. It flowed in one ear, out the other, and left me thinking, "What was I listening to again? Read more
Published on 13 Jan 2008 by E. A Solinas
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