Review: Amiina - Kurr (or) goodbye Kurt Vonnegut
Posted on 13 April 2007 | No Comments
Amiina is an Icelandic group that began as a string quartet and filled that role wonderfully on the albums ( ) and Takk from fellow Icelanders Sigur Ros. But where the music of Sigur Ros (however) evokes a sense of the extreme grandeur of the Icelandic landscape, Amiina’s own music is the aural equivalent of looking at in individual snowflake or a single ice crystal. It evokes the same beauty but on a much smaller scale.
The band’s first full length album Kurr picks up where last year’s Seoul single left off. It is an affair in dreamy ethereal minimalism that combines loops, electronics, and ambient elements with chimes, rhodes piano, and other modern classical elements to create a magical sonic palette. The songs on Kurr glow an icy glacial crystalline blue and twinkle and sparkle in their microscopic beauty.
Adjectives like peaceful, tranquil, and calming can all be used to describe Kurr and its serene sounds. Certain passages seem to have slight Eastern influences that give the songs an almost meditative quality without droning on in any way. Amy noted that this album would also make for great music to fall asleep to. Agreed, but it is strikingly beautiful and deserves to be appreciated in a waking state as well. Amiina’s Kurr is available now right here.
MP3 | Amiina – Glamur Kurr
MP3 | Amiina – Seoul Kurr
Filed Under: Album Reviews, Atmospheric, Electronic, Folk
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