Dead Flowers: Anglophiles Anonymous

There's definitely a different pace to an Amiina show, one that has more in common with a classical performance than a rock one. Although the group's show at Chicago's Lakeshore Theater revealed countless moments of beauty, there's not the same sense of instant gratification you get from a rock band. This is probably the reason why some Sigur Ros fans have an impression of Amiina as being "boring". For this reviewer, that's an unfair criticism of a band whose pacing and ambitions lie somewhere far afield from mainstream music, and even apart from Sigur Ros.

Throughout the show, there was the sort of giddy excitement one might expect with kids getting lose in the room where the school band keeps its instruments. The group switched between keyboards, strings, xylophones, a "glassophone", and harps, often within the space of one song. Digital looping pedals were used to organically craft layers of texture. There was an iBook on stage as well, but it seemed only to be utilized for scattered bits of percussion and atmospheric noise, like on the song "Hemipode" from the group's debut EP "AnimaminA".

The group's debut LP "Kurr" was also represented faithfully. The album's closing track "Boga" was actually the opener on this night, featuring Hildur playing some sort of instrument that required two bows. The ominous strains of this bizarre instrument carried through the song to the final fade out. Tracks that include the quartet's angelic harmonies, such as "Kolapot", "(R)ugla", and especially "Hilli", sounded stellar live and documented a musical progression from instrumental sketches to full-bodied pieces of work. Unfortunately, one of the the highlights of "Kurr", a track called "Lori", was not played. Being a change of pace for the band, it will probably take them a bit to put it together for the live setting.

Of course, one can't review an Amiina concert without mentioning the musical saw. It was there, as always, on the single "Seoul". As a special treat, the band returned for an encore and played a sort of 'saw symphony', with all four of them manipulating saws that reflected the venue's spotlights in every conceivable direction. As a bit of musical weirdness and beauty, it was the perfect summation of a charming evening.