Parachutes: Tree Roots Turn to Forts (Web Rip)

Listen/Download:
"Tree Roots Turn to Forts"
[Band Myspace]

Sigur Ros: Festival (Radio Rip)

Listen/Download:
"Festival" (Radio Rip)
[Band Website]
[Band Myspace]
[Band Wiki]
(Thanks outofcontrol/onvideotape)

Sigur Ros: Heima (Acoustic, Live)

Listen:

[Download the MP3 Here]
[Download the whole set here]
[Band Website]
(Thanks Darren)

"Heima" Trailer:

Leaves: Shakma

Listen:

[Download the MP3 Here]
[Band Website]
[Band Myspace]
(Thanks Peabs)

Sigur Ros: Hoppipolla and Meo Blodnasir (live on Later)

Listen:

[Download the MP3 Here]
[Band Website]
[Band Myspace]

Video:

Mum: Green Grass of Tunnel

Listen:

[Download the MP3 Here]
[Band Website]

Amiina: Lóri

Listen:

[Download the MP3 Here]
[Band Website]
[Band Myspace]
[Read my interview]
[Read my live review]

New Amiina Song

From aminamusic.com:

amiina played a new song in Brussells the other night.

!linus (who recorded it) says:

at the start it features maria on guitar, solrun at the organ, hildur bowing a saw and edda hitting another saw with a mallet (like what hildur does in ammælis) they change instruments midsong of course, not sure what edda does after the saw but hildur plays on the weird guitar like thing used during hilli

Listen:

[Download the MP3 Here]
[Read my interview with Amiina]

Get Your Sigur Ros Fix in 2007

According to 18 Seconds Before Sunrise:

sigur rós have been keeping busy over the past few months with several new projects to be released later this year. preliminary details of upcoming sigur rós releases are as follows:
hlemmur DVD+CD. eta - july 2007.
the 2002 film and soundtrack together in a double release package
new EP. eta - august 2007.
tracks: von (new version), salka, lagið í gær, rokklagið. includes new live video as a bonus.
live DVD. eta - october 2007.
sigur rós on the road: the as yet untitled DVD of last summer’s iceland tour
acoustic LP. eta - october 2007.
full-length album of acoustic songs
odin’s raven magic DVD+CD. eta - january 2008.
the complete orchestral piece odin’s raven magic in concert

more details on each release will follow in due course.

And Here's a Review of This Week's Acoustic Show:

The first song is a new version of “Von,” followed by “Samskeyti,” “Vaka,” and “Ágaetis byrjun.” In the small room the sound is impeccable, every lilt and wisp in Jónsi’s voice coming through. Some children in the audience gather in front of the stage playing sweet-and-sour with the performers. Orri makes faces at them from behind his drums.

The band plays one new song, a languishing tune sung in Sigur Rós’s imaginary language, vonlenska, followed by “Heysátan” from their newest album, and finishing with a stripped-down, but powerful rendition of “Starálfur,” seldom played in concert. At the end all the players return to the tiny, cramped stage during the proud ovation, taking a fumbled group bow reminiscent of Christmas pageants and school plays.

New Sigur Ros Book on the Way

18 Seconds Before Sunrise Reports:

‘in a frozen sea’
19 April 2007
we are pleased to announce news of a unique and exciting new sigur rós release. ‘in a frozen sea - a year with sigur rós’ will be released on june 1st and looks set to become a real collector’s item. put together by long term sigur rós fan and music industry veteran jeff anderson, the book contains exclusive imagery from the band’s already legendary icelandic tour of last summer. the 32 page publication will come encased in a 12″ vinyl jacket and be available on its own or as part of a limited edition vinyl package with three of the band’s 12″ lps. you can read the full press release here and the item will be available for purchase here.

Listen to "Ba Ba":

[Download the MP3 Here]

The Grab Bag

Time to clear out my backlog of links at one fell swoop:

Jim Derogatis interviews Amiina: [Chicago Sun-Times]
NY Times reviews Amiina: [New York Times]

Pete Doherty begins acoustic tour: [NME]

Patti Smith Covers "Gimme Shelter":

[Download the MP3 at Salon]

Thom Yorke, Julian Casablancas, and others run down their desert island jukebox picks on [Sound Opinions]:

[Download the MP3]

Peabs Has a Doppelganger [Whatevs]

"The Riches" is pretty great. Watch the pilot: [VEOH]
On a related note, watch pretty much everything else: [Alluc.org]

Amiina: Live in NYC (MP3)

Tracklist:
01 Intro
02 Boga
03 Hemipode
04 Lúppa
05 Kolapot
06 (Flaut)/Sexfaldur
07 Hilli
08 Glámur
09 Ugla
10 Fjarskanistan
11 Seoul
Encore:
12 Saga

[MP3 Link]
[Lossless Link]
[Info from Amiina News]
[Order Amiina's debut, "Kurr"]

Listen to "Hilli" (Live):

Thoughts On:Amiina Live in Chicago 3.23.07

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.

[Read the Dead Flowers Interview with Amiina]
[Pre-order Amiina's Debut Record, "Kurr"]
[Amiina on Myspace]
[Official Amiina Website]
[Aminamusic.com Fansite]

Tour Dates:
march 28 Montreal (Le National) tickets
march 30 Philly (World Café Live) tickets
march 31 Boston (The Remis at Museum of Fine Arts) tickets
april 1 DC (9:30 Club) tickets
april 2 NYC (The Wordless Music Series) tickets
april 6 Cincinnati (Cincinnati Now Festival) tickets
april 9 Seattle (Triple Door) tickets
april 10 Portland (Doug Fir Lounge) tickets
april 12 San Francisco (Swedish American Hall) tickets
april 13 Los Angeles (Silent Movie Theatre) tickets
april 14 San Diego (House of Blues-5th Avenue Stage) tickets

Dead Flowers Interviews Amiina

Maria Huld Markan, Edda Rún Ólafsdóttir, Sólrún Sumarliðadóttir, and Hildur Ársælsdóttir, together known as Amiina, are a group from Iceland. Their debut LP "Kurr" will be released on March 21st. Many initially got to know the group as Sigur Ros' string section, and they share that band's adventurous approach to music and instrumentation. Listeners who enjoyed the more contemplative sections of "Takk" will find Amiina's music a welcome addition to their library. I spoke to Hildur from the group, who you might have seen playing the saw, among other instruments.

Thanks to Greg at http://aminamusic.com for general assistance and question help. Thanks as well go to the band's manager, Edna Pletchetero, for making the interview possible.

Dead Flowers: You started as a string quartet rather than as a rock band. How has that affected your approach to music?

Hildur: I'd say to some extent, the way we think is very influenced by our classical upbringing. the importance of instrumentation and nuances for instance. and also the fact that we don't depend on one main melody. it's more about layers and weaving independent melodies together. but this isn't classical music we are making, the cords and the structure of alot of the songs are more pop orientated.

DF: Your songs create a very specific mood. Do you set out to evoke certain emotions with your music?

H: Not really. but we seem to be an endless source of melancholy.

Listen to "Blaskjar":

DF: Now, an existential question: Why Amiina? What do you feel you can do in the context of the group that you can't do with Sigur Ros?

H: We have worked with Sigur Rós for a very long time, and had creative input, but we are not in the band. with amiina the process of starting a song from scratch is ours, the direction and the mood of each song is solely in our hands. when we were doing creative work with Sigur Rós it mostly consisted of adding our work to their world of sounds. it's actually two very different things. Although both very enjoyable.

DF: What is your favorite instrument to work with? When on tour, are you constantly on the look out for new instruments?

H: Haha, that's a good question to ask a band with 30 instruments on stage! it probably depends alot on which member you ask, and also on periods. we had a period where we could not make a new song without using our table harps in it, and we ended up traveling with 4 of them everywhere we go. but now everyone is tired of tuning them, so for some reason no one mentions the harps when we are writing new material! the metalophone seems to end up used in every song, and we are all in love with the celest, but that's a rare and expensive instrument, so only when we are lucky enough to borrow one. i think the best answer to the question would probably be that which ever instrument is the newest at any time is the most popular one. today it's probably the nord-compact we just bought to replace the beautiful fragile harmonium on tour.

On tour we don't really have that much time to look out for new instruments. but of course if we get free time and there is a place with interesting stuff nearby, we're very likely to be seen there yes.

Icelandic TV Appearance:

DF: Your songs move at a slower pace than most pop/rock music today; new layers are revealed gradually over the course of each song. Was this approach intentional, or is that just the most natural tempo for you?

H: I guess it's what comes natural for us. usually we don't start out saying:
"ok, let's make a really slow song with many layers". on the contrary, even
if we start out wanting to do a simple, cheerful song, this is what comes
out. we can't help it.

DF: The "Seoul" b-side "Ugla" has vocals on it, while your earlier work was instrumental. How did you decide to incorporate your voices?

H: There are 4 of us on stage, and a lot of the time we are in desperate need of
more hands. because when we are writing and recording, we tend to add more
layers than is physically possible for us to perform with 8 hands. here the
voices come in handy, four layers that don't take away any of the already
working hands. this is at least one of the reasons why we are incorporating
our voices more and more into our songs. but for now, we like to use them
more as additional instruments, rather than a lead melody.

Listen to "Ugla":

DF: You have what one could describe as a 'symbiotic relationship' with Sigur Ros. Some tracks on "Takk" sound very similar to Amiina's music. What do you think the group has learned from you? What have you learned from them?

H: Hmm. i don't know. we have spent a lot of time together, playing together and as friends. and certainly you are influenced by your surroundings to some extent, but i really can't speak on their behalf. And I'm sure they are a big influence on us without us necessarily noticing it, it's eight years since we played the first concert with them. i think working with them and spending so much time in this environment has made us feel certain that you don't have to make music the same way everyone else does. so maybe that played a part in us wanting to start making our own music, i don't know. but then again if they had been the "traditional" pop/rock band we would probably not have lasted this long together.

[Pre-order Amiina's Debut Record, "Kurr"]
[Amiina on Myspace]
[Official Amiina Website]
[Aminamusic.com Fansite]

Tour Dates:
march 21 Madison (Café Montmartre ) tickets
march 22 Minneapolis (The Varsity Theatre) tickets
march 23 Chicago (Lakeshore Theater) tickets
march 25 Cleveland (Cambridge Room, House of Blues) tickets
march 26 Detroit (Magic Bag) tickets
march 27 Toronto (The Music Gallery ) tickets
march 28 Montreal (Le National) tickets
march 30 Philly (World Café Live) tickets
march 31 Boston (The Remis at Museum of Fine Arts) tickets
april 1 DC (9:30 Club) tickets
april 2 NYC (The Wordless Music Series) tickets
april 6 Cincinnati (Cincinnati Now Festival) tickets
april 9 Seattle (Triple Door) tickets
april 10 Portland (Doug Fir Lounge) tickets
april 12 San Francisco (Swedish American Hall) tickets
april 13 Los Angeles (Silent Movie Theatre) tickets
april 14 San Diego (House of Blues-5th Avenue Stage) tickets

Amiina Ready New Album

From their official site:

Dear all,

Finally our debut album, Kurr, will be allowed to wander off into the big world. It will happen on March the 21st, but pre-orders have already started. We do hope it brings you joy!

This first run is a little bit special, as it is released by our own Bláskjár Records. For now the album will only be available at our shows and in our webstore. But we're talking to some people who want to make it more widely available, so by this summer it will hopefully have travelled to most decent record stores around the world. We'll give you news on all that later.

But if you can't wait that long, come to our shows, or purchase it online (there are also some other new nice things there to buy)!

Amiina w/ Sigur Ros on Jools Holland:


Tour Dates:
march 21 Madison (Café Montmartre ) tickets
march 22 Minneapolis (The Varsity Theatre) tickets
march 23 Chicago (Lakeshore Theater) tickets
march 25 Cleveland (Cambridge Room, House of Blues) tickets
march 26 Detroit (Magic Bag) tickets
march 27 Toronto (The Music Gallery ) tickets
march 28 Montreal (Le National) tickets
march 30 Philly (World Café Live) tickets
march 31 Boston (The Remis at Museum of Fine Arts) tickets
april 1 DC (9:30 Club) tickets
april 2 NYC (The Wordless Music Series) tickets
april 6 Cincinnati (Cincinnati Now Festival) tickets
april 9 Seattle (Triple Door) tickets
april 10 Portland (Doug Fir Lounge) tickets
april 12 San Francisco (Swedish American Hall) tickets
april 13 Los Angeles (Silent Movie Theatre) tickets
april 14 San Diego (House of Blues-5th Avenue Stage) tickets

Sigur Ros: Glosoli (Orchestral Performance)

The Project

The project involved five Watford schools with each school having a role in participating in the concert as presenters, players, composers and singers.

This exciting concert included music by Sigur Rós, Arvo Pärt and Jocelyn Pook as well as compositions, arrangements and visual media (thanks to the involvement of BBC 21CC) created and performed by the school students themselves.

Conducted by Robert Ziegler, and presented by BBC 1Xtra's Iyare, the event was a unique musical experience for the young people involved, broadening and deepening their ideas about the orchestral sound world, and supporting and enriching their music making at home and at school.

[Watch the video on the BBC Website; "Glosoli" is towards the end]
[Link From Eighteen Seconds Before Sunrise]

Sigur Ros Back in the Studio

18 Seconds Before Sunrise Reports:

sigur rós have begun recording their new album and expect to finish it later this year. in an interview with fréttablaðið newspaper, georg says it remains to be seen whether the band will be taking a totally new direction on the album. “we have finished recording a few songs but some more things need to be done. we don’t know exactly where the album is heading yet. we are really just experimenting at this stage. some of the songs we recorded are old songs which we had written a while ago, unreleased material which we never got a chance to finish. we decided it was time they were recorded.” georg says there is a possibility the album will be released this year but nothing is confirmed at this point.

Njosnavelin on Kilborn:

We Are Scientists: Hoppipolla(Sigur Ros cover--MP3)

Listen:

[Download]

Amiina: KEXP (Podcast)

Amiina Music and the Sigur Ros official site are hosting Amiina's KEXP session. Download it [here]

The tracklisting is:

01 [Radio Intro]
02 Hemipode
03 Glámur
04 [Interview]
05 Ugla
06 Ammælis
07 [Radio Outro]

In other news, the "Seoul" single is now available on ITunes US. Click on the link below to pick it up for $2.97:

Dead Flowers: Discoveries of 2006

[Download the mix in .rar format]
The mix was taken down to avoid copyright issues. Email me for a copy.

When a year proves to be rather lackluster for new music, as 2006 no doubt did, it's a good excuse to explore the musical archives. With so much music out there, one is always discovering songs 5 years (and in some cases 30 years) too late. Here are 10 songs that I came to appreciate over the course of the year:


1. The Rolling Stones: "Bitch"
2. The Rolling Stones: "Loving Cup"
3. The Rolling Stones: "Love in Vain"
I know, I know: having a self-proclaimed music "expert" like myself tell you that he just discovered The Rolling Stones is a little like your doctor admitting he failed freshman Biology. Nevertheless, for the sake of full disclosure, 2006 was the year I went from Stones fan to full-on obsessive.

4. Blur: "Gene by Gene"
5. Blur: "Mellow Song"
I can't escape my past when it comes to Blur--I'm on record criticizing their last two albums, "13" and "Think Tank," as aimless nonsense. Turns out I was completely wrong. They're brilliant--maybe even their best albums. With these albums, Damon traded cheekiness for soul, buried his still-brilliant melodies so that only dedicated listeners could find them, and turned up Alex James. In doing so, he showed why he's the premier talent in music today.

6. Ash: "A Life Less Ordinary"
Ash's grunge-y anthem is infinitely better than the movie of the same name. An essential summer tune.
7. Bang Gang: "Find What You Get"
8. Mum: "Green Grass of Tunnel"
Taken from the "Screaming Masterpiece" soundtrack, these songs by Icelandic groups successfully walk the line between experimentation and melodicism.

9. Amiina: Blaskjar
10. Sigur Ros: Se Lest
Despite being one of the first people in America to own their debut single "Svefn g englar" and despite playing their album "( )" to death, I got off to a rocky start with "Takk." Sure, I understood the singles, but the quieter moments had me stumped. After I watched some live shows and gave the songs time to seep in, "Takk" quickly became my favorite Sigur Ros effort. Because the quieter songs are heavily influenced by collaborators Amiina, once I appreciated tunes like "Se Lest," Amiina's singles became an essential purchase as well.

See you in 2007
-Mick

Buy Buy Buy:

Amina: Boga (New Song)

[Download the Mp3 at Amiina Music]

Sigur Ros: Roskilde (Torrent)

[On The Sigur Ros Torrent Tracker]

Sigur Ros
Arena Stage
Roskilde Festival
Denmark
2006-06-29
Source: SR P3 (FM analog cable)
Transfer: Denon DRA-585RD -> SB Audigy 2 ZS -> Adobe Audition 1.5
Encoding: FLAC8 (Align on sector boundaries)

Setlist:
00. Takk... [Announcer introducing Sigur Ros]
01. Glosoli
02. Ny Batteri
03. Saeglopur
04. HoppÌpolla
05. Me BlÛnasir
06. Olsen Olsen
07. SÈ Lest
xx. Virar Vel Til Loft·r·sa
xx. HafssÛl
08. Popplagi

xx - Not broadcasted

Notes:
As broadcasted on Swedish Radio's P3 Live 2006-11-20.

Hoppipolla on Jools Holland

Amiina: New EP

From Eighteen Seconds Before Sunrise:

long time sigur rós collaborators, amiina, have released their second single. it has three tracks: “seoul”, “ugla” and “ammaelis” and can be purchased here right now. stocks are limited. (note that this is the european version of the single, with an american/canadian version on sale now through the workers institute label.)



Previous EP:

Bang Gang: Find What You Get (Promo)

Sigur Ros: Glosoli (Promo)