With Icelandic indie-prog sensations Sigur Ros, the four women of The key to their by turns eerie and charming music is their live use of digital looping. At Cafà Montmartre, for example, the rousing, xylophone-propelled "Seoul" built slowly from a mellow, mystical etude of warbling of electronics to a full-on, percussion-heavy cacophony as curt melodies and rhythmic parts were captured digitally and layered atop one another. More restrained, chiming material like the quiescent "Ugla" benefitted from the same process of layering and looping sonic textures. Although Amiina were wearing jeans and loose-fitting tops an hour so before the show and looked very much like ordinary college kids, they changed into prim, primary-color dresses for the concert. The costuming was plainly designed to make their performance seem quasi-classical and, well, more serious. And for the most part, Amiina remained in character, which made woozy tunes centered on musical saw or bowed xylophone seem that much more otherworldly. But the occasional technical snafu (including a keyboard problem that aborted what was apparently the first live run-through of a gauzy cut from their new album Kurr) upset their studious bearing, and frankly, it was a relief to discover that these four ethereal ice maidens could also giggle and blush like mere mortals. Note: Other persons taking in Amiina's performance at Cafà Montmartre also wrote about the show. Sarah Hing Leadley described the stage laden with instruments, along with the four bow-wielding musicians: "They are magical musical Icelandic elves -- so cute and extraordinarily talented." Ryan Matteson, meanwhile, emphasized the "layers of sound" in their compositions, and concluded, "it was refreshing to take in an act so unique and different from the majority of the artists that swing through town." Finally, Jesse Russell describes the show as a "rare treat."
Amiina casts a spell in Madison
Souls on ice at Café Montmartre
Ktinsley Laskin
