AMINA

There is so much good music coming out of Iceland. Wednesday night BB and I went to see Sigur Ros play at the Uptown Theater. Amina was the opening band and I will do my best to describe them.

The house lights went down and the stage lights come on. Four ladies came out on stage. They looked frumpy. Their heads were hung low – a sign of humble modesty and not a tryout of American Idol. They were all wearing dresses, the kind you saw in the ‘80s on any give Sunday morning at church. Conservative dresses that went below the knees, with a belt around the waist, and sleeves that covered the shoulders and elbows.

There was a table set up with an all-you-can-eat buffet of instruments – bells, an apple laptop, wine goblets filled to different volumes, stringed instruments that I know nothing about, xylophones, vibraphones, things you blow into, and things you cut trees down with.

Amina is a quartet – two violins, a viola, and a cello. Their music sounded very fragile and delicate. It sounded like the music box on top of my sister’s dresser. The music was very homespun and organic, yet electronic and dreamy. Traditional, yet very modern. Quiet and very noisy.

The first song was played through a music box as one girl was spinning the handle and the other three were on strings. Other songs featured old-world folk guitars, harps, a pump organ, a variety of bells, a wood saw played with a bow, different xylophones, computer beats and noise, and running your wet fingers over wine goblets. They also used their voices as an added instrument – no melodies or singing, just ooooh-oohs and aaaah-ahhs.

They were all amazing musicians as they played everything and switched. Strings, keys, bells, etc. They all traded instruments and each could play everything.

After they finished their first song, the audience was silent. We were all stunned at the beauty of the music and were not sure an applause would be appropriate. After a long 10 seconds the crowd erupted. Amina was amazing and it was definitely a show were substance ruled over style.

Here are some pictures that I found from someone else. These pictures show the same setup at the uptown, so you can get a visual idea of what we saw. View some really good pictures here.