Sigur Rós - Inni [Krunk]

8.5

Iceland has two things that always have beautified its image: the lush, beautiful landscape and Sigur Rós. With the release of their dual CD live album, Inni, Sigur Rós, once again, put themselves on the top of the ladder with tremendous versatility. Recorded and filmed at Alexandra Palace in London back in 2008 on the tour from their last LP Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust, Inni is moreover a compilation of Sigur Rós’s greatest compositions ranging from all of their most prominent LPs including: Ágætis byrjun, (_), Takk…, and Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust. The performance Sigur Rós is as compelling as ever and revamp’s their placement in the post-rock spectrum that is suffering.

As “Glósóli” hits its climax of lead singer Jónsi’s pitch-perfect wails and static guitar bursts, you can simply just feel the energy the to Sigur Rós’s music would take paragraphs and paragraphs of explicit detail to truly excavate Sigur Rós’s sound. So I’ll simply lay it out like this: Inni is a Sigur Rós fan must-have while being a beginner’s manual Icelandic quartet is known for. Jónsi shows his stamina when he holds an ethereal note for literally 50 seconds with no breath on the epic “Festival”. The continuation of laying out all these beautiful elements and layers.

Inni explores all aspect of Sigur Rós; the minimalistic, ethereal landscapes (“Svefn-g-englar”), cinematic epics (“Festival”), and even the jumpy, less emotionally draining (“Inní mér syngur vitleysingur”). This variety is well put together through appropriate track ordering which jump around the entire Sigur Rós discography. The recording simply is breathtakingly clear as well, you get full Sigur Rós effect with humanized elements of a live performance along with the sheer joy of hearing the monumental sounds Sigur Rós creates.

Not much else can really be said about Inni. The overwhelming force that Inni still confines to while keeping minimal qualities is simply astounding. The purchase of Inni also comes with a DVD along with the dual CD of music, the main attractions and climaxes of the album are highlighted through the film’s purposeful camera angles and simply capturing the pure emotion of Sigur Rós and the atmosphere during the performance. Being an intro to Sigur Rós and an ultimate collector’s idea for diehard fans; Inni is one of the best live albums to be ever released. Now just throw us a studio album, Sigur Rós.