Amina Issue #26

AnimaminA (Worker’s Institute)

By Katie Hasty
Published: December 1st, 2005 | 2:22pm

Armed with over a dozen instruments and anthemic string arrangements, Iceland’s Amina makes tracks perfect for snow days. On its instrumental debut, AnimaminA, the band delicately add and subtract from pretty, repetitive melodies with unusual instruments and wintry melancholy. Better known as the strings section for Sigur Rós on the road, these four ladies hold their own as far as form and consistency are concerned: their structures build and give way to the tinkling of xylophones and music boxes, the mood swinging from inspiring in one moment to mischievous the next. The songs act as loops, the ending of each returning to where it began, most often as a single instrument or melody. Whimsical and poetic, AnimaminA may be a brief introduction to this spacey crew, but it encourages the listener to use their imagination for things to come.