Sigur Ros

Last night I went to a Sigur Ros concert at the Corn Exchange. If you don't know about them, Sigur Ros are an Icelandic band who make long songs that tend to sound like a cross between whalesong and The Lord of the Rings. They're possibly the most affected band on the planet (the singer uses a made-up language; they played the first and last songs behind a gauzey curtain that they projected lots of stuff onto; their last album but one was called () and none of the songs had names), but the music's just so great that you can forgive them.

And it was really good. Mostly it was stuff from the recent record, but they also played three songs from an oldie that sounded better than ever, and they closed with the last track from () which is utterly colossal (you can get it from the page linked above: it's subtitled `the pop song' DO IT).

An honourable mention has to go to the support act, Amina. When they came onstage I was sceptical: four ladies in floaty knitwear looking like they were just SR's string section with a silly name. And the first few things they played got a mixed reception. But then it got much much better, with the silliest instruments known to mankind (well, to be precise, they played a saw, `ring for service' bells that produced different notes, and a phalanx of different wine glasses). I bought their EP from the stall at the back before I left and am looking forward to putting it on.