Sigur Rós -- Inni

7/10

And my personal connection to, and in all honesty, Sigur Rós' pop-culture relevance, starts to fade. I'd love to list some deep relationship I have to this live album. After all, I've seen Sigur Rós live, and it was awesome. However, live albums often prove redundant. There are exceptions. Live albums by jam bands who often heavily alter songs not only from their studio album versions, but night to night, can become collector's items(I am thinking of all the Greatful Dead bootlegs my honorary uncle keeps in his truck). Sometimes, in very rare cases, live albums might capture a band at the absolute top of the zeitgeist, or experimenting with the format, or in the case of the essential Nirvana album, MTV Unplugged in New York, both. Most of the time, though, live albums are like a glorified greatest hits album, with versions weaker than the original studio recordings. Sigur Rós' Inni unfortunately falls in the latter category, though it is by no means a bad listen.
The buzzing, violin-bowed guitar rings out in all its glory, the vocals are just as high and alien as ever, though the drums aren't as high or punchy in the mix as the studio recordings. The band actually do experiment here in a way, as their usual string accompaniment, Amiina, is missing, with the four guys creating all of the sounds themselves. While the "let's see if we can do this"ness of this minimalism is admirable, it makes for live versions that can't touch the originals in scope or feeling.
The tracks themselves aren't bad, they aren't low in energy, or badly performed. The song selection is great. In a pinch, they'll work. However, as okay as it is, Inni never justifies its existence.
NOTE: The original CD version of Inni comes with a DVD live performance (which lops away nearly half of the albums tracks). It is shot in a black-and-white, very impressionistic fashion, and should be considered a nice bonus that still fails to make this package essential.


2011 XL Recordings

Disc One
1. Svefn-g-englar 10:12
2. Glósóli 6:52
3. Ný batterí 8:38
4. Fljótavík 3:38
5. Við spilum endalaust 3:58
6. Hoppípolla" (from Takk...) Hopping in Puddles 4:13
7. Með blóðnasir" (from Takk...) I Have a Nosebleed 2:22
8. Inní mér syngur vitleysingur" (from Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust) Within Me, a Lunatic Sings 4:08
9. E-Bow" (from ( ), 2002) 9:09

Disc Two
1. Sæglópur" (from Takk...) Lost at Sea 7:40
2. Festival" (from Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust) 7:35
3. Hafsól" (from Hvarf/Heim, 2007) The Sun's Sea 8:28
4. All Alright" (from Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust) 5:41
5. Popplagið" (from ( )) The Pop Song 15:23
6. Lúppulagið" (previously unreleased) The Loop Song 5:59