Sigur Rós - INNI (2CD+DVD)

"shot in black-and-white and running a haunting, emotion-drenched 75 minutes, [inni is] as pure an experience of the cinema as i've had." justin chang, variety

'inni' is either the first-ever sigur rós live album, or second live film (and follow up to 2007's acclaimed iceland tour film heima). in fact, it is both: a 75-minute film and 105-minute double live album of the band captured in full flow at the close of their last tour in november 2008, here housed within one single fat package.

the album features 15 tracks, with songs taken from all five sigur rós studio albums. there is also the bonus of an unreleased studio track in the form of 'lúppulagið', which is used both over the credits of the film and as the final non-live track on the album. the dvd/blu-ray, meanwhile, also includes four extra songs from the night.

filmed at alexandra palace over two nights by director vincent morisset (arcade fire's 'miroir noir'), the movie 'inni' could best be described as the anti-'heima'. whereas that film took a band about whom the world knew little, and placed them in the cultural, social and geographical context of their homeland, (with winning and humanising results); the new film strips away everything save the raw performance of the four musicians themselves. where 'heima' was widescreen and open, 'inni' is close and single focussed.

the film
inni is sigur rós' second live film following 2007's tour documentary heima (also available here at shopicelandic.com). whereas that film positioned the group in the context of their icelandic homeland, providing geographical, social and historical perspectives on their music, inni focuses purely on the band's performance, and stands as a stark counterpoint to heima's kaleidoscopic richness. where heima was lush and colorfully expansive, inni is spare and near-monochromatic in its tunnel vision. filmed in a manner that invites both intimacy and claustrophobia, inni cocoons the viewer in a one-on-one relationship with the band, eschewing the audience for closeness, depicting how it feels for both band and fan to experience sigur rós live.

film trailer here...

film tracklisting
ný batterí
svefn-g-englar
fljótavík
inní mér syngur vitleysingur
sæglópur
festival
e-bow
popplagið
lúppulagið

the double live album
the live album inni - a first for the band - is comprised of the full set from alexandra palace, played in order with just one omission, and clocks in at one-and-three-quarter hours. recorded by sigur rós' in-house studio engineer birgir jón birgisson, inni's live audio recording is far and away the best way of replicating the full-force effect of standing in front of sigur rós for an evening.

cd 1
svefn-g-englar
glósóli
ný batterí
fljótavík
við spilum endalaust
hoppípolla
með blóðnasir
inní mér syngur vitleysingur
e-bow

cd 2
sæglópur
festival
hafsól
all alright
popplagið
lúppulagið