Tonight at the Floristree space, Kría Brekkan brings her avant-electro-folk music to Baltimore, along with Blak Dice's Eric Copeland, DJ Dogdick, and resident ambient drone master Jason Urick.Born Kristín Anna Valtýsdóttir and once a driving force behind Iceland's Múm, Brekkan began her solo career in 2006, collaborating notably with her husband David Portner--otherwise known as Avey Tare of Animal Collective.
Last year's brief but magical Apotropaíosong Armor has some qualities about it which are reminiscent of some of the artists on the Fonal lable, particularly Islaja and Lau Nau. (Is it a Nordic faux pas to compare Icelandic folks with Finish folks? Hopefully not.)
I say this not only because Kría Brekkan's album is less concerned with discernable songs and more concerned with displaying multi-instrumental capabilities and tonal prowess, but because all of these ladies suffuse their music with a deceptively-childlike female energy which is simultaneously unsettling and alluring.
Apotropaíosong Armor contains a menagerie of animal-like sounds, haunting woodland sprites calling through vaulted sylvan archways of delay and tremolo. On "Armor," recorders whistle, a stringed instrument bellows warm pizzicato notes. A Piano--the instrument upon which Brekkan considers herself the most skillful--drops in here and there, most beautifully on "Biboni." Periodically, soft voices loop in and out of the mix in hushed, innocent tones . . . the whole album a wonderful lullaby to nascent sirens.
This music is new to me and I am excited to see how it translates in a live performance. The Floristree is the perfect space, and she will be in good company this evening.
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