Existing somewhere between the ethereal sounds of Sigur Ros and the harder edged story telling of God Speed You Black Emperor, Origamibiro make incredibly emotive music, add to that the visuals of The Joy of Box and you have a quite stunning and at times breath-taking performance. Multi-instrumentalists Tom and Andy switch so effortlessly between synths, guitars, bass, effects and other more homemade equipment to create an audio landscape that washes the room in swathes of sound as the visuals flicker from abstract to old photos, little cameras filming a machine rotating, a microphone adding the clicks and clanks from the movement into the mix. It’s delicate and clumsy at the same time, as a reverbed electric guitar is bowed over an eerie background you could be forgiven for falling into a trance before a jarring sound or striking image jolts you back into the room. It’s in these little details that the performance elevates itself into more than just a show, a gig, beautiful music; it becomes art, a spiritual experience, almost religious. Several times I felt myself welling up and yet I couldn’t quite tell you why, other than I was genuinely moved by what I was experiencing, I think it was one of those occasions where the tears were not sadness but were in fact joy.
New album Shakkei available now:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Shakkei-Origamibiro/dp/B005DOCJES/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1313931549&sr=8-1
