New Music: múm, The Twilight Sad, Bonobo

múm - Scratched Bicycle / Smell Memory (Fatcat 2007)

múm – The Peel Session / FatCat

One of the most revered electronic-pop bands of the early 00s, múm has all but disappeared from the map as their output slowed and a large wave of new bands copped their style. Originally banded in 1997, the four Icelandic teens (whose names I'm going to omit for it will take me an hour to insert all of the correct accents and punctuation through Word) set out to combine the rampant IDM scene with their love of gorgeous, icy melodies, seemingly the staple of all bands based out of Iceland (not a complaint, just an observation). Their debut full-length, 2000's Yesterday Was Dramatic – Today is OK, caused quite a stir as fans and critics heralded their imaginative blending of gurgling electronics and epic melody. After the release of 2002's Finally We Are No One, their sophomore effort, one of the two classically trained twins departed to focus on further studies and the band never really was the same. This 4-track Peel Session recording was captured in 2002 at the peak of múm's success and with the original line-up, but never officially released until now. Featuring four new renditions of songs from their impressive debut and the detailed follow-up (three from YWD-TiO, one from FWANO), these live cuts display both the proficient musicianship of the band and their ability to embellish on prior compositions. A wide range of traditional (guitars, bass, synths), exotic (accordion, mutated brass, cello, melodica, vibes, musical saws) and electronic (laptops) instrumentation was utilized; easy proof of the musicians' talent is the way they intertwine the varying tones so much it's nearly impossible to tell which is what. This session is warm, melodic and epic, though most songs seem to be more concise than their original versions, and acts as a good reminder of one of the most innovative bands at the turn of the century. Oh! MAYBE this reminder is to prime us for a new album after their three year absence; you'll have to bug FatCat for that though.






The Twilight Sad - Last Year's Rain Didn't Fall Quite So Hard (Fatcat 2006)

The Twilight Sad – The Twilight Sad EP / FatCat

For one reason or another, it always seems that the greatest derivatives of a genre stem from a completely different birthplace than they’re supposed to. When one considers a shoegaze band, they automatically assume that this band grew up on early My Bloody Valentine EPs and Brit-rock, but listening to The Twilight Sad, I can’t help but notice something out of place. Thanks to some minimal research, I learned that this talented Glasgow quartet actually began as an experimental noise band composing half hour-long pieces that took old folk songs and twisted them into something completely unfamiliar. Now this makes more sense for The Twilight Sad who still humor themselves as a “folk/experimental/noise” band but are more specifically a wonderfully off-center post-shoegaze act. This debut EP, recorded beautifully with composer and fellow FatCat Max Richter, does a great job capturing what I can only imagine is a jaw-dropping live show. It opens humbly with a teetering accordion, looped tape noise and James Graham singing mournfully in his thick Scottish accent, but at the exact halfway point unrelenting cymbal crashes and waves of shimmering guitar violently explode in an absolute wall of sound and continues for the final two minutes of the song before the feedback eventually topples over and your left with just crunchy noise. The rest of the EP follows in suit with a series of anthems that are approached from a number of different directions but always leading back to thier stylistic derivative of shoegaze. The songwriting is clever, the compositions are creative and the production is pristine; this is absolutely a band to keep a close eye on (which I'm certainly not the first to say) and I’m very much looking forward to their first LP due in a couple of months.







Bonobo - Transmission 94 (Parts 1 & 2) (Ninja Tune 2006)

Bonobo – Days to Come / Ninja Tune

I have been a fan of Bonobo's music for a few years now. During my sole stint in scouring music somewhat not-so-legally through Soulseek (a very dreary time between music directing positions), I came across a number of Bonobo remixes of artists I was into and he always seemed to bring a very human element to the mostly electronic producers. Though because of his penchant for worldly instrumentation and mellow tempos, Bonobo albums regularly get misclassified in the cringing-section of chillout, but I don't agree with that at all. Simon Green's first proper full-length since the acclaimed 2003 album Dial "M" for Monkey continues his progress from the vanquished covers of sunset-lit beaches to a very organic Mice Parade meets Blockhead sound. The UK producer still builds his songs in the same melodic samples over steady breakbeat template, but the music is continually more elaborate and the instrumentation livelier, in both essence and mode of capturing. Primed for after-party and downbeat DJs, Days to Come wraps sheets of flute, strings, vibes, keyboards and other exotic instruments over moving percussion that at times reminisce especially of the more laid-back side of Latin-jazz artists like Tito Puente and Pucho. To help flesh out the music (for better or worse depending on your ears) is the now German-based (I believe) Middle-Eastern singer Bajka, whose simple, sultry voice is effective in this setting, but I'm afraid does little to shake off the chillout/exotica tag. But thankfully, Green clasps on a bonus disc featuring instrumental tracks of the four songs with vocals; one also features Ninja Tune label-mate Fink. The core of the album lies in the midsection culminating in the 8-minute 'Transmission 94 (parts 1 & 2)' which is a jazzy tune that leans towards afropop and climaxes with UFO whirrs and dueling soprano saxophones. Days to Come will certainly find its audience, especially in the UK, but I'm afraid it will still be sadly mistaken for more play-by-numbers chillout, which is a shame because Bonobo is an excellent producer.