Finally We Are No One

by

múm

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This new album from Mum gets more airplay on my stereo than anything else that's come out this year. These beautiful, catchy tunes have an ambient undertone, laced with crunching, scraping and crumbling beats with beautiful melodies provided by violins, trumpets, keyboards and wee little voices singing almost indistinguishable lyrics (or no lyrics at all).

This group has been compared, likened, and related to Bjork, Boards of Canada, Aphex Twin and Belle and Sebastian, and despite the latter mentioned group, these are completely accurate comparisons. The Belle and Sebastian reference is due to a friendship between the two groups, as well as the Mum twins appearing on the over of B+S's last full length LP ("Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like A Peasant") However, Looper (electronic B+S spin off) this band is not. As far as sound and style there is no relation to B+S, and they show far more promise and talent than most of the B+S spin offs (again, Looper this band is not.)

As for the other comparisons, why not just try Bjork, Boards of Canada and Aphex Twin? Mum is well worth your time and while related to, does not rip off these groups or sound too much like them... While they have a comparitive beats and ambience to these three other groups/performers they do contain their own distinct style that really makes them a worthwhile group to look into. Take the mysterious sound and vocals of Bjork, add BoC's ambience, and some Aphex Twin beats (a la "The Richard D. James Album") and you ALMOST have Mum.

What Mum has going for itself is the organic ensemble that it has put together. Rather than, like so much electronic music today, limiting themselves to keyboards and computers, this group twines in a violin here, a trumpet there, beautiful little vocals that sound like they came from a rag doll recently given the power to sing.

I should emphasize that I really don't feel they are just another cute novelty band. Where at times this album has aspects that could be named "cute" that is not the driving force that makes it a good album. The songs are beautiful and well structured, with fantastic melodies and most importantly, really gread sounds. Odd clangs and thumps and crunches that really keep your attention. This music is dreamy and magical and wonderful to either pay close attention, or let drift into the background.

I was really looking forward to this album, as I found Mum's debut promising. I flattered myself that I was one of the first to appreciate their unique charm, and after a trip to Iceland (probably the most beautiful country in the world, but don't let the secret out!) I was even more ready to embrace art from a land seemingly filled with unpretentious, creative, independent, and open-hearted people.

So far though, I've been disappointed by FWANO. The editorial says it's "gentle, almost-fey stuff" and I think it is fey stuff; pretty, bland, saccharine, ultimately forgettable. I give them 3 stars for sincerity, and the excellent production value, but they really need to focus more on melodic inventiveness and development. The first and last tracks have something to offer, but the middle part of the album just sags.

The editorial review says something about this being composed in a lighthouse, as if asceticism and self-imposed solitude are all that's necessary to earn the mantle of artistic genius. Much is made of the fact that Boards of Canada compose their work in their Hexagon Sun studio in the remote Scottish Highlands, or that Aphex Twin has purchased a bank vault/jail in order to concentrate more fully on his art. While I'm certain that a lack of distractions is to some degree important, it's by no means necessary. Advertising the fact just smacks of self-importance.

If I were an Icelander (Islander?) I'd want to break a few guitars after listening to this snoozer. It just reinforces the (largely erroneous) belief that Icelanders are all pixie-faced, quirky, majestically introverted little souls. Anyone who wants to see how far from the truth this is should purchase the classic "Rokk I Reykjavik" compilation (if you're a Bjork fan, this contains some of her earliest primal vocals). Punk was huge in Iceland, and there's a rebellious, fiercly independent streak in the soul of the Icelandic youth that isn't represented here, and seems to be glossed over by the marketing machine.