| The underground hype on this Icelandic group
has been going on for what seems like years, so many people
were extremely excited about this show. Including myself. With
the success of label mates and countrymen Sigur Ros, FatCat
Records UK seems to be very much on the right track.
With all of the hype, The Knitting Factory was, of course,
packed. The crowd seemed to be mostly genuine music fans (no
leather jackets or stiletto's here!), which was a welcome change.
A couple of opening bands played, but I missed them. I showed
up just in time to get a decent place in the balcony to see
Múm perform.
They came on stage, took their places, and began playing straight
away. One of the twin vocalists playing cello, while the other
played guitar and glockenspiel. They band also had members playing
a wide variety of instruments from accordion to iMac. The twins,
if you did not know, are incredibly talented musicians. They
changed up instruments on nearly every song, and sang together
in that way which only twins can -- almost as if they are reading
each others mind. They are also, erm, extremely attractive (see
the cover of Belle and Sebastian's Fold Your Hands Child,
You Walk Like a Peasant for a look at the two of them).
It was the drummer, however, who caught my attention the most
He played along with the with the electronic drum loops, providing
a nice counter-balance. Hands as fast as his should not be legal!
He also did many interesting things sonically (when do you get
to say that about a drummer?!) such as playing a pot which was
slowly being submerged in water and playing a "hooter" (thanks
for info Chuck!).
The songs from the most recent record Finally We Are
No One were bled seamlessly into one another as they
performed most of the record. They also performed several older
songs which were equally mesmerizing.
When hearing the record initially, I fell in love with the
lush textures they present and the "just right" amount of beats
to supply a proper contrast, but I had no idea of the talent
level present. I think if Múm stayed around they would break
new ground and present us with some of the most beautiful music
so far this millennium. Unfortunately, one of the twins has
already announced that she is leaving the group to continue
pursuing academics.
This is probably one of the best shows that I will see all
year and I can only hope that everyone has an opportunity to
see this performance, and hopefully a reunion tour. |
