Frederick Foxtrott

Múm
Go Go Smear the Poison Ivy
September 14th 2007
FatCat Records

To make a longish story shortish, twins Kristín Anna and Gyða Valtýsdóttir formed a band with Gunnar Örn Tynes and Örvar Þóreyjarson Smárason, two musicians who are heavily involved in the Icelandic music scene. They called themselves Múm and produced experimental electronic concoctions that received the attention of indie music scenes in Britain, Continental Europe, and The United States. Attention had been paid to Iceland largely due to a surge in creative output such as independent films like Nói Albínói in 2003, the notoriety of friends Sigur Rós on the international art-media scene, and of course the long sustained reverence of Björk in the music world. Iceland had produced artistic figures that succeeded across the media spectrum.

Icelandic bands like Múm began to appear in important CD players owned by important people, much the same as Sigur Rós had in the late 90’s and early 2000’s. Gyða left in 2002 and her sister Kristín Anna followed in 2006 apparently over stylistic differences, leaving few original members. Those who remained decided to keep the moniker Múm but they recorded an album that broke away from their heavily electronic style, emphasizing a large selection of acoustic and traditional instruments fused with drum sequences and synthesized textures. The result of this decision was Go Go Smear the Poison Ivy. Whatever provoked the change in style led to a nicely contoured and improved experience of the music. Múm in all its incarnations by and large seeks to create music that is experiential. It is apparent that some in the band felt that the contrast between organic instruments and fabricated beats would give the band better control over the soundscape through which the listener would travel.

The album title and track names fit the stylistic change emphasizing the idea that Múm views Go Go Smear the Poison Ivy as a conceptually cogent work. Naturalistic elements such as brambles, frogs, berries, marmalade, rhubarb, and winter are used to construct a bucolic atmosphere and a dreamy mood. For the first time male vocals can be found on a Múm record. The beautiful instrumentation of Moon Pulls is tied to the grace and whimsy of Marmalade Fires by a masculine voice and sprightly melody. The childish nature of Go Go Smear the Poison Ivy is largely defined by its display of innocence, fantasy, excitement, and openness, rather than a childishness of conceit, immaturity, or irrelevancy.

Importantly, I should not understate the electronic presence throughout the record. It is not necessarily the lack of electronic sounds that delineates Go Go Smear the Poison Ivy from previous records, but its contrast with more traditional instruments. Dancing Behind My Eyelids is a perfect example of this juxtaposition. This track has become one of my all time favorite electronic pieces. It is a synthesized masterpiece with the brightest sequencing I have heard since Xiu Xiu’s 2006 release Air Force. It is followed by Schoolhouse Misfortune, which begins as a seaside ditty and then transforms into a flurry of melodic whistles, bells, and harp strings backed by a mechanized type-set. The record then eases into a cool and dark track called I Was Her Horse, which reminiscent of New Orleans slow jazz, perfectly fusing late night smoky horns with a dirge hollowly echoing in the streets of the French Quarter. When all is said and done, Múm has committed a feat of excellence and whoever among them had the instincts to revise their style saved the band from fading away due to redundancy; a fate they were fastly approaching.

7/9

http://mum.trinitystreetdirect1.com/mailinglist/
http://fat-cat.co.uk/fatcat/artistInfo.php?id=49
http://www.myspace.com/mumtheband

Other Music
Yesterday Was Dramatic – Today Is OK- 2000; reissued 2005
Finally We Are No One- 2002
Summer Make Good- 2004