Mutemath — Reset EP

8/10 From the driving, atmospheric rock of “Control,” to the future reggae rapture of “Peculiar People,” to the spacey balladry of “OK,” to “Reset”‘s funky, instrumental re-interpretation of “Everything in its Right Place,” 2004’s Reset EP announces the beginnings of what’s sure to be a promising career for New Orleans-based Mutemath. Then eleven years passed,

múm — Smilewound

6/10 What múm looked like at this point:Well, this is strange. 15 years into their recording career, Icelanders, múm, have traveled the solar system from independent electronic music pioneers with a little singing thrown in to this, Smilewound. Smilewound features the return of one of múm’s original vocalists, Gyða Valtýsdóttir, after an 11-year absence from the band.

múm — Early Birds

8/10 I praised múm’s debut album, Yesterday Was Dramatic — Today Is OK, in the review I posted for it last week. However, Early Birds, a collection of múm’s pre-debut recordings, shows the band possessed all of this bustling creativity from the get go. Early Birds, befitting an early records collection, is more a collection

múm — Sing Along to Songs You Don’t Know

7/10 But I don’t want to sing along to songs I don’t know! I don’t want every band that I like to turn into a damn folk band! Stop-it bands! Brett Detar, shave your beard and get back to rocking! Chris Carrabba, why are you Twin Forking it when you could be Further Seems Forevering?

múm — Go Go Smear the Poison Ivy

8/10 What múm looked like at this point:By now, I’ve already written four múm reviews, and I’ve still four more to write. Go Go Smear the Poison Ivy is a bit of a tipping point in múm’s career. Múm’s first music featured unique soundscapes, utilizing mainly electronics, and featuring a small amount of acoustic instrumentation,

múm — Dusk Log

6/10 Múm’s Dusk Log EP, released shortly after their full-length album, Summer Make Good, features four songs recorded during the Summer Make Good sessions. The first two are dreamy, snowy, optimistic fun. Summer Make Good is not snowy or optimistic, so it’s quite natural that neither song made their way to that album. However, both

múm — Summer Make Good

9/10 What múm looked like at this point:By early 2004, I considered Iceland to be the greatest place on Earth. Björk, Sigur Rós, and múm are all from there, and Björk, Sigur Rós, and múm were (and are) three of my favorite artists. Plus, that cold rock jutting out of the North Atlantic looked like

múm — Finally We Are No One

10/10 What múm looked like at this point:When a band makes a masterpiece on their first try, there’s usually no place to go but down. Take Interpol for example. Turn On the Bright Lights is arguably the best album of the 21st century. In the thirteen years since, over the course of four subsequent full-lengths,

múm — Yesterday Was Dramatic – Today Is OK

10/10 “Quiet is the New Loud” has been one of the most annoying trends in recent music history. Even the most dumbed-down story-telling class teaches its pupils the importance of a build-up and climax. With the Bon Iverization of music, we get hushed verses and choruses that seem to be growing into some kind of

Morcheeba — Charango

7/10 When the chill groove of “Slow Down” hits, and Skye Edwards’ silky smooth vocals coast out your speakers for the first time, you could shut your eyes and easily imagine you’re sitting in the coolest club in the world. Next track, “Otherwise,” keeps up the impossibly hip lounge thing, but this could get boring