I watched this fascinating film the other day called Screaming Masterpieces, which documented the blossoming Icelandic music scene. It featured many different artists covering a range of genres, and two of my favourite's were featured; through footage of Bjork and Minus. The unexpected highlight for me however was a short acoustic piece by the artist Mugison, which pretty much blew me away. It was a simple, yet highly enchanting and bewitching song, but the strained vocals and haunting melody commanded my attention and I played this song through three times before carrying on with the rest of the film.The song in question was called Murr Murr and I suggest that anyone who is susceptible to 'ambiant pop weirdness' should go and get a copy of the album Mugimama - Is This Monkey Music? upon which it can be found. I say ambiant pop weirdness with my tongue firmly in cheek, but I suggest the description should stand true, as Mugison weaves Radiohead-esque (post OK Computer) electronica and combines it with an Icelandic twist of alt-country and a rawness that Tom Waits would be proud of. A BBC quote suggested Mugison was "Badly Drawn Boy gone feral" whilst also hurling adjectives such as growly and guttural, and I have to agree. There are two other albums I've managed to get my hands on also: Lonely Mountain and Niceland and I've spent some hours lost in the magical world Mugison conjures through his majestic soundscapes. Haunting, spooky...how many more superlatives can I throw in his direction?
Just go and listen for yourself, I promise you it's worth it.
