Múm's the word

The short version:
Múm—Summer Make Good: 3/10


One CD that I've also been listening to a bit recently is Múm's latest, Summer Make Good. It's the first Múm CD that I've heard, and I can't say that I really like it. It's really, really weird, and the minimalistic vocalist has an awful voice. I get this impression that you're supposed to be embarrassed if you say you don't like it, in some kind of Emperor's New Album sort of way. It's artsy and pretentious. While the album has a lot of interesting, dreamy, dark soundscapes, it's hard to say that I really "like" any particular track on here all that much. Three good examples are Nightly Cares, The Island of the Children's Children, and Will the Summer Make Good for All of Our Sins? All of these sound best a little louder than I normally listen to music; if the volume is too low, you won't hear all of the delightful little bits of weirdness in the background, and those are just about the only saving grace on the disc for me.

Had the disc been on Napster when I ordered it, I wouldn't have. But, if I'd known that I'd like their previous album Finally We Are No One much better, I very well might have ordered that. So far, it sounds much more pleasant and happy and perky; I'm enjoying Green Grass of Tunnel and Don't Be Afraid, You Have Just Got Your Eyes Closed. It's still about the maximum level of weird that I can tolerate right now, but I may check their previous CD out someday.


If that's not your thing, I've also been listening to the Bond album Shine a lot recently, after noticing that I never added any songs from it to my main playlist, even though every track there deserves it. It's a great CD that I nearly forgot I owned, a string quartet that pumps out fun, danceable songs. (I have their other CDs as well, and all are amusing.) Check out Ride and Shine if you're depressed from listening to those first Múm tracks.