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Rating: 22 Fragile Stalactites Under the Icelandic Sun
Listening to this album, one is seized by a sudden desire to deconstruct things, one's own sound universe, and break down the fragile boundaries that separate things, objects, definitions, and classifications. There is a desire to take the burden of our knowledge and toss all those sheets into the air, not caring about anything, and dive into the discovery of the dark and the unknown.
The cause and mastermind behind all this is Mugison Isafjordur, who, throughout his life, has gone from experiencing life on fishing boats in Iceland's seas to doing odd jobs in different cities, before finally landing with his dream in London. In 2003 and 2004, he traveled across half of Europe playing, grinding, and blending sounds gathered from all over, distilling them into a patchwork of songs or song scraps, which give more the idea of a swirling, disturbed, and sometimes tremendously courageous journey, slipping into sound niches that are hard to label but at the same time captivating and curious. A bit like opening the attic door of the grandparents' house and having no idea what will be found beyond.
After his debut with "Lonely Mountain," our artist gifts us this beautiful "Nice Land," which, as the title promises, takes us by the hand to discover his very own Icelandic-made Wonderland. In the album, the songs range from typically "old-style" folk singer tracks (listen to the opening track "2 Birds," which misleads the more superficial listener) progressively going deeper into crooked and misaligned paths (the splendid "Move On," very Matmos oriented) to tender and crystalline lo-fi pieces ("I'm On Fire") or crumbs of shyly hinted songs (the track "Later..." a mere 9 seconds long!! or the following "To The Bank"), almost stumbling into more traditionally constructed songs reminiscent of Radiohead (listen to the track "I'd Ask" and tell me if the voice doesn't sound like Yorke's!).
The album is chock-full of constantly evolving ideas like listening to a hypothetical sound kaleidoscope, offering us enchanting tracks such as "Still - Song For Hippies," which owes much to fellow Icelanders Sigur Rós and Mum, followed by the splendid "Yfirskin By Kippi Kaninus," which would literally drive Björk and her followers crazy, only to surprise us again with "Mugigospel" between diversion and mockery (just 30 seconds) or with the noise of desolate and silent lands (more LOW than lo-fi!) accompanied only by minimal sounds of ancestral environments, pierced by faint bird noises, doors opening, echoes of distant footsteps.
The album follows a trajectory that, in fact, doesn't exist. It's almost an inner journey into the disjointed mind of its author who never ceases to amaze us (listen to track nº14, almost a waltz à la Yann Tiersen). So much, so much meat on the fire, where nothing is thrown away because nothing is truly to be discarded (for example, the various takes of the track "I'd Ask" are profoundly different from one another, making us appreciate our artist’s compositional abilities even more).
They say this album was the soundtrack for a film, and that even fits, I'll just say (beyond the client and the purely commercial aspects) that such a record, with or without images to support it, will never stop surprising me.
And in these lean times, where the same roads are always traveled and where music increasingly feels like marketing operations rather than true inspiration, I say: works of this kind are most welcome.
Works that, as usual, will be heard only by me and a few more strays.
A tip: visit the indicated website, where it's possible to download several contributions, if not almost the entire album!!!
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 2 Birds (05:02)
I saw two birds,
and you saw them too
We thought,
it, was, all, too sweet
And you call,
and gave me a number
If I needed
Just so I know
We drove that night
We know there's a high,
there's a high
We stayed up late,
and slept all day
I, we will try
It was so hard
to come on to you
Had to ask..
It, has, come to this
She thinks
with her finger
on her nose,
as to point a direction
We drove that night
We know there's a high,
there's a high
We stayed up late,
and slept all day
I, we will try
Got to love her drive
We talked and turned, turned
Got to love her drive
We talked and turned
Turned, turned things we've tried
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