Mugimama, Is This Monkey Music?

Mugison

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 4, 2005)
• Original Release Date: May 10, 2005
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Ipecac Recordings
• ASIN: B000AP2ZKS
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #171,218 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Vice UK

"This is like the biggest album ever in Iceland."

Product Description

Mugison (pronounced Moogieson) is a one-man band from Iceland. He plays abstract psychedelic melodies inter-twined with heart-wrenching lyrics and has been compared to Tom Waits, Beck, and Will Oldham. Find out what the Album Of The Year sounds like in a land that has spawned both Sigur Ros and Bjork.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Mess, December 25, 2005

By	Randy L. Sharp "R#" (St. Joseph, MO United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Bjork and Sigur Ros are typically the only two recording artists that anyone associates with Iceland; well add Mugison (pronounced Moogieson) to that distinguished list. In a year where all three have released recordings, it is interesting to note that Mugison won album of the year and leads the others in sales in their native Iceland. I will warn you right now, this is not an album for the faint of heart. The disc opens with "I Want You." Delicate guitars and soulful singing blow up into a scratching and emotional rant crying out, "Baby let's go dancing like we talked about, I'll be the weird boy and you can shout." So emotional is the singing that it seems Mugison might in fact, be quite mad. And if you think he is nuts here don't even bother going further because things will soon get weirder. "The Chicken Song" has warped piano and crazed lyrics, "See, the chicken is one of very few birds that never can fly, but even with its head chopped off, he'll still give it a hell of a try." Completely switching moods "2 Birds" finds Mugison, his acoustic guitar and his wife singing a duet about how they found love after a long friendship. Haunting and beautiful they sing, "We stayed up late and slept all day." All the while in the background you can hear what sounds like liquid being poured into glasses, but it is used as a musical element. Just another of many oddities you will find throughout the disc. Sounding like he is channeling Tom Waits and Beck, "Sad As A Truck" is an absolutely bizarre electronic mess that screeches, grunts and screams out, "Songs like this can drive a man insane." And after hearing this song you would believe it. But it is way cool! The best song on the disc (And song of the year in Iceland) is "Murr Murr." Featuring a wickedly hooky acoustic guitar rift (that could stand alone as an instrumental) with some backing strings for good measure while Mugison sings and emotes at his stream of consciousness best. "I'd Ask" is a straight up folk song with a wonderful little harmonica part and some hand tapping on the guitar for a beat. To say this disc is diverse is a huge understatement. But within that strength of diversity is also the truth that sometimes being weird just to be weird is distracting. There are several things/songs here that fall into the category of weird for the sake of weird, and that really is too bad because when Mugison hits, he hits it out of the park. His misses however, are pretty bad (a burping song, ambient noise, and a demented harmonica song) and serve to detract from the other stellar material. But considering how wide-ranging and beautifully odd this album is I suppose I can forgive Mugison for a bit of self indulgence here and there.

R#

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tom Waits & Beck have a love child, May 20, 2006

By	Sid "Sid" (Kansas City, MO) - See all my reviews

If Tom Waits & Beck attended a bbq at Gibby Haynes house I believe this album would be the results if you recorded the event. By turns beautiful, clattering and silly this album has leapt to the top of my rotation. It is not for the consumer that wants musical wallpaper.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Music at its earthiness..., March 25, 2006

By	S. Aylor (Philly) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Gutteral and carnal at times (a la Tom Waits), sweet as pie at others (a la Damien Rice), and sometimes a combo of the two. Decidedly original, decidedly beautiful (though not for everyone).