"And thank you very much for your ears." - Mugison
And praise be to gord, I got me some regular ones. My arms and legs are peppered with bumps. My eyes don't cooperate with one another. My eyebrows seem to be growing down onto my eyelids. My nose is afflicted with some stopped-up nightmare that the doctor says is something allergy-related, but I'm not convinced. But my ears, they look fine and they listen fine. So, when Orn Elias Gudmundsson (aka Mugison) thanks me for them, I'm eager to say - you're very welcome, sir. But they weren't my doing. The music gracing Little Trip was the product of the sacrifice and devotion of Mugison and all those involved. These tunes have their own ears, and their concentration and retainability no doubt leave my own in the dust. So I'm not sure he should thank me for my ears. Whether they're Dumbo, disfigured, or just so, ears are nothing special. Much like every other corridor, things of quality come through ”” they're often just there.
Anyway, I'm always happy to lend them to people taking the time to make music - recorded or otherwise. Not too rarely, it's pretty rewarding what you'll get in return. This is true with Little Trip. It's the kind of record that deserves attention. These songs are as transcendent in the contextual sense as much as they are emotionally. Just as Mugison's Isafjordur festival (Aldrei for eg sudur) stresses open-minded eclecticism, Little Trip's songs show a musical Iceland that's not limited to the delicate, mournful-yet-stoic nature of Björk, Sigur Rós, Müm, and Slowblow. There's some mournfulness here, but the music is considerably less opaque. The LP's rustic, muddy album art adequately conveys the vibes offered up. It's not all that dissimilar to the skewed blues sounds you'd come across on a Tom Waits (whose "Little Trip to Heaven" is covered here), Califone, or Reeks And The Wrecks album. With the exception of four songs, vocals are left out. This is sort of the reverse of what one usually encounters ”” an album of vocal tracks with a few instrumentals ”” and it's a refreshing approach for a roots music release. When an artist lets their music breathe, and doesn't seem so anxious to express poetic notions, it's usually a breath of fresh air.
The vocal track, "Go Blind," is the only real rocker on offer. It's got some incongruous horns, but is mostly passable as a ferocious, scuzzy Thin Lizzy-esque track. There is a sense that Mugison is an adventurous guy in the studio, but there's an odd sort of nugget-like quality to many of the tunes that can make the listening experience feel sort of humdrum. As captivatingly evocative as the songs can be, they seem to end before they can really sink in. "Clip 10" is varied, odd, and rhythmically enticing enough to be an exception, but a lot of the tunes feel almost like bits of Wim Wenders soundtrack music. This elliptical nature could very well be intentional. These are "little trips" through blue, thoughtful moods, elusive as magic hour light. But these slight mood excursions have the effect of making the more songlike entries ("Go Blind," "Little Trip to Heaven" and "Sammi & Kjartan") seem like larks thrown on for the hell of it. The singing, especially on the Waits cover, is competent but kind of drab. Though it is not for lack of trying, the longer instrumental tracks seem to eclipse the surrounding efforts.
"Clip 10," along with centerpiece tracks "Rush" and "Petur Por Ben," are the most memorable examples of this, although the ending to "Petur Por Ben" seems rather dully abrupt. It's not hard to see why Mike Patton put this out on his label. There's a steady touch of Morricone and some pseudo-lounge tunes that are reminiscent of Patton's Lovage material. So, the bottom line is this: open ears will find a lot to luxuriate in with Mugison, but the album's non-committal feel ultimately makes the experience more promising than signed, sealed, and delivered. If the stirring ideas were expanded and the drab ones subverted or done away with completely, I could see a more significant future release. I see it potentially working like a potent mix between the sinister rumble of Knife Hits and the epic melancholy of Winter Hymn, Country Hymn, Secret Hymn. Or maybe he'll just do a whole album of Thin Lizzy with horns. I'm sure somewhere out there are ears that would be grateful for such a thing.
1. Petur Gretarsson
2. Go Blind
3. Little Trip To Heaven
4. Watchdog
5. Mugicone
6. Piano For Tombstones
7. Clip 10
8. Alone In A Hotel
9. Rush
10. Petur Por Ben
11. Watchcat
12. My Nobel Prize
13. Alone In The Office
14. Mugicone Part 2
15. Stiff
16. Sammi & Kjartan
More about: Mugison
