múm Album: “Please Smile My Noise Bleed”

I've played this CD nearly non-stop since buying it a week ago. The album is, essentially, two original MUM tracks and six non-MUM remixes of those tracks -- usually a formula for listening-tedium, artistic laziness and wasted money on the part of the buyer. Not so here. The songs sparkle, effervesce and delicately brood, each track satisfyingly unique and distinct. I am still enchanted.

Of the nine tracks, easily four of them mine aural gold and justify the CD's price. That said, there is not a bad track on this CD and any MUM fan will be blissed in the rain and wash of analogue-driven sounds and spangles. This is music with which to drive late at night or lose some part of yourself at home, eyes closed and the body moving: sway into slow rock. Share this CD with a friend -- you will convert them.

I own every MUM album but one -- they are all recommended. Enjoy.

Usually it's nothing short of tedious -- sometimes headache-inducing -- to listen to an EP comprised of a few album tracks, and then the remixes of said tracks. Fortunately this is not the case with Mum's "Please Smile My Noise Bleed," a shimmering collection of trippy Icelandic music.

It opens with "On The Old Mountain Radio," a trippy, wintry little song full of music-box melodies, somnolent organ, and soft static. It sounds like a toy piano being played in an attic, through a cranky old radio, and it's nothing short of magical.

There are only two remixes of this one: "Flow Not So Fast Old Mountain Radio" is a sprightlier, more ethereal version that also trips by faster. And the Christian Kleine Mix is full of half-obscured vocals, before shifting into a delicate song full of sharper beats, and a more assertive melody.

Then there's "Please Sing My Spring Reverb," a stronger and earthier song with more static around the edges. It gets a deluxe five remixes: the sparkling synthpoppy "Styromix," the stormy clouds of "I.S.A.N. Catena Mix," the sharp beats and ethereal backdrop of "Phonem Mix," the shimmering and playful "Amx," and the tootling synth and beats of "B. Fleischmann Mix."

Like their fellow Icelandic band Sigur Ros, Mum is brilliant at giving us shimmering, wintry pop music, full of sparkling and ethereal sounds. So with music like that, it's no wonder than throwing beats over the songs can transform them into unrecognizable new melodies.

Usually remixers only throw a few new beats on a preexisting song. But with songs like "Please Sing My Spring Reverb," it changes everything about this melody -- makes it less experimental and more pop, without losing the signature sound. And though there are fewer mixes of "On The Old Mountain Radio," they're even better -- "Flow Not So Fast" is just adorable.

"Please Smile My Noise Bleed" is a sparkling, shimmering little EP, and much better than remixes usually are. Thoroughly enjoyable for fans of Icelandic pop.