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- Date Released: January 1, 2000
- Genre: Electronic
- Style: IDM
- Label: morr music / Morr Music GBR
Icelanders craft precocious debut.
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We Say...
Gunnar Örn Tynes, Örvar Póreyjarson Smárason and twin sisters Gyða and Kristín Anna Valtysdóttir were all still teenagers when they recorded Múm’s 2000 debut Yesterday Was Dramatic — Today Is OK, and the record is shot through with the insurrectionary ambition and extremism of youth. Seduced by the kicking-against-the-pricks obscurantism of Aphex Twin, Smárason dispatched his guitar (figuratively speaking) into the nearest geyser and embraced the world of left-field, serrated and abstracted electronica.
Nothing happens on Yesterday Was Dramatic — Today Is OK, and it happens often and repetitively. This is glacial, petrified glitch-pop that hums gently to itself as it describes vast, never-closing circles. Many tracks are little more than an Autechre-like repetition of clicks and closures, distorted broadcasts of twitch and static through which an analogue ad lib will suddenly emerge with agenda-shifting clarity.
Múm’s minimal-is-maximal ethos reaps rewards, but not everything works: "Asleep on a Train" strives for ghosts-in-the-machine mysticism but merely sounds like a particularly cranky malfunctioning machine, and they are truly transcendent only when the twins’ treated, syncopated vocals kick in like chattering cherubs on "The Ballad of the Broken Birdie Records." For all its glancing delights, Yesterday Was Dramatic — Today Is OK is for glitch-pop fundamentalists and stoners only. -
They Say...
Iceland's Múm proves to be as successful at creating emotional ambient electronic music as they are at posing for album covers (the twin sisters in the band appeared on the sleeve of Belle & Sebastian's Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant). Yesterday Was Dramatic -- Today Is OK blends equal parts early Aphex Twin atmosphere, glitchy clicks reminiscent of Autechre, and dramatic musical elements that evoke the sorrow and glory of compatriot's Sigur Rós. Múm allow their songs to stretch out into lush, lengthy arrangements as a synthetic accordion mingles with rolling beats, icy analog effects, beeping instruments that recall some fantastic Disney ride, and the occasional female voice humming or singing quietly. Melodicas, glockenspiels, and other exotic instruments spur recurring motifs of sadness and joy. When the album isn't operating as a perfect postmodern lullaby, Múm is at work crafting memorable melodies. "Awake on a Train" is typical of the startling beauty the band achieves throughout the album, as tinkering keyboards and a lone voice work as aural tearjerkers. "The Ballad of the Broken Birdie Records" suggests what the pairing of Cocteau Twins and Mike Paradinas might have sounded like, as throbbing, hazy electronics lean against haunting vocals. "Sunday Night Just Keeps on Rolling" brings to mind tiny ships sounding off to each other across a sea of flowing lava. Though the album is modern in its inception, the music is effortlessly timeless and thoroughly engrossing. Yesterday Was Dramatic -- Today Is OK is an unmitigated, accessible masterpiece.
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| 01. |  |
I'm 9 Today |
4:42 |
|
| 02. | |
Smell Memory |
9:21 |
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| 03. | |
There Is A Number Of Small Things |
6:31 |
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| 04. | |
Random Summer |
3:17 |
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| 05. | |
Asleep On A Train |
7:17 |
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| 06. | |
Awake On A Train |
9:23 |
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| 07. | |
The Ballad Of The Broken Birdie Records |
5:25 |
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| 08. | |
The Ballad Of The Broken String |
4:45 |
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| 09. | |
Sunday Night Just Keeps On Rolling |
8:11 |
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| 10. | |
Slow Bicycle |
8:41 |
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10 Total Tracks, 67:33 Total Length
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Credits
- Múm - Engineer // Múm - Engineer // Múm - Engineer // Múm - Main Performer // Múm - Main Performer // Múm - Main Performer // Múm - Artwork // Múm - Artwork // Múm - Artwork // Múm - Mixing // Múm - Mixing // Múm - Mixing // Helga Bjorg Arnardottir - Klarnet // Eiríkur Orri Ólafsson - Trumpet // Hildur Gudnadóttir - Strings // Hildur Gudnadóttir - Strings
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