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Mummu, "Mitt Ferieparadis"

cover imageOn this dense little 7" from the Norwegian quintet of guitar, bass, drums, synth and tuba, one half of the improvisations make for a slow burning pandemonium, while the other removes all barriers and just freaks out, with both songs excelling in their attempts. It is sloppy, noisy, and insane, which is the best possible outcome for this sort of work.

Va Fongool

"Feda Bru" is all sludgy creeping chaos, making for a mess of sound that is hard to distinguish parts from one another.Besides the wobbling synth noise that opens the piece, everything else becomes a mass of slowly surging noise that simmers more than anything.It is messy, but in a lurching, controlled fashion, with a passage of deliciously clumsy bass guitar to close things out.

What was held at bay on the A side comes completely apart on "Logatunellen."Right from the outset; a drum passage that sounds like a kit being rolled down a long staircase, eventually stabilizing itself and forming some beautifully deranged sloppy garage rock sound.Drums clatter away, guitars feedback more often than they play actual notes, and the synth, bass and tuba merge together into some unholy roar.In the closing moments the rhythm section locks into a repetitive, but pounding groove while the guitar squalls above, with each layer slowly peeled away until the conclusion.

From the sound to the weird, absurdist artwork, it is obvious that Mummu are going for balls out unhinged improvisation, and their attempt is more than successful.For all its messiness, however, there is enough underlying focus and structure to give these two pieces a definite song-like quality, and not just random instrumental jerking off.Getting that structured disorder is no easy feat, and this band does it exceptionally well.