With their magic blend of intimate melody and organic glitch beats making so many people happy, it was only a matter of time before the Icelandic darlings of Mum got the remix makeover treatment. Unfortunately, this idea occurred to both Morr Music and Thule at the same time as both of their Mum remix albums were released just weeks from each other, creating a bit of confusion and healthy competition in the process (Question: is there such a thing as too many Mum remixes?!).
The Thule remix collection, titled simply Mum remixed takes cuts from everyone’s favorite Mum full-length, the much adored Yesterday Was Dramatic, Today is OK and assigns them to little know artist such as Bix and Ilo alongside remix guru Mu-Ziq. Part of the problem with remixing Mum is that they do everything so very right the first time. Their songs are so majestic and dense; as these artists try and add to the originals they just seem to muddle things up. Also unfortunate here, everyone remixes the same songs, choosing obvious choice cuts like “Smell Memory” and “Broken Birdie” (of which there are 6 versions… yawn). A lot of these remixes fall into cliché trappings too, and Mu-ziq is no exception. You might just find you’d rather listen to the originals as I did. But that’s not to say there aren’t a few hidden gems here, as provided by Biogen and Ruxpin, who offer, dare I say, Morr-esque tracks…
Certainly less disappointing, and even quite enjoyable, is the Morr Music release, titled Please Smile My Noise Bleed. Here, instead of remixing old material, Morr Music got their hands on 2 and a half brand spanking new Mum tracks and disclosed the secret data to the likes of Phonem, Arovane, B. Fleishmen, C. Kleine and all your favorite Morr Music-Super-Heroes! Unlike the Thule release, these remixers more respect (intimidation?) the original pieces, taking a step back before stripping the tracks to their essence (these tracks make you feel clean).
The original Mum songs are fantastic, but unfortunately, as is the case with the Thule remixes, the originals remain tops over interpretations (sort of like how the book is always better than the movie). If you like Morr’s team-style though, you’ll be giddy over these, as the original melodies are warmly regurgitated with crisp beat cut-ups underneath (a neat formula that does wear a little thin).
Not to say that both of these aren’t good albums, it just seems there were a lot of missed opportunities here.
