Mum: Yesterday Was Dramatic - Today is OK

Originally released in 2001 on the Thule Icelandic label, the re-release of Mum’s debut album was something I couldn’t wait to get my hands on again. This is one of the few albums that I have actually succeeded in playing until the disc itself was completely destroyed.

It goes without saying, but you just can’t have enough Mum albums. Unlike the popular follow-up, Green Grass of Tunnel, Yesterday Was Dramatic… is less vocals-focused and often sonically spare.

So spare, in fact, that the opening moments of “Smell Memory” sound more like an OOIOO track than anything you might expect from a band so notorious for their velveteen voices.

Mum combine traditional instruments, electronics, and found sounds to create what can only be described as a soundscape, seemingly so alien and vast that it’s difficult to imagine from where the inspiration for these magnificent songs may originate.

Paralleled only by bands of equal adeptness at sonic journeys (and equaled only, perhaps, by M83) Yesterday Was Dramatic… is more like a personal adventure in flight. This is one of the most riveting and magnetic albums I have ever heard.

- Emily Villemaire
Mum (Morr Music)