mugison - niceland (soundtrack)

.:: One-man band, Mugison, returns with his soundtrack to Fridrik Thor Fridrikkson’s English-language film Niceland. Described by Variety as Fridrikkson’s ‘most lushly produced and commercial work’, Niceland opens in cinemas in late September after previews earlier in the year at Cannes and film festivals around the world.

Recorded entirely in a church in his hometown of Isafjordur, Iceland, the soundtrack was completed prior to his European tour with Mum, and is predominantly a gentler affair than his debut album, Lonely Mountain, which gained much critical praise. Will Oldham meets ‘Amelie’ might be one way to describe it. The album has 21 tracks by Mugison and a very special exclusive from fellow Icelander Kippi Kanninus.

As is often the case with soundtracks, it's difficult to judge the music of Niceland when divorced from its cinematic context. Fridriksson's movie, from what I can gather, is some sort of fairy-tale love story. (I can't be sure, since it hasn't yet opened at my local cineplex and in all likelihood never will.)

Most of Mugison's pieces here are very short, and several are barely more than fragmentary sketches surely intended as unobtrusive incidental music. Random bits of film dialogue weave in and out, revealing little in the way of plot or emotive intent. Melodic themes are repeatedly thumbed over and then discarded.

Perhaps most impressive are the four versions of the film's main theme, entitled "I'd Ask", a simple waltz that Mugison first introduces as an acoustic country shuffle then reshapes into Waitsian carnival tilt utilizing piano, accordions, woozy carrousel rhythms, and pump organ. On these variations we're best able to fully hear the restless flowering of Mugison's creativity and marvel at his inventive chutzpah, as he makes the song's clean repetitive melody sound constantly refreshed and engaging.

Throughout the album even his most conventional soundtrack material contains interjections of such dissonance or eccentricity that you're left wondering what could possibly be happening onscreen for which this music would be appropriate.

download: mugison - niceland (soundtrack)