Using dreamy electric-toy melodies, Mum find majestic sounds in unlikely places. Singer Kristin Anna Valtysdottir whispers ethereal nothings while her band mates dabble with pitter-patter percussion, contemplative synth harmonies and glitchy sound experiments. The album's high point, "I Can't Feel My Hand Any More, It's Allright, Sleep Still," evolves from church processional to four-on-the-floor break-beat attack to prog-rock epic and then back again in less than six minutes.

On the other end of the Icelandic musical spectrum, Quarashi kick out the jams -- so hard they kick themselves in the behind. With Beastie Boys rhyme patterns and a musical template that makes Limp Bizkit sound refined, Jinx is a virtual Straight Outta Reykjavik, nothing more than an exercise in juvenile cacophony. Pop signifiers abound -- a cribbed Shaggy lyric ("Weirdo"), Fatboy Slim-ish big beats (the steroidal single "Stick 'Em Up"), impossibly stupid guitar riffs ("Copycat") -- in search of approval. But Quarashi's songs are just brief blasts of confused energy -- over before you know it.

JON CARAMANICA
(RS 896 - May 23, 2002)

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(Posted: Apr 25, 2002)