Múm plays Wordless

While sitting at my desk Friday afternoon, getting schooled in no less than five games of Scrabulous, I got a last minute invite to check out Múm, whose latest album Go Go Smear the Poison Ivy was released on September 24, as part of the Wordless Music concert series.

I saw Múm (pronounced "Moom") back in Atlanta in 2004, but this was an entirely different show. It was my first time seeing them without Kristín Anna Valtýsdóttir. Also, the venue, St. Paul of the Apostles Church, puts the now defunct Echolounge to shame. The comfort level, however, left a bit to be desired. The pews were not the most pleasant to sit on for four hours but that's a small price to play for a beautiful experience like this one.

The turnout was impressive and organizers had to line up rows of chairs in the back because there wasn't enough seating room in the pews. By the time Múm came on, people had begun sitting on the floor close to the stage in the center aisle. The ambassador of Iceland even came out.

This was the first of two back to back nights for Múm playing this series in NYC and our performance was the more chill session whereas they said the following night would be more of a rocking out one. Recordings and set lists for the shows are available here: Friday night / Saturday night. (These are in Flac format which can be played on a PC via Winamp and converted to play in iTunes on a Mac.

I also really enjoyed opener the opener, Torngat, a trio from Montreal, particularly their more drum intensive numbers. Sadly, their cd's had been confiscated at the border and were unavailable for purchase at the show.

There are three more Worldess shows in this series. On November 28, Max Richter plays the Good-Shepherd Faith Church and on January 16 and 17, the Wordless Music Orchestra will debut Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood's Popcorn Superhet Receiver at St. Paul. Maybe Johnny can partially redeem his band for me after the disappointing fiasco that is In Rainbows. (They're trying.)