Pitchfork

Surprises are the best. Once, when I was in kindergarten, my mom pulled me out of school in the middle of the day because there was strep throat going around. I hated the doctor and I was sad. But it turned out that, even though I had no outward symptoms, I actually did have strep throat. So I got to miss several days of school, without even feeling like shit. And I got a lollipop.

A few months ago, facing an ever-building amount of credit card debt, I swore off new CDs. I would live off the bare minimum of necessary funds-- a BLT sandwich for lunch, store-bought macaroni and cheese for dinner, and other various living expenses. About three days into my resolution, I received a weekly "new releases" e-mail from a certain oh-so-hip record store here in New York. I figured there was no harm in looking through-- there were no releases coming out that week that I was slobbering for, and I figured it would be relatively safe. Halfway through the e-mail, nothing in particular had struck me. And then I came upon a description that piqued my interest: a description of a warm, highly melodic album that featured both acoustic and electronic instruments. From Iceland! Against my better judgment, I clicked on a link to a 30-second RealAudio clip.

The next morning, I woke up early, haphazardly threw on pants, and hopped on a train to said hipster haven. And there it was. Múm's Yesterday Was Dramatic - Today Is OK. I was out the door within a minute. I got home, yanked all the phones out of the wall jacks, put the CD into my stereo, lay back on my bed, and pressed the play button with my big toe. And the result was quite possibly my most pleasant surprise since Kindergarten.

As the description that originally drew me into this album had pointed out, Yesterday Was Dramatic - Today Is OK relies heavily on both electronic sounds and acoustic instrumentation. While the album consists mostly of cut-up beats and synthesized melodies, harmonica, glockenspiel, and occasional whispered vocals make appearances as well, resulting in a varied and texturally rich record.

While texture is plentiful, and certainly helps make Yesterday Was Dramatic - Today Is OK such an amazing album, what really seals it for me is the melody. This album is simply bursting with gorgeous ones, penetrating the dense background and making it one of the most deeply, purely emotionally affecting albums of the year. Listening to this album is an experience that defies any description aside from "sublime and gorgeous."

One of the album's many highlights, and the track that got me into this whole thing in the first place, is "There is a Number of Small Things," perhaps the most astonishingly beautiful track to be found here. Church bells, child-like vocals, and strings of achingly beautiful synthesized melodies make the track nothing short of perfect. Here, as with the rest of the album, Múm's mastery of sonic texture plays a pivotal role in making the track such a success. From the start of the album, it's not entirely clear what sounds are being synthesized and what sounds are being drawn from traditional instruments-- and from the start of the album, it doesn't matter. Yesterday Was Dramatic - Today Is OK is such an easy album to get lost in. The source of the sound makes no difference when the sound itself is so well phrased and immersive.

I feel strange putting the experience of listening to Yesterday Was Dramatic - Today Is OK into words. While the album is certainly sonically complex, the sounds seem to come so naturally that any kind of attempt to explain them just wouldn't do the record justice. While the presence of such a seamlessly beautiful album is impressive, it seems nothing short of amazing that four unknown middle-class kids from Iceland managed to put it together. So I owe the credit card bastards another $20. Big deal. Surprises this good just don't come around that often.