ZapTown

Mux Mool
Skulltaste and Viking Funeral EP
Ghostly International
Rating: 3.8 out of 5

Link: http://ghostly.com/artists/mux-mool
The Viking Funeral EP is a free download on the Ghostly International website.

I just found an old promotional video for the Xanadu architectural project (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQOHVOduYX8). in the 1980s, Bob Masters and Roy Mason built the house of the future made of a foam-like material in two locations: Kissimmee, Florida, and the Wisconsin Dells. On my many trips to Walt Disney World throughout the ‘80s, the pamphlet located in the front lobby display of any motel would entice us with curiosity despite the reality that we Disney World trumped a visit to the house.

Touted as the “Computerized House Of The Future,” inside the house it was ran by now vintage Commodore computers and served more like a walk through “Tomorrowland” outcast. For the house, the future was 2001, and voice-activated machines would make your meal plans, adjust the temperature of the house, and plan your day.

While enjoying the interesting oddity and although still futuristic conception now antiquated technology of the house itself, I so happened to have Mux Mool’s Skulltaste on in the background. And for a distinct moment, the two were synced up perfectly. It was then I realized that Mux Mool’s vintage electronics were indeed the sound of the future and the comforting analog that filled my ears was a timeless commodity that, if presented in the right atmosphere, could never go stale.

It was a slightly different story when I first heard it. With Skulltaste, you have to adjust your eardrums for an expectation. Sometimes Hip Hop in nature (“Hog Knuckles”), sometimes infectiously disco-tinged (“Enceladus”), while other times glitch electro-funk (“Death 9000”) or songs that could be confused with Spacetime Continuum’s work (“SFW Porn”), Mux Mool spins the strange and quirky into something mostly interpreted as cool even if it’s all a geek fest by the time it’s over.

I wondered if everything Mux Mool did was as sterile beautiful like “Dandelion” or geeky in a Short Circuit or Zapped kind of way like the title track was. So I dug into Viking Funeral to get an alternative view of Mux Mool’s vision. “Teal Trim” supports New Age ambiance with upper class coolness. The Live Edit of “Ladies Know” explore more into Pop territory than anything else he has done, but still leaves a Mux Mool imprint to the song. And “Goblin Town” makes me wonder if he spent way too much time watching cartoons in the ‘80s. Turn off that Dungeons & Dragons dude. Okay that vocal version of “Death 9000″ does the trick.

But this proves that Mux Mool can adapt to about anything and everything he thinks is cool and morph it into his idea of electronic music to a great deal of success.

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