finetune artist: Mugison

b. Ornelius Mugison, 1977, Isafuroer, Iceland. The nearest comparison point for the Icelandic singer-songwriter Mugison and his eclectic pop is probably Beck, although Mugison exhibits a charm and a loveliness that seems derived from the magic of his home country. He was first given a guitar at the age of 14, as a gift from his father when he was "forced to find Christ". In 2000, the young Mugison recorded a short-run release Utbrot (translating, variously, as "rashes" or "escape"), which he sold to friends and relatives. Using this income to relocate to London, Mugison studied sound engineering. He was signed to Matthew Herbert's Lifelike imprint after sending a demo tape to the label, and released his album debut, Lonely Mountain, in 2003. Mugison's guitar-based songs are aesthetically linked to house/big band producer Herbert's via the inclusion of "accidental sounds" of some kind of relevance to the topic of the song. "Ear", for example, includes the "accidental sounds" of Mugison making a coffee for a friend, with noises sourced from a boiling kettle and instant coffee granules. "The reason for this", explains the music maker, "is only to give the songs some more personal value." The "personal value" of Lonely Mountain was made explicit by the fact that Mugsion (with help from various family members) opted to hand stitch the sleeves of the first 10,000 copies of the release. Mugison's single, "Sea Y", was notably remixed by Phil Parnell and Arto Lindsay.

Listen to Mugison at Finetune.

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