Review
in GROUND
ZERO –- Underground Music Magazine
By Sophie Mørkholt Rasmussen
'Muse' is inspired by and dedicated to Gudrun's late teacher
Fela Anikulapo Kuti from Nigeria. One of the songs appear
on Danish World Awards's musical sampler from 2004. Muse
is complicated... And at the same time very beautiful.
Yours truly has a hard time reviewing this musical style,
but that of course is not gonna stop me. The musical side
of the record is exciting. Some of the beats with pace
and depth catches you straight away. I have no knowledge
of the individual effects, some of them homemade, but
the use og various instruments does tickle my curiosity.
No discords. Your fingers tap; very inviting. No provocative.
The music seems familiar but has by God never before been
played on my stereo system. I suppose you could call it
primitive sounds. Words easily labeling World Music, but
not meant to be derogatory.
The use of breathing as an instrument and part of the
beat is exciting and sounds really cool and creeps under
your skin. Unfortunately the vocals are a cause of distress.
My Danish ears and my americanised sense of bel canto
regard it as disharmony. Different musical traditions
use other sounds, so maybe it's justified. The source
of my irritation is partly in the fact that the lyrics
are in English. It seem too distant.
It's my personal opinion that Gudrun for the sake of authentisity
should have used her own original language, adding to
the intensity of the album.
Translated
from Danish
by Birte Frid-Nielsen.
