mungolian jet set

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhzVeWS5UZ4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4gJAynumcE

dude, fabric tomorrow night

i know, i can't go

that's why i said tonight!

oops sorry! anyway, my favourite is still their mix of ost & kjex, it's like yello but even more fucked and lopsided.

though addmitedly i haven't heard it all. is everything as epic as the ost & kjex remix?

or is that admittedly?

as far as I know, they're all Norwegian. Pal worked on a remix of one of my tunes, and is a really cool guy. He's also mega knowledgable about a lot of different kinds of music, and their full-length from last year is more along an experimental/ambient/electronic jazzish axis. The group itself is a multi-media collective, w/music, visuals, costumes, the whole deal.

Their remixes seem to be much more dance-oriented than their own stuff.

yeah.

these guys are killing me!

anybody going tonight?

they're amazing - especially love the LSB remix and Navigator off the album, and the whole concept & presentation is top-notch.

Everything is different, even among the remixes:

- The Lindstrom remix is like if Creedence Clearwater Revival were the flagship band of both summers of love
- The LSB remix is pretty much the biggest, most epic italo effort of the last few years, complete with false Minnie Ripperton vocals (not from the original track)
- The Ost & Kjex remix is weird vocal cut up funk moving into laser-powered dancefloor destruction that, oddly, rips from "Me & Giuliani Down By The Schoolyard".
- The Mari Boine remix is intergalactic slomo psychedelic disco that reminds me early Orb, plus slide guitar

And yes, pretty much everything is as epic as the Ost & Kjex remix.

as well documented on the '11 favourite songs' thread, love everything they've remixed (i think their nils petter molvaer mix deserves a mention too - a dark, broody thumper), not all that mad about the originals that i've heard (off the 'beauty came to us in stone' lp). are there some i should look into?

also, was at berlin club week(12)end a few weeks ago, with todd terje and will saul at the decks - not sure who was responsible, but the highlight came when a sped-up mungolian jet set remix of pizzy yelliot's "could you be loved" head-on collided with radioslave's (i think, can't remember) "drop it like its hot" remix.

the ost and kjex mix is great!!

melodrama + polka + din da da + thunderclaps + peter frampton/yello/rick james bass in two parts ... surely the latest and greatest incarnation of stuff like the firm guys have been mining or jamie lidell or louie autesn. def sounds theatre troupe oriented. cirque du soleil house?

"peter frampton/yello/rick james bass" aka pretty much shamelessly rips "thriller"

so much of the thrill of dance music is knowing exactly what to expect - but not quite HOW to expect it to sound - and then getting it, and that being very satisfying indeed. with these guys i'm always surprised, i never really know what's coming. it feels great.

There's a little bit of Basement Jaxx's aesthetic there as well - if I was to choose a particular song to reference it would be "Supersonic" perhaps, but it's more in that general sonic/stylistic promiscuity, the way that every production veers off in an entirely new and exciting direction as per what tracer says.

Mungolian Jet Set also have this ostentatious epic quality, and I was about to say that's not very Basement Jaxx, except it is on quite a few of their remixes or b-sides... except that perhaps the Jaxx mostly chose between the two impulses (pop vs epic) rather than mashing them together.

It'll be interesting to see what happens when MJS release original tracks in their epic-disco incarnation, and whether they take a different approach (a sharp division between the two seems like par for the course these days when it comes to big remix acts releasing albums and such - refer to Tiefschwarz, Freeform Five, etc.)..

i'm scared to listen to their actual album. i'm scared that it's going to be like, trip-hop gotan project or something.

not that that's so terrible!

the album is much less tasteful than that! it's pretty whacked-out psychedelic jazzy shit, quite dense and nowhere near as accessible as the remixes, apart from the track Navigator, which has a sort of Yello-go-to-Africa vibe and is the most fun thing on there.

SEARCH: Ronny & Renzo - Big Smack & Flies (Mungolian Jet Set´s Medievel Knievel remix)

It's possibly their darkest remix effort yet, a thoroughly torpid tribal groove that stretches off into infinity - even further out than the Mari Boine remix. Totally the dark side of balearic.

It's like if Trentemoller's album had been really really good.

another A+ remix title from the Jetset there

i am pretty much such a fan it hurts. the LSB remix is great, so are all the remixes of Nils Petter Molvaer ("hurry slowly" and "darker")

finally got a copy of the mari boine, and it is indeed orientalist disco sludge mindfuck supremeness. now this "clairvoyage" thing that's up on their myspace, the blurb mentions leone, is that the remix he (or 'you' if you're reading) mentioned upthread?

"finally got a copy of the mari boine"

(insert envy here)

i am referring to an electronic copy, it should be noted. will gladly pass it on to you, tim, if you don't have it already!

That'd be great mitch, I've been listening to it from their Myspace page.

The first half of "Clairvoyage" is great but I'm not sure if I'm so into the karaoke Scissor Sisters of the second half. Will need to listen more.

i dont think i have yr address anymore, tim - send me something at n0blemusic@gee,mail!.com

envy here too...

I can't think of anyone more badly in need of a nice, comprehensive remix compilation on vinyl than MGS.

Er, MJS. Not Metal Gear Solid.

Yeah, basically if you had a comp collecting the Lindstrom, LSB, Ost & Kjex, Mari Boine and Ronny & Renzo mixes (I haven't heard the Nils Petter Molvaer remixes) it'd be my favourite album of the year (and long enough to call an album!)

Their myspace page says they're tentatively planning to play Paris on October 12 - hope I'm in Paris for it!

Paris October 12 is on - anyone up for it?

wish i could :/

OMG their remix Eivind Aarseth's "Murky Lambada" - they are shameless prog whores frankly.

Luvvit. Though it would sink like a lead balloon on the dancefloor. Parts remind me a lot of Jon Hassell.

has anyone actually seen them live yet? how was it?

It was very good in parts, but not brilliant. They mostly played their remixes, but it was very loose and unfocused, with all the individual components wandering in and out of time with eachother. Kind of the performance you expect to see at a function at a modern art gallery.

For balearic kicks, Animal Collective were better and tighter the following week in Berlin.

"Epics & Donuts" (a remix of Altz?) on their myspace page: sounds like Mungolian Jet Set going deep house, although this basically means a stronger 4X4 thump and some warm jazzy piano chords. Otherwise it's as unpredictable and darkly percussive as ever. Maybe 808 State's Don Solaris album as a reference point? Meets current minimal deep house? I wonder if it's quite a deliberate move to show the group can "do" dancefloor monsters. The growly second half is just... ugughghg so good.

It's getting to the stage where they're gonna need a two-disc collection.

You just got "Piece Work" - after how many years - patience.

Listening to it at the moment - just heading into the second half.
I'm worrying about my fixation with the Mungolian Jet Set remixes - Sometimes I worry that I listen to everything through the filter of "what would it sound like as a MJS remix?".

Still, if anybody wants to go in with me to pay them to remix either:

Captain Beefheart - Tropical Hot Dog Night

or

KLF - Justified & Ancient (Stand By The Jams)

I'll take their money.

Several new remixes up on their myspace page. Including a dub of the "It Ain't Necessarily Evil" remix that's even more intergalactic than the normal remix version.

"MARI BOINE - REMIX ALBUM

The remix album "It ain`t Necessarily Evil" will be released March 31st 2008. Includes remix from The Knife, 120Days, Schwarz, Mental Overdrive and Mungolian Jet Set.

TRACK LIST.
01 ELLE` Mungolian Jetset Remix version
02 GOS BAT MUNNO CINAT LEAT Syntax Erik
03 DAVVI BAVTTIIN Kohib
04 BOADEN NUPPI BEALDE 120 Days
05 VOUI VOUI MU Schwarz
06 IT AIN´T NECESSARILY EVIL Mungolian Jet Set
07 CINJAT The Knife
08 SOUIVVA Mental Overdrive
09 ELLE` The original theme song from the movie The Kautokeino Rebellion"

Yaaaay ... esp. as their original remix hasn't been on their MySpace page for a little while, now - I'm suffering from withdrawal.

"moon jocks and prog rocks" on their myspace now, as well as a strange cover of "sign o the times", but the big news is - they're playing PS1's 'warm up' series on august 7! i be there!!

ooooh, thanks for the heads up. the 12" of "it ain't necessarily evil" is gaaawjiss; my flatmate's made me leave it on display in our mantelpiece.

They remind me of the cake music from Brass Eye.

The cover of "Sign O' The Times" is bizarre - sounds like Jon Hassell producing R&B.

Remix of They Came From The Stars I Saw Them's "Moon Song" streaming on their myspace...

...I... don't even know what to say....

Except it's very, very, very big.

playing at warm up this weekend (i'm gonna be out of town, grr)

argh

they were pretty good at warm up! but basically tim's verdict above holds, though they might've tightened up a bit. also, perhaps a tad too much funk guitar, if i'm allowed to say that.

more new stuff on the myspace incl remixes of the shortwave set and the tough alliance. TTA remix is great, right now it sounds like the best (relatively) straight-up dance track the jetset have done since the LSB remix. and it was still rejected for being too goofy! never change, mungolian jetset.

that altz remix got a euro release recently, with an equally dark + chuggy 'part 2' on the flip. hurrah!

via Øyafestivalen news of a double album by Norway's Mungolian Jet Set:

The next release, the double album ‘We Gave It All Away, Now We’re Taking It Back’ will be out on Smalltown Supersound during the spring of 2009

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

*ahem* Er, well all right then. If you must

oh my goodness

had no idea they did an altz remix, that's like a match made in heaven

woops on the altz thread apparently i DID know that

nice to know i can get it for less than half the price now, though

the double album is a remix comp, but they also have an album of new studio stuff in the works

As a labelmate, you would know :-)
Whats on the comp? I mean, two cd's equals like four or five MJS remixes...

A remix comp? Then my unspeakable voodoo rituals worked!

Here's all the remixes I could round up on Discogs:

Nils Petter Molvaer- Hurry Slowly (Mungolian Jet Set edit)
Pizzy Yelliott- Could You Be Loved (Mungolian Jetset 303 Acid Mix)
Kreeps- All I Wanna Do Is Break Some Hearts (Mungolian Jet Set's Exit To The Jaja Mix)*
Nils Petter Molvaer- Darker (Mungolian Jet Set Metro Mix)
L.S.B.- Original Highway Delight (Mungolian Jet Set's Miami Camp Mix)
Ronny & Renzo- Big Smack And Flies (Mungolian Jet Set’s Medievel Knievel Version)
Dominique Leone- Clairevoyage - A Medley Performed By The 16th Rebels Of Mung
Lindstrom- A Blast Of Loser (Mungolian Jet Set 9406 Remix)
Ost & Kjex- Milano Model (A Thrilling Mungophony In Two Parts)
Altz- Epics And Donuts (Mungolian Jetset Remix)
They Came From The Stars I Saw Them- Moon Song (Mungolian Jetset The Gospel According To Mung 2012 Live At The Hacienda Version
Athana- Ocean 0306 (Mungolian Jetset's Cruusin' With The Henleys Mix)
Mari Boine- Elle (Mungolian Jetset Remix Version)
Mari Boine- It Ain't Necessarily Evil, Bodeš Bat Gal Buot Biros (Mungolian Jet Set Remix) (A Mung's Portrayal Of The Traditional Sami Suoivvean Idjagieđas Dance) (10:22

Also a couple of tracks on a 5xCD Norwegian Prince tribute album- a cover of "Sign 'O' the Times" the produced for Nils Petter Molvaer (which is still up on their myspace, I think) and a cover of "Dirty Mind" in collaboration with Ost & Kjex.

Just checked their Myspace; the Prince cover has been removed but a couple more remixes have been added, for the Tough Alliance and the Shortwave Set.

i hope they throw in the 'they came from the stars, i saw them' remix, which i've only heard through myspace but is awesomeeeee. also hoping for them to somehow license and use that tough alliance remix

Yeah, just got through listening to that and it's a great one. The Shortwave Set mix is pleasant enough, though not up with their best material.

The ones they absolutely must have on this comp as far as I'm concerned: Lindstrom, Ost & Kjex, LSB, Ronny & Renzo, Dominique Leone, Altz, and Kreeps.

hey don't forget the pizzy yelliot. and i haven't even heard of that athana business

I haven't heard the Pizzy Yelliott one yet- haven't even been able to track it down on Soulseek, though I haven't been looking especially hard. Really got to hear their Dirty Mind cover, though; I didn't even know that existed until about 30 minutes ago.

i think i got it on soulseek, but it took a while. put it on your wish list! or just wait for the double album, i guess.

anyone know if there's a chance it'll be on vinyl? the originals are pretty hard to track down

there's also a shirley bassey remix (havent heard it tho)

There was a Dirty Mind cover? was that only on their myspace?

Look a bit further up- it's on a 5-disc Norwegian Prince tribute album called Shockadelica, along with the Nils Petter Molvaer cover of "Sign 'O' the Times" that was on their Myspace.

Oops. Thanks! I think I would baulk at buying a 5 x cd Norwegian Prince Tribute album, though.

just picked up the second they came from the stars i saw them- moon song 12" with mungolian jet set and serge santiago remixes on thisisnotanexit. i know it's been on myspace for awhile but still pretty exciting to find it on vinyl. it sounds even bigger/crazier than i remembered

I just picked up the vinyl of vvvv

Mari Boine- It Ain't Necessarily Evil, Bodeš Bat Gal Buot Biros (Mungolian Jet Set Remix) (A Mung's Portrayal Of The Traditional Sami Suoivvean Idjagieđas Dance)

and it is !!!!!!!! so big! I wish I had a serious Hi-Fi system to hear it on, but it's amazing even on my bedroom monitors

xpost - also any chance of swapping mp3s of our respective records psych??

yeah, just give me a little time to transfer it from vinyl. also, i have that mari boine remix already (not on vinyl, sadly) and agree that it is pretty damn massive

i think i was the only one who voted for it in the trax poll :(

I voted for the Shortwave Set remix if that counts..

ha, the 2 or 3 votes they received were split. next year we need to organize

yeah i had heard about them like last march or something and i had the hardest time tracking down their stuff. some of it borders on too deep of house for me, but the good stuff is amazing. i've seen a few videos online of their live stuff too, which looks incredible

been looking for that forEVER, where'd you get it?!

Snobbish to say, but I think of the Mari Boine remix as a 2007 track... Otherwise I would have voted. Sorry psychgawsple.

ha, no worries. was it actually released in 2007? or was it just up on myspace?

fysical release not until 2008 i think. it's also available on this great compilaton

xpost, i'm trippin. i have that! i keep thinking there's a second MJS remix of Boine that precedes "It ain't necessarily evil"...but discogs says no.

i *did* manage to pick up a cheap used copy of the Ost & Kjex remix though, that's spectacular!

http://www.mic.no/mic.nsf/doc/art2009031210473927528953

Nice discussion of their new remix compilation "We gave it all away, now we’re taking it back". Double CD too, so hopefully most of their remixes are included and not hacked down to fit. And a mention of an album for 2010.

awesome news

these dudes are playing in london on friday night!

Yes! At the Magick Bus, that new Richard Norris/Prins Thomas club that I was trying to find a place to talk about on another thread.

Will have to do some research now...

i recommend listening to their remixes (talked abt in this thread)

I don't have to hear it to know that their remix comp will be top 5 of the year for me.

tracklist here --> http://www.residentadvisor.net/news.aspx?id=10584

looks amazing.

Oh wow, Dominique is on there. I love Clairvoyage as well and it would make so much sense on a disc like that.

just read about this and I am suuuuuper stoked on it

Smalltown Supersound will release Mungolian Jetset's We Gave It All Away...Now We Are Taking It Back on August 18, 2008.

whoa they're going back in time to release it. that is psychedelic.

ratz i will be missing this ;__;

yall tell me how it is and thanks for the heads up!

OMG "CREEPY"!!!

Sort of like the first Orb album (already something of a reference point for these guys) crossed with Black Leotard Front's "Casual Friday".

On paper, that sounds like the best thing ever.

It's not quite but it's pretty great!

It really does sound The Orb, chunky and wibbly at the same time. Love how they keep moving from 4/4 to schaffel as well.

Haha and I've only just got to the squelchy bit three minutes from the end. This is terrific.

Good lord I keep forgetting to listen to this comp. And I've had it for four weeks or so! Thanks for this thread serving as a reminder.

I am now bingeing on their remixes as there are loads I haven't heard. This is the perfect preparation for Glastonbury.

Listening to Creepy right now. Wow, it sure is. Wish I'd gone to see them last month. (but I'm really too old for clubbing these days.) I quite like. Yes.

Wow, the squelchy bit at the end. Just... yes. It sounds so... wet. This should really be the wacky novelty hit of the summer, but it's probably too out there. And too good.

yeah the 2disc comp has been in permanent rotation on my ipod since i got it

keep meaning to start a thread about it

Never really paid much attention to them before but all this shit is incredible.

Creepy is a retooled version of their Kreeps remix right? i guess most of their remixes are so far from the originals they might as well have new names! can't wait to get the comp.

"wet" is a good way to describe this whole sound i think, not just 'creepy'--so weirdly lush &, uh, verdant or something. it sounds like what i think a jungle would sound like, if a jungle were music!

anybody know where i can get this? can't find it online anywhere...

it sounds like what i think a jungle would sound like, if a jungle were music!

yes! these tracks have strange, unsettling noises that tend to sneak up on you for a bit only to recede back into the murky depths

not out until august 18th or so, i heard

looks like you can get it from the smalltown supersound website - http://www.sts.musiconline.no/shop/displayAlbum.asp?id=36844&portal=1008 (but that'll prob be pretty expensive)

it's been on iTunes for about a month now, but I'm going to wait for the CD release.

awesome, i didnt know this was out digitally yet. just bought this from smalltown supersound, $20 is not bad

the Beats in Space mix has some stunners...

yea i'm diggin it, tho it's a little frustrating that there's tons of new/unreleased stuff on the mix and none of it is on this forthcoming album

Yes!

"wet"

haha.

(Also, thank you to this threadbump for reminding me to get that Mari Boyne/MGS e.p. Damn, I wish this had existed a couple of years ago when I was trying to find out more about Yoik/Sami music. I never did find out what the yoik-fronted dronerock thing was, but, erm... should go and bump that old thread, I suppose. Did it turn out to be Circle?)

Haha and I've only just got to the squelchy bit three minutes from the end. This is terrific.

I'm right at that spot with "Creepy" right now. Yeah this is good stuff.

this is such my shit

Lulu Rouge - Melankoli (Mungolian Jet Set Rmx)

^ This is fantastic. So trancey!

I need to write a review for this thing in the next two days for the OC Weekly and I'm having a hard time figuring out the opening hook. "Let me begin by not explaining beardo-disco or balearic to you all..."

"You should never be afraid of experimenting. It should be both Stockhausen and Liberace."

I find this rather gratifying, oddly:

That idea of prog rock-influenced cosmic imagery and mythology is something that seems to appeal to you, especially bands creating their own myths. Is that something you decided to borrow wholeheartedly?

Pål: That's very much my thing, because I tend to come up with conceptual titles for our stuff. Usually things just pop into my head somehow. I believe that comes from the Orb. I used to really love the Orb when they came out in the early '90s, and some of our music has been compared to the Orb, which is obvious. The Orb were influenced by Pink Floyd, so maybe we're just building on something from the early '90s that somehow went away.

Knut: I also think that there's some kind of theatrical element to what we do. Maybe a track could be a movie or something. Perhaps one day in future they will all come together and be used in the same musical. The other thing about prog rock, if you take away all the guitar solos, the sound space is the thing that's progressive.

It's interesting that you mention the Orb, because their music always had an element of humour, which is something that can be seen in the Mungolian Jetset material. Is including this humour in your music important to you?

Pål: Yes, it's an important part, but it's not like we write comedy records. It's just our natural flavour. One of the things I used to really love about The Orb and the KLF when they came with Chill Out was the kind of stoner, slacker humour to their music. They would borrow sketches from old radio shows. It was not humour that you laughed out loud at, but it was quite free and a wonderful way of using funny stuff without making comedy. I spent the whole early '90s listening to Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld and Chill Out. These are really key records, and I guess they have sneaked into the Mungolian approach. They are strong influences, yes.

It was not humour that you laughed out loud at, but it was quite free and a wonderful way of using funny stuff without making comedy.

Oh man, all of a sudden there's a description of "The Blue Room" that just *works*!

These guys just seem to understand their own aesthetic really well or, at least, they seem to view their own work in exactly the same way that I view it. I'm finalising my own review of the comp at the moment and so much of this interview anticipates it.

Check your Facebook, Tim.

I can't use Facebook fully at work Ned, but my cryptic answer is go for it.

Milano Model (A Thrilling Mungophony In Two Parts)

this is amazing ... balearic jaxx

i like this album so much more than the other stuff in this vein which has all be cool & chill & ok to me but (im thinking fontan/meanderthals/new lindstrom/thomas) but also kinda too chill 4 its own good.

but yeah this is diverse & exploding with ideas

the miami camp rmx of 'original highway delight' is delirious

The moment when the "Milano Model" remix transitions from part one to part two never stops being shocking.

ha yes -- they totally switch up the rhythm there

http://www.bongsbay.com/animated/weed_leaves.gif

i like this album so much more than the other stuff in this vein which has all be cool & chill & ok to me but (im thinking fontan/meanderthals/new lindstrom/thomas) but also kinda too chill 4 its own good.

this is otm - a lot of balearic/space disco w/e can be super precise and kinda polite - like deej says i think this is pretty cool generally because lot of that stuff is awe-inspiring in the surgical nature - but it's def cool to hear some weird dudes just wigging out

like what is exactly is "could you be loved"? dancehall as norwegian disco?

its more just like ... it feels like those groups will run out of ideas & just sorta fall back on atmosphere.

haha i was making fun of deej for being too "chicago" because he liked the jazzy stuff and not the coastal breezy stuff--i dunno i can see worrying about how some of these guys could get totally detached from anything at all and float up into bad-vangelis-land (& there are worse things that could happen), but i gotta say "surgical" is not really a word i see applying to any of the bands deej listed besides maybe fontan? meanderthals is so dubby/spacey and l&pt is total WIG OUT and conservative only in reference to bros like mungolian jet set.

i DO think jj no2 is maybe too polite for its own good in some way--but i also dont like it very much.

i suppose the "problem" in some sense about "falling back on atmosphere" is that atmosphere is kind of all we've got when were stringing together a bunch of totally disparate bands and describing them with a genre name that was last in fashion in 1991. i guess i mean that what i LIKE about these bands, MJS included, is the atmosphere they create! but then maybe i dont understand your distinction btw ideas & atmosphere? this may come down to how patient you are w/ airy noodling, as it always seems to do w/ balearic--how far yr willing to go in the direction of what tends to get called "boring"

(Perhaps a bit like Max) I love Mungolian Jet Set for their restless inventiveness but I also think Meanderthals (in particular) "fall back on atmosphere" in the best way possible.

mungolian jet set "fall back on atmosphere" as much as meanderthals, L&PT etc - the creation of "atmosphere" is sort of the point of the genre - it's just that their particular atmosphere tends to be bassier and faster, and they range across a more varied range of styles on the album, hence it's a touch more immediate. tim is right in that they're restless where meanderthals and lindstrøm tend to constantly refine a particular sound.

"falling back on atmosphere" is bad when it's nothing but atmosphere - eg the blackbelt andersen album which is perfectly pleasant but i literally can't remember a second of it when it's finished, when the noodling is a bit too aimless. meanderthals exemplifies why this doesn't have to be the case, as expansive and wandering as it is, it's also v tightly constructed.

^^ yes tim and lex are saying what i was trying to get at

like mnml techno used to be, it's also hard to pinpoint any bad atmospheric balearic stuff, b/c...it's basically the stuff you don't remember.

i don't feel that jj no 2 and air france fit into that - they're memorable enough, i just don't like what they do in the slightest.

i think there are maybe a couple air france tracks that are guilty of that sort of weightlessness--maundy thursday for example

i expect to like this

the holy ghost remix of that they came from the stars song is kinda better i think

kind of great how much i enjoy these guys rmxs tho considering i couldn't make it thru their album

It's practically different groups though.

which are you talking about then?

everyone's talking abt their remix album

Now i'm confused IDR, I thought you were referring to their jazz album from about three years ago.

Must say that the success of this thread (and broader increasing buzz around the mungs) makes me pleased in a slightly smug fashion. It's great to see groups like this slowly win over more and more people.

ost and kjek thing is an unstoppable force imo

mungolian jet set "fall back on atmosphere" as much as meanderthals, L&PT etc - the creation of "atmosphere" is sort of the point of the genre - it's just that their particular atmosphere tends to be bassier and faster, and they range across a more varied range of styles on the album, hence it's a touch more immediate. tim is right in that they're restless where meanderthals and lindstrøm tend to constantly refine a particular sound.

"falling back on atmosphere" is bad when it's nothing but atmosphere - eg the blackbelt andersen album which is perfectly pleasant but i literally can't remember a second of it when it's finished, when the noodling is a bit too aimless. meanderthals exemplifies why this doesn't have to be the case, as expansive and wandering as it is, it's also v tightly constructed.

― lex pretend, Tuesday, August 11, 2009 7:16 AM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

ehhh i 'get' that this is what the genre is about & i like some pretty straightforwardly (maybe the wrong word to use?) cheesy noodly shit ... i mean the jazzy stuff max is clowning me abt is super-noodly atmosphere.

i just mean that the scope of ideas that mungolian jetset are presenting seems to kinda overflow in this album in a way that it doesnt on meanderthals ... i guess im not saying thats per se a criticism of meanderthals, it just makes mjs a lot more interesting to think about/talk about or something

haa just reread this thread & saw a bunch of my reactions to this stuff (comparisons to jaxx & scissor sisters on 'clairvoyage' for ex) were already covered like a year ago!! should have opened this thread before

Comparing Mungolian Jet Set to Meanderthals is a bit like comparing Basement Jaxx to, I dunno, Bangalter & Falcon or something. They're ostensibly within the same genre or umbrella but not really the same at all. One is concerned with stuffing every available space with ideas and the other goes for the perfect fusion of functionalism and and atmosphere.

The Mungolian Jet Set piano jazz album was pretty ropey mind.

It annoys me that I still haven't heard this. Is it on general sale?

something about the name Mungolian Jetset kept making me think it was some Quiet Village deal

Comparing Mungolian Jet Set to Meanderthals is a bit like comparing Basement Jaxx to, I dunno, Bangalter & Falcon or something. They're ostensibly within the same genre or umbrella but not really the same at all. One is concerned with stuffing every available space with ideas and the other goes for the perfect fusion of functionalism and and atmosphere.

― Matt DC, Tuesday, August 11, 2009 11:32 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

thats fair enough

matt dc you can get this on itunes

so is mungolian jet set just the freeform five of 2009 or am i not hearing something?

uh

uh what

yeah sorry, i hate it when people do that "uh" thing. you know what i mean. i mean i think you're missing something.

so what am i missing? because all i'm hearing is purposely wacky, maximalist kitchen sink midtempo house with a string of bad vocalists

though i have to admit they make good use of 303s

on one level, yes, they're probably the Freeform Five of balearic. In the best sense though: the Freeform Five that remixes "Beau Mot Plage" and gave us the dub mix of their own "Strangest Things".

It's also a good cautionary tale: ultimately maximalism was Freeform Five's main trick. But I think MJS have already done more interesting dark tracks than Freeform Five ever did, their arrangements can spiral inwards as much as outwards. Hard to imagine FF concocting something as mysterious as the "Big Smack & Flies" remix.

It's a good point to raise though as I think all maximalists have to work out some way not to end up seeming like a "just add original source material" party trick.

I've listened to about 3/4 of this now and the many great bits are absolutely fantastic and the annoying bits are so annoying I want to find whoever was responsible and shake them furiously.

I particularly mean Could You Be Loved and Milano Model when I talk about the annoying bits and they are actually annoying in a very Freeform Five way. There's the similar cloud of bad Prince impressions and comedy white funk hanging over them. I mentioned Basement Jaxx upthread regarding their approach to sound and FF always struck me as a bargain basement Jaxx* with a bit of electrohouse chucked in.

That said the good bits (ie almost everything else) are awesome. It feels like a bit of a journey album but only if that journey is round some kind of very cartoonish Indiana Jones version of the world. A few of the tracks actually sound like superior versions of the type of music you'd expect to hear queuing up for some theme park ride based on, I dunno, Inca pyramids or something.

*Totally didn't intend that when I first type it but I'm leaving the awful pun in anyway.

vahid, I barely even hear MJS as house music. it feels "live" to me, whereas freeform five have a trackiness about them. And maybe it's my perception of MJS as "live" that makes their wackiness and unexpectedness more acceptable and actually appealing. i.e. anything can happen live, so when it does, it's exciting. With a trackier song, the constant overload of the unexpected can get wearying, i.e. late Jaxx, like yes, we know you can paste 256 tracks into this but eech.

A few of the tracks actually sound like superior versions of the type of music you'd expect to hear queuing up for some theme park ride based on, I dunno, Inca pyramids or something.

this is rly otm

i'm going to utter two controversial words here (as much as i love these dudes):

gotan project

there is a sense in which they feel like beardo reaching its tipping point a little too early but that is an awesome reason for enjoying them maybe

"there is a sense in which they feel like beardo reaching its tipping point a little too early"

Ha, some of these tracks date from 2006 and even late 2005 ("Could You Be Loved") - i.e. they predate "beardo" as a genre (though obviously post-date the emergence of a Norwegian disco-revivalist scene).

you know what I mean though, like a big part of the appeal of the balearic revival stuff is that it is this super refined version of all the most excessive and decadent parts of disco/italo/yachtrock etc but MJS is kinda just taking the piss a bit.

I'm still madly in love with these guys but my enjoyment of "Clairevoyage" has maybe taken a small hit after realizing the falsetto vocals toward the end sound EXACTLY like Walter and Perry:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMJqApRNXfw

I'm not really into the falsetto vocal at the end of "Clairvoyage", or at least how it sits in the arrangement (apologies to Dominique if they're your vocals).

It seems kind of like an inferior version of what they do on the "Original Highway Delight" remix.

The first half of "Clairvoyage" is A+ though.

"you know what I mean though, like a big part of the appeal of the balearic revival stuff is that it is this super refined version of all the most excessive and decadent parts of disco/italo/yachtrock etc but MJS is kinda just taking the piss a bit."

I tend to think that MJS make more sense as a kind of outgrowth of DFA, Chicken Lips, Lindstrom, Get Physical, Ewan Pearson circa 2004, rather than the Rong/Full Pupp/Claremont 56 kind of sound.

The Smalltown Supersound mix Sunkissed was a good example of the difference - very excitable and maximalist and unafraid of cheese, always seeming to veer towards electro-house and big beat and disco-punk etc.

<3 that sunkissed mix. might vote for it in 00s polls ...

fuck i'd forgotten all abt it - but yeah, so dope

hey tim nice review btw

I'm going to utter two controversial words here (as much as I love these dudes):

Lemon Jelly

Matt you realise that it's one of the guys from Lemon Jelly that put together the Nu-Balearica comp?

haha tim, they're actually not mine -- my vocals are most of the harmony stuff on creepy :)

Lemon Jelly FAR FAR closer than Gotan Project...
xpost

interesting review tim - i have to ask, which 92-era weatherall have you been listening to lately that brought up that connection for you?

It reminded me of both Screamadelica and the One Dove album - which is why I compromised and said 1992.

Obv. the standard for MJS song-ish indie-pop remixes should be the original "Higher Than The Sun".

would have been a bit of a cheap shot to connect that to the "hacienda 2012" mix, i guess

well done on the review, i am gradually warming up to this, though i have to admit i like the weatherall-ish bits quite a bit, maybe even more than the other stuff

Actually I like the mungs' weatherall-ish-ness. It's more that the "Glitches & Bugs" remix makes it seem a bit more like a formula, probably because the remix is very respectful towards the original song. It's like what the band themselves would have wanted out of the exercise of handing it over to remixers.

It kind of reminds me of the difference between "Setting Sun" and "Let Forever Be" - basically the same idea, except that the second is like a more respectful and... distilled... version of the first, in a way that makes it less compelling. I still like both "Let Forever Be" and the "Glitches & Bugs" remix though.

The Mari Boine remix is also very weatherall-ish but is very unpredictable and also one of my absolute favourite things on there.

Is this eligible for year-end lists?

I love it.

I think so - this is the first time most of these tracks have appeared on CD, many of them are new, all done within the last few years etc.

Loving the new album.

If anyone in the UK is thinking of buying it, it's just worked out cheaper for me to buy the CDs from Amazon USA including shipping (£17) than I could find it for anywhere over here

Finally got this after having to look high and low to find a reasonably priced copy and was happy to find that "Creepy" is my beloved Kreeps remix. Not sure what I think about the new electrocuted-goatman vocals on it, but it's...something. It is definitely something. And the Pizzy Yelliott track is the shit.

spotted a copy in local hmv for £16 which at the time i thought was steep, however, this thread seems to imply i did ok.
its taken a few listens to sink in, and some of the vocal stylings are a little too wacky at times.
but as for the rest : damn its good.
agree re lemon jelly as being a point of reference, but also i hear skylab in the mix.
i love the sprawling nature of it, and a lot if it just sounds absolutely gorgeous (a la lindstrom/prins thomas productions).

this has been growing on me hardcore lately. i think i became overly familiar with a bunch of the singles and sorta thought i knew everything already and avoided listening for a while, but there is a LOT of new stuff here and the mix aspect of things gives the old songs an interesting/different context

the athana remix in particular has been on constant repeat, if only that male singer didn't sound so much like a neutered bonnie prince billy

never heard any of the singles/remixes etc.
just dived straight in following various online reviews/mentions.
possibly the best way to experience such an album, that is once the WTF?! aspect wears off.

Have dudes done anything new since the Lulu Rouge remix?

they're working on stuff now...which reminds me, have to complete vocals tracks!!!

Recent Strangefruit mix can be found over on the Low Budget website

the band have posted this mix directly on their own site for download now.
tis excellent.
love the blending of the original sugar man and the free ass. cover version.
no idea as to anything else, but its a lot of fun.

thank you!

mark - the low budget mix is a different one to the Mungodelics mix on their website. It's a two and a half hour recording of a recent Strangefruit set at Denis Simachev Bar in Moscow and is a bit more uptempo than the Mungodelics one. Not a million miles away from his recent Beats in Space set in flavour.

ooooh.
didn't realise that groovyp.
ta.

listened to the comp a bunch over christmas. i must've forgotten how good the LSB remix is - totally unstoppable.

We Gave It All Away is blowing my mind right now - thank you ILM

Oops, apparently this isn't the thread where people were talking about MJS recently. The sentiment remains.

Anyone caught them live recently? Playing in Berlin at Watergate tomorrow w/Lindstrom+Christabelle ...

not sure where to put this but the Frisvold & Lindbaek 'Diskoism' mix comp is pretty great

Skatebård - "Reindeer Salsa" ( The Knights of Jumungus Jingle Jungle Morning Mix )

http://soundcloud.com/mungmusic/skateb-rd-reindeer-salsa-the

thank god they are back. as spellbinding as ever. avail for purchase on iTunes as well. blind purchase for life with these guys.

New track here too:

http://soundcloud.com/mungmusic/mungolian-jetset-mush-in-the

:D :D :D

Skatebård - "Reindeer Salsa" ( The Knights of Jumungus Jingle Jungle Morning Mix )

This is the most preposterous and yet appealing title ever.

no talk of 'moon jocks n prog rocks' finally getting a release last year? i'll restrain myself from calling it their masterstroke until dusting off the album again, but at the very least it'll be the best 99 cents i spend this year. and either i'm growing to mind their vocals less or they've improved, cause the aliens' chorus at 3:30 here is exactly right. also kind of love the fact that the artwork looks like the acid trip fingerpainting that spawned the whole track - is the album still in the works i wonder?

i'm also really enjoying their dub mix of bebel gilberto from 2007 - i don't remember it being on 'they gave it all away' but it's pretty wonderful & and about as minimal as they get (although it could almost as easily be posted in the balearic threads as the most maximalist widescreen classic kompakt-recalling edit in memory)

New album Schlungs dropping in September

http://www.facebook.com/notes/mungolian-jet-set/mungolian-jetset-presents-schlungs-to-be-released-september-2011-through-smallto/10150198015523981?notif_t=note_reply

<3 that cover art.

Lyrically, "Schlungs" involves tales of fatal alien abductions and ghosts of murderous (but snazzily-dressed) transvestites, as well as confessions of dark and illusory multimedia desires and dispatches from the borderline state of the all-consuming hyperrealism of the Internet.

Characters from the fringes of reality with odd-sounding yet somehow familiar names wander through the streets of Mungville, and usually break into ecstatic dance before their end is met. This is what would have happened if William Burroughs had been given a backdrop of disco instead of bebop. Instead of The Naked Lunch, this is The Naked 7-11 Hotdog.

The musical scope remains Mung-laden, but with an extra meta-weave of pop to it, perhaps more as in pop culture, or even pop art (if you want to be clever about it). There are drunken synths and obscure samplings of the psychedelic past, bleeping and squeaking through a jungle of tree frogs. Contemporary choirs sits alongside funky guitars, ethereal soundscapes and

chipmunged vocals ( as well as guest vocals by Dominique Leone and Carsten Loly ) but there are also hummable hooks, sexy, sassy urban beats, and tunes you can chew your bubblegum to.

Well, even tunes you can sing-along to.

It`s not really karaoke, more like harakaraoke, and though the music is even sweet n sourly nostalgic at times, it is always viewed through the schlunglishly bespectacled left-eye of the Mung.

Got to say this really could go either way but I've more faith in Mungolian Jet Set being able to pull something like this off than, say, Aeroplane.

Suspect it'll be more like the Freeform Five album than the Aeroplane album. Hope it's much better than either obviously.

guest vocals by Dominique Leone!!

What I'm sort of hoping for is an album that splits the difference between Adventures Beyond The Ultraworld and Rooty for the nu-disco scene.

Haha that basically describes all their best remixes. But of course I agree.

I was going to go for Kish Kash for the overstuffed vibe but thought that might be a little full-on.

Also Rooty b/c sillier vocals.

That too.

Although The Orb cover off the silly vocals angle quite nicely in their own right.

I've just realised this has become my most anticipated album of 2011.

Surely Schlungs outdoes Aeroplane's album just on the basis of Moon Jocks N Prog Rocks? Unless they screw things up by only including edits of it and Moonstruck (its dub) on Schlungs.

Only Horror Inc's forthcoming album comes close to being as anticipated as Schlungs for me.

I had no idea this was out. Listening for the first time and I fear my initial pessimism might have been justified :(

It's good apart from "Bella Lanay", "We R The Shining" and the vocal parts on "Smoke N Mirrors".

It is good, "Bella Lanay" is the only outright shocker/theirworstinstincts - "We R The Shining" and "Smoke N Mirrors" are merely flawed. Little surprise that it's the dancefloor that disciplines their humour - "Shelton's on a Bender" and "Moon Jocks/Moonstruck" are easily their best. Still, I know you're not too fussed with the scores, but I felt a bit sorry for them when I saw the 6.7 score.

i didn't think it was that different from their usual. they're always a bit much for me.

Moon Jocks n Prog Rocks is such a jam.

too bad the middle of the album is so reminiscent of the bad moments on the recent Aeroplane LP.

6.7 was actually me being a bit generous really - that's better than 3 stars out of 5 and I feel it's basically a 3 star record.

Given that their Ronny & Renzo and Mari Boine remixes are IMO their best prior works (and "Clairvoyage" one of the worst i'm afraid - sorry dominique!) someone in their camp should have been able to foresee the consequences of a headlong rush into muppets territory and warned them off.

I said elsewhere (before the album came out) that what I wanted from their album was something akin to Gus Gus' expansive live performances of "Believe", and now I see it as a bit of a missed opportunity in that regard.

Hah, in a logical world 6.7 is better than 3 stars (which is about right), in Pitchfork "grade inflation" land it's 1.5-2 stars. Still it's a good review (ie it summed up/pointed out my feelings). The grade bit only came up because I was listening to Morgan Geist's BIS mix - where's he's still bitter (in a semi-joking manner) at Pitchfork's 6 rating for Double Night Time from three years ago. Incidentally, his latest Storm Queen release (at 58 minutes in) is typically ace.

Ah well, back to waiting for Horror Inc's album. If only I'd heard something since Akufen's interview with RA. Or somebody would upload his live set from Mutek.

TBH I think 8 points on Pitchfork really does mean 4 stars, it's just that the reviewer likes the record more than they should perhaps!

Really the entire review is window dressing around my ultimate 2001: A Space Odyssey vs Mork & Mindy comparison.

There are worse reasons to write a review.

They are top-drawer producers but really awful songwriters, too bad at writing songs to justify all the irritating titting around.

I don't even like the vocals on Moon Jocks very much. They're at the best when the silly vocals are merely punctuation - eg Creepy and most of their remixes.

Or no silly voices at all even.

That too.

Keepers here = opening track, Shelton's On A Bender, maybe Moon Jocks. The last two tracks are great when they're great and hugely irritating the rest of the time and I'm not sure I can be bothered to sit through the irritating bits.

I think it works on "Moon Rocks" just because the arrangement is so massive.

Whereas to add insult to injury the tracks on the album to feature the worst silly voices are also musically the most straightforward and conservative they've sounded.

"Bella Lanay" may be the most irritating song on there but "We R The Shining" is the one that sounds like they just couldn't be bothered really.

Nothing wrong with "Moonstruck" IMO (though totally correct re "Smoke N Mirrors"). I go back and forth on "Ties N Downs", sometimes I think it sounds great, sometimes it annoys me a bit.

not picked this one up.

crap cover art + mention of more of those excessive silly voices seems to have backed up my concerns ..

It's a solid album but nothing really jumps out at me like their previous efforts. I've listened to it several times in the car the last few weeks and then I put We Gave It All Away... on and it was on a whole other level.

Best track is Moon Jocks which is a shame as that one's about 3 years old.

The Canyons album, besides being very very good, acts as an interesting counterpart to Schlungs: same influences, a lot of the same sounds even, a certain will-to-perversity also, but instead of munchkin vocals all the slightly idiosyncratic vocals could be taken from old records, and all the others are sorta indie (at times it gets a bit Destroyer). It's sort of the album MSJ might make if they went down the more serious route of some of their best remixes (though not as good as an album entirely at the level of "Big Smack & Flies" and "It Ain't Necessarily Evil" would be).

Full speed ahead, new album already?! May 2012

Moody balearic trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7o4fdsJPgI&feature=youtu.be

More details http://www.residentadvisor.net/news.aspx?id=16816

Definitely sounds more like what people want: back off from the humour, emphasis lushness and the dancefloor.

That sounds better.

this is good!!!!!!!!

Haha I came here to post just that. The album is sounding excellent on first listen.

It's really like the flipside to Schlungs - only one ostentatious vocal track and even that is very "deep" in the MJS sense (as opposed to, like, deep house).

If Schlungs took the blueprint of the Ost & Kjex and Dominique Leone remixes often to excess, basically everything here takes its cues and builds on the more serious/spacey but dancefloor friendly side of their sound established by the Mari Boine and Ronny & Renzo and Lulu Rouge remixes.

The last track is massive, like a tribal "Mandarine Girl".

^^ can't wait to hear this...

i've been playing toccata non-stop since first listen, so really can't wait for the album

well this sounds very exciting.. can't wait to hear it!!

aghh this sounds incredible / is incredible based on the one song i have actually heard

So it sounds like they've finally stopped dicking round with annoying Muppet voices and made the album they're actually capable of?

I'm getting caught up in the excitement for this. Toccata is delightful.

Good to hear...

does the free download on their site work for everyone else?

http://www.mungolian.com/well_of_souls/freestuff.php

i've tried about a dozen times but i can't get the download to complete for some reason. sounds intriguing though: Jaga Jazzist vs Mungolian Jet Set - "Kitty Wü" - a special edit of their "Sketches of Spain" version

worked for me, here's a mediafire link: http://www.mediafire.com/?aq07m79fb0pi3f0

thanks, guess i just need a new media player

for half a second skip, i thought you were posting a link to the album and then i woke up and realized you were posting that free song from their website.

If I had a criticism of this album it would be that, as compared to the majesty of its three peaks - "Toccata", the massive house anthem mid-section of "Smells Like Gasoline" (which then unexpectedly subsides into a final arc that sounds like MRI), the enormous closer "The Dark Incal" - the rest can sound a bit diffuse, always gorgeously produced but unexpectedly reluctant to go for the jugular.

But it's lovely listening and I think the three peaks are probably sufficient.

This sounds pretty amazing... and MRI isn't a group I've heard thrown around a lot in the last few years.

streaming here

a new track that is.

An exclusive Mungolian mix? Max, you card:

http://gawker.com/5934742/trax-read-listen-to-an-exclusive-mungolian-jetset-mix

^^ with link to a spin 'mungodelics' stream. bless.

balearic bloggin for the gawker massive

loving this mix ..

the album proper reminds me a lot of yello.

will definitely be picking the new up after the misstep of the previous one.

Really like this. Sounds a lot like Big Smack and Flies from We Gave It Away, or else the remix they did of Lulu Rouge's Melankoli, but the sound and scope are bigger, and the whole thing seems more focussed and ambitious. Smells Like Gasoline in particular builds up in huge rushes, like I Feel Space or In White Rooms, even while being overstuffed with homespun squelches and little details. Great track.

When is this out?

Next week. You can stream the whole thing here: http://www.spin.com/articles/stream-mungolian-jetsets-moody-melancholy-mungodelics

My take:

http://www.pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/16942-mungodelics/

^^ when i saw the 7.1 I thought it was low, even tho i only listened to the album twice on streaming. but reading the whole review it all makes sense and reflects what you said upwards in this thread in a perfect way.

so far, the only track in the album i could do without is 'people on strong stuff' - especially because of those vocals. maybe 'revolving door' goes the same path with repeated listens.

obv, and as you pointed out the 3 highlights are way ahead of the rest...

I'm trying to keep my ratings down generally.

In retrospect I gave Schlungs too high a score (6.7, I think) out of sympathy, and the only thing that feels wrong to me about giving Mungodelics a 7.1 is it understates how much better this is.

Loving this - even the long dark tunnel bits where not much happens work well because their sound design is so great. I suppose that's one facet of their work that gets lost when they go for all out Muppet maximalism.

Loving this - even the long dark tunnel bits where not much happens work well because their sound design is so great.

yes, exactly... their albums are most effective when they let themselves get creative (up to a point) with the tracks that function as interludes. You find yourself getting sucked into the 'dark tunnel' and then all of a sudden it seems to have morphed into something more maximalist and dancey. I love listening to Beauty Came To Us In Stone in the car.

the last track on this album is SO GODDAMNED GOOD

"Finally the Mungodelics vinyl is here, and she's a beauty. Should already be in shops now. This is a slightly different version than the CD. Some tracks are mixed and it´s close to 15 minutes longer."

Sounds interesting. Usually it's the CD version that's mixed/longer.

holy shit 'dark incal' & 'smells like gasoline' ....holy shit

New track:

https://soundcloud.com/mungmusic/frisco-speedhall-original-mix

Had missed their remix of Beijing group Nova Heart's "Beautiful Boys":
http://site.douban.com/NovaHeart/room/821103/

Out next month:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/11079519_10152819617018981_7472910358748339233_n.jpg?oh=900c9650682a598811a51e7af80474bc&oe=557859E3&__gda__=1437887477_4177e6f3139ecb9bacdf21baddc4fe7f

A1. Alfonso Muskedunder (Deetron Remix)
A2. Alfonso Muskedunder (Bullion Remix)
B1. Alfonso Muskedunder (Mungolian Jetset Remix)
B2. Alfonso Muskedunder (Mungolian Vs Tangoterje Dub)

New music!

https://soundcloud.com/smalltownsupersound/mungolian-jetset-quintessential-trips-to-bergen

great groove. I like the slower tempo.

And hey, I got to interview them briefly about it all. Full EP stream too.

http://www.factmag.com/2016/03/31/mungolian-jetset-a-city-so-convenient-stream-interview/

unable to search for this crew now on amazon.
corrects to Mongolian.
checked in both Edge and Chrome - same result.

did they ever better the 2cd mixtape/remix thing ?

it seems not.

had no idea this existed or that they'd done any recent remix work. it's glorious though! just like old times. i immediately assumed it was something from ages ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Umqbg1PVVfY

https://open.spotify.com/track/7zr4IGEr7ZPT7j1Dtwftlc?si=f7555105435a4572

New tune!

https://soundcloud.com/mungmusic/mungolian-jetset-tablahell-jam-3dit

I was listening to the pine walk tapes (a michael fierman mix to be specific) and heard this song and was like, wow that's where the "Creepy" hook came from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NakFom64MuA

Thread revive prompted me to read my old pitchfork reviews of MJS releases and I was like “wow… otm”

agreed