Mum - The Peel Session

Mum are a truly special band, in all the euphemistic senses of that word. Their zonked-out electro-folk - before it was thinly redrafted by the likes of Manitoba, Cornelius, and of course, FourTet - was unique in its mixture of live instrumentation, synthetic rhythms and 'otherworldy' soundscapes. There's a childish playfulness about these live tracks, recorded on a 2002 Peel show and taken from earlier albums. 'Awoke on a Train' and 'Now There is that Fear Again' both make use of delightfully lilting, Sigur Ros-inspiring wails, and the electric interference of the latter's cello sounds like a Fisher Price my-first-drum-and-bass set. The artwork is a fantastic accompaniment to the package, all David Shrigley-esque scribbled animals, with treacherous details like teeth and genitals to ambush reveries. The Peel Session is an interesting snapshot of their earlier material and a pleasant appetizer for their forthcoming album. This is the soundtrack to 6am stargazing. [Liam Arnold]