FUGU AND THE COSMIC MUMU

Oslo / Over

7” vinyl, rasprechs

Among the various reasons I like this little seven inch a lot, the fact that it leaves a lot more questions open than it answers is right there at the top. Another one is that it seems to be a side-project of Bulbul, but refer to aforementioned reason for further information. With clear intention and in rather compact form (as nesseciated by the format) FATCM lay down two nice tracks of avantrock that is free of all boundaries and therefore likes to make up a few rules of its own, thereby resulting in their own “jungleland”, if you get my drift.

My faible for obscure little seven inches is well known, be they from some weird organist from the Netherlands called Harry Merry, some unknown ambient noise drone project on Drone records or some futurist hitsingle-singer called Inox Kapell. My passion for the music of Bulbul is well documented as well (by me myself of course) and that I am still of the opinion of Bulbul being one of the most important bands to ever come from Austria is also quite well known. If the people of Bulbul now get together with some other people to record a little record under a new moniker in a minimal edition and amidst a plethora of obscurity, enigmas and hybrid jokes, it is an easy guess that I would get all sweaty trying to get my hands on such a little gem. Well, it was well worth it. From the unique, handdrawn covers to the music pressed into the eternal transparent plastic (to add a little record collector scum stuff: I think this is some lathe cut), I have so much joy and pride in this seven inch single, I get embarrased even admitting it to myself.

There is of course a story to Fugu and the Cosmic Mumu, which I have either slept through, completely forgotten or never really understood. It could be a part an ongoing series of improvised concerts or DJ-sets or radioshows in a band context or just a side-project of another project, but who cares? I know that Fredl, guitarist and mastermind of Bulbul, is involved and that is enough for me to begin with. Yeah, my journalistic qualities are close to nil and going down rapidly, but the quorum quid quo and ubique’s have never been as important to me as what I get to here when I drop the needle into the groove. And as far as that is concerned, Fugu ATCM present more on two small sides of a vinyl single than other bands do on a whole record (or in their whole lifetime, come to think of it.) But the originality and overflowing with ideas and creativity within the noise-rock-context as well as the constant perforating and deconstructing of that context have always been the most important parts of Bulbul to me.

Side one, or at least what I consider to be side one, starts with some eastern ethno tunes helped out with some free jazzing trumpet in the back. The vocals could either be some Scandinavian language as well or free ad libbing, which in sum starts the effect of an eastern avantgarde punk band playing and old folk tune. That is, before the sampler sets in, breaks up the song big time and opens up for some big assed wall of noise guitar, keyboard-boom and a texmex-trumpet on acid. The other side, aptly called “over”, is a gnarly guitarstring strumming ode to various figures of children’s stories. Even if the words are quite clearly distinguishable here, the sense remains obscure again. But the nice little melody(s) that make up this finde ditty is a truly new step for Bulbul and it is being toyed around with in an almost classic manner of fugue and reconstruction (see Bach for further studies).

Evidently more than another collector’s piece, maybe it is the “Cosmic Art of The Fugue” as explained for electric guitar and a bunch of friends? Or still just a little aside from the world of Bulbul?

www.rapsrechs.com

8/2005