Those who’ve already »liked« Mux Mool on Facebook know: the musician from New York an unpretentious cynic. He’s having eccentric »conversations« with sexbots, knows his way around in the world of internet-memes and portrays the live of an artist as a tiring daily grind between quick dinners and air-miles. A funny dude, that Mux is. Hence, it’s quite a disappointment to hear that his new LP for Ghostly International sounds almost conservative. It’s strict beat-making that’s presented on Planet High School: The drums are where they’re supposed to be, the vocal-loops are somewhat hypnotizing and the chimes and xylophones garnish it all neatly. Does that ring a bell to you? Yeah, it did for me, too. Two years ago, this might have turned me on, but then again, the two following years were marked by a felt wonky-overkill. Planet High School is not a screwed up album – it’s just a little late. It’s especially a shame, since the album-highlight, Live At 7-11, proves that Mux could easily outflank all the Samiyams & co. At first, the tune dowses and drowses along, then the drums start sprinting stertorously by every trick in the box, making the bass calling for some modesty, which the drums find a bit silly so that they start running even faster. Those are some proper changes of tempo and shifts of harmonies, oh my days! A little more of those and Planet High School wouldn’t just have been yet another wonky-album – this way, unfortunately, it is.
Planet High School
