Mungolian Jet Set

Mungolian Jet Set^a is a Norwegian electronic music duo consisting of DJ and turntablist Pål "Strangefruit" Nyhus and producer Knut Sævik.

Mythology

The group have also created a kind of personal mythology, reminiscent of George Clinton's Funkadelic and Parliament, some of which has been used in their recordings, sleevenotes and website. This includes a fabricated mythical language they call "Mung Su", various characters including a linguist named Ronald P. Hardaker, an allegedly ancient order of Knights called "The Knights of Jumungus", and numerous others based on occasional collaborators.

On their website they have also initiated a Halo 3 Clan under the moniker of "The Noble Order of The Knights Of Jumungus" in order to perform battle reenactments from the artificial history of the Mungolians.

They also have an alleged "Mungolian" providing them with a blog ("The Homunculus"), which is usually critical in tone of humanity and its pastimes, culture and various social and political machinations. In contrast, they also have a character named "The Dhaqwaan of Po-Lonte" who acts as official bard, scattering epigrams and short poems throughout their website and sleevenotes, as well as contributing "special poetry" to the track "Y Lentokone Mungo" on their second album, "We Gave It All Away... Now We Are Taking It Back". This poetry previously appeared as an untranslated sleevenote on their first album (which they often refer to as their "difficult third album", an asynchronous anomaly their mythology attributes to DJ Strangefruit's ability to bend time through the use of his turntables), "Beauty Came To Us In Stone." No translation of this text has yet been supplied, although they collectively maintain there is one in existence.

Occasionally, mention is made of a "mad Irish writer" who collaborates with them. Credits on their second album suggest this writer may be named "Dave Mullan," but as no confirmation or denial has been issued by either the band or the writer, this cannot be stated with certainty.

Cover Artwork

The artwork of their second album and many of the releases of DJ Strangefruit's own record label, Luna Flicks, was created by Suzie Webb, an English ex-patriot artist and designer living in Oslo, Norway.

Beauty Came To Us In Stone

This album is a collective effort, guided by Pål Nyhus and Reidar Skaar primarily, with some contributions from Knut Sævik. Initially a commissioned jazz album for Bugge Wesseltoft's Jazzland Recordings label, it soon evolved from the tribute to electric era Miles Davis it was intended to be into a densely woven pastiche of innumerable elements.

We Gave It All Away ... Now We Are Taking It Back

Their second album moved away from the Jazz-based sound of its predecessor, and saw Knut Sævik take a leading role in the group, effectively replacing Reidar Skaar. The more club-oriented sound also meant the band moved from Jazzland Recordings to Smalltown Supersound, a label whose roster and aesthetic seemed to be a better home for the Psychedelic Disco music they were aiming to create. The album consists of a few original tracks interspersed with tracks that began as remixes of others, but were remixed a second or even third time to create a more consistent sound. The album covers two CD disks with 8 tracks per disk, and each disk timed at 59 minutes and 15 seconds.

Work In Progress

Currently, the band are working on a third album, as yet untitled. Early reports suggest it will be closer to pop music than the more freeform music they have previously made. The band have stated on their official Facebook page that the new album may be entitled "Cowells and Cowbells" or "Dhaqwaans and Deepwoods". How serious these titles are remains to be seen. A single has been scheduled for release in May 2010, entitled "Moon Jocks 'n' Prog Rocks". In keeping with their singles release policy, this will be vinyl only, with cover art once again provided by Suzie Webb. The B-Side, entitled "Moonstruck" is a remix of the A-Side, but with a greater emphasis on Progressive Rock elements. Also rumoured for the album are tracks with such titles as "Schtum", "Tie You Down", "Bella Lanay", and "Too Greasy For A Dancefloor, Too Big To Be A Face". Again, these may be jokes put forward by the band themselves, as they often refuse to be pinned down to a commitment until the album is around 95% complete.

Discography

• Beauty Came to Us in Stone (2006)
• We Gave It All Away... Now We Are Taking It Back (2009)
• Schlungs (2011)

Notes

a.^ The group often alternates between using a space ("Jet Set") and omitting one ("Jetset").

External links

• Official site