From the first minute of "Montage," the opening track to Larsen’s latest collection of outtakes and unreleased material, the listener gets the feeling that something special is going to happen. Musm II is a catalogue of various unused tracks spanning over ten years, and while their 2005 album, Play, is firmly rooted in the electronic side of things, this collection is a infinitely more melodic and compliant with the known post-rock staples of today. It sounds rather derogatory, but in this case it's a wonderful thing.

The album flows together from song to song so cohesively that it feels intentional, despite being a collection of tracks with little or no relation to one another. What makes this even more incredible is that Larsen can compile tracks from years apart, place them together, and form an album which makes a lot more sense than many of today's carbon-copy bands. Whereas the first four tracks are very repetitive and hypnotic, the real excitement starts with "Mentre (Alt. Mix)," a different version of the song from 2002’s Rever album. "Mentre" opens with a sort of restrained sonic boom that is very much reminiscent of Do Make Say Think’s less ambient moments. The fact that the same burst continues throughout the song is not a failing as such, but rather testament to a band who can continue to keep up the same melody without wavering, the kind of confidence and swagger rarely found in the genre. A haunting female vocalist is introduced, repeating a phrase in their native Italian tongue for the remainder of the song. 

Other tracks, like "Little Nemo,"  may give the impression of listening to a collection of random songs -- while they are predominantly beautiful and emotive, sometimes they could fit in better with each other. But then, we must remember that this indeed is a rather arbitrary collection of tracks, and judging it otherwise is never going to be fair. Meanwhile, "The Sinking Of The Lusitania" moves away from this and is a fantastic, building piece that crescendos from one repeated guitar note, adding drums, piano and synthesisers to become the kind of head-nodding, industrial-esque felicity that is rarely seen in instrumental music today.

For the most part, this is a wonderful release, and a very refreshing look at the band for fans. What's even more amazing is that as a standalone album, it is exemplary, despite its roots and obvious lack of flow in concept. What strikes me about this release is that it manages to display a whole range of influences from Jackie-O Motherfucker’s free-jazz freak-out to the calculated off-kilter melodies of Sickoakes or Joy Wants Eternity. Through repetitive melodies, and slowly building ambience Musm II manages to portray such confidence and quirkiness that's fit for multiple listenings, doing justice for Larsen's diversity and confidence.

-Barry Smethurst