Mungolian Jet Set is a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroa ...

duo consisting of DJ and

turntablist Turntablism is the art of manipulating sounds and creating new music, sound effects, mixes and other creative sounds and beats, typically by using two or more turntables and a cross fader-equipped DJ mixer. The mixer is plugged into a PA sys ...

Pål "Strangefruit" Nyhus and producer Knut Sævik.

Mythology

The group have also created a kind of personal

mythology Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narra ...

, reminiscent of George Clinton's

Funkadelic Funkadelic was an American funk rock band formed in Plainfield, New Jersey in 1968 and active until 1982. The band and its sister act Parliament, both led by George Clinton, pioneered the funk music culture of the 1970s.John, Bush. Funkade ...

and

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

, 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 ''Halo 3'' is a 2007 first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie for the Xbox 360 console. The third installment in the ''Halo'' franchise, the game concludes the story arc begun in 2001's '' Halo: Combat Evolved'' and continued in ...

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 A homunculus ( , , ; "little person") is a representation of a small human being, originally depicted as small statues made out of clay. Popularized in sixteenth-century alchemy and nineteenth-century fiction, it has historically referred to the ...

"), 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 An epigram is a brief, interesting, memorable, and sometimes surprising or satirical statement. The word is derived from the Greek "inscription" from "to write on, to inscribe", and the literary device has been employed for over two millen ...

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 " Beauty Came To Us In Stone", 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. 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 and third albums 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. The sleevenotes included on their most recent album, "Mungodelics", is presumably from the same source as the rest of their mythology, but as there is no accreditation, it remains uncertain.

Cover artwork

The artwork of their second and third albums ("We Gave It All Away ... Now We Are Taking It Back" and "Schlungs!") and many of the releases of DJ Strangefruit's own record label, Luna Flicks, was created by Suzie Webb, an English expatriate artist and designer living in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

. For their fourth album ("Mungodelics"), the cover was designed by

Kim Hiorthøy Kim Hiorthøy (born March 17, 1973) is a Norwegian electronic musician, graphic designer, illustrator, filmmaker and writer. Biography Hiorthøy was born and raised in Trondheim, Norway, and studied at the Trondheim Academy of Fine Art (1991–96 ...

, who has designed many of the album covers for the label

Smalltown Supersound Smalltown Supersound is an independent record label, founded in Flekkefjord in 1993 and now based in Oslo, Norway. It is dedicated to new forms of jazz, rock and electronic music. Their catalog features albums by Kelly Lee Owens, Deathprod, Ne ...

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 Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

album for

Bugge Wesseltoft Jens Christian Bugge Wesseltoft (born 1 February 1964) is a Norwegian jazz pianist, composer, and producer, son of jazz guitarist Erik Wesseltoft. Career In 1989, Wesseltoft collaborated with the Knut Riisnæs Quartet and was soon after ...

Jazzland Recordings Jazzland Recordings is a Norwegian jazz and improvised music label based in Oslo, Norway, often associated with nu jazz. It was founded in 1996 by pianist Bugge Wesseltoft to release his "New Conception of Jazz" and operate as a standalone label. ...

label, it soon evolved from the tribute to electric era

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of musi ...

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 Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

-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

, 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 CDs with 8 tracks per disk, and each disk timed at 59 minutes and 15 seconds.

Schlungs!

Their third album took a different approach from its predecessors in that some of the material had a distinct element of

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former descri ...

. While the psychedelic aspects were to the fore on some tracks, traditional disco played a major role, particularly in tracks such as "Bella Lanay", "We Are The Shining" (a commentary on the use of

Illuminati The Illuminati (; plural of Latin ''illuminatus'', 'enlightened') is a name given to several groups, both real and fictitious. Historically, the name usually refers to the Bavarian Illuminati, an Enlightenment-era secret society founded on ...

imagery in mainstream pop), and "Ties n Downs". Critical opinion was sharply divided by these "lighter" moments, where, for example, Pitchfork said "Here, the music frequently scales down to more human dimensions, at which point the silliness starts to resemble that of real humans: flushed with an over-enthusiastic pleasure you can observe but not share, and at times a bit uncomfortable to be in the same room as". By contrast, Resident Advisor said "'Schlungs' scans more like the art-pop of 10cc's 'How Dare You' than an introverted journey like 'The Wall'. This is due in no small part to the inclusion of 'Bella Lenay'" ic However, the album was a commercial success, and paved the way for a rapid follow-up.

Mungodelics

The fourth album marked a return to the remix-revised/reclaimed aesthetic of their second album, this time adding some original pieces, and some pieces by spin-off project, The Knights Of Jumungus (originally a Halo Clan). The overall tone is heavier than releases since their debut for Jazzland Recordings. Reviews were generally positive, although some (e.g. exclaim.ca) felt that the band were repeating themselves. However, Allmusic.com said "Above all, Mungodelics practically bubbles with undisguised joy in the moment, a pleasure in activity, and the possibilities they explore" which is a common theme in most reviews.

Work in progress

The band are working on a fifth album, as yet untitled. The only information thus far available suggests that it will be a full studio album, containing some retro-thematic concepts that go far beyond the 60s/70s/80s references they have littered their work with, music that stretches their already expansive sampling and stylistic composing, and most indications suggest a heightened presence of the "excess" that has come to define them above all other considerations. The album will be a direct follow-on from "Schlungs" in the same way that "Mungodelics" followed "We Gave It All Away ... Now We Are Taking It Back".

Discography

*'' Beauty Came to Us in Stone'' (2006) *'' We Gave It All Away... Now We Are Taking It Back'' (2009) *'' Schlungs'' (2011) *'' Mungodelics'' (2012)

Notes

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

External links

Official site
Norwegian electronic music groups Norwegian dance music groups Club DJs Remixers Electronic music duos Musical groups with year of establishment missing Musical groups from Norway with local place of origin missing Jazzland Recordings (1997) artists {{authority control