Mug Museum
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}
{{Infobox album
| name = Mug Museum
| type = Album
| artist = Cate Le Bon
| cover = Cate Le Bon Mug Museum album cover.jpg
| alt =
| released = {{Start date|2013|11|12|df=y}}
| recorded = March 2013
| venue =
| studio = Seahorse Sound Studios (Los Angeles, California)
| genre = {{hlist|Indie rock|folk rock|psychedelic rock}}
| length = {{Duration|m=42|s=09}}
| label = {{hlist|Turnstile|Wichita}}
| producer = Noah Georgeson, Josiah Steinbrick
| prev_title = Cyrk II
| prev_year = 2012
| next_title = Crab Day
| next_year = 2016
| misc = {{Singles
| name = Mug Museum
| type = studio
| single1 = I Think I Knew
| single1date = 28 August 2013
| single2 = Are You with Me Now?
| single2date = 10 September 2013
}}
}}
Mug Museum is the third studio album by Welsh musician Cate Le Bon, released on 12 November 2013 by Turnstile Music and Wichita Recordings. It was produced by Noah Georgeson and Josiah Steinbrick and was recorded in Los Angeles shortly after Le Bon had relocated there from Wales. The album was generally praised by critics for its understated musical arrangements and lyrical content based on the theme of relationships, which was partially inspired by the recent death of Le Bon's grandmother. The track "I Think I Knew" features a duet between Le Bon and Perfume Genius.
Composition and recording
Mug Museum was recorded in Los Angeles in March 2013, shortly after Le Bon had relocated there from Wales. The album was produced by Noah Georgeson, known for his work with Joanna Newsom and Devendra Banhart, and Josiah Steinbrick. Le Bon's collaboration with Georgeson led to a more spare, stripped-down style compared to her previous work: "We realised that everything was sounding so good that there was this unwritten rule that things have to really deserve their place on the track to warrant being there."{{cite web | last=Whyte | first=Woodrow | title=DiS meets Cate Le Bon | url=http://drownedinsound.com/in_depth/4147086-dis-meets-cate-le-bon | work=Drowned in Sound | accessdate=20 January 2014 | date=20 November 2013 | archive-date=1 February 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201194804/http://drownedinsound.com/in_depth/4147086-dis-meets-cate-le-bon | url-status=dead }} Le Bon's other collaborators on the album included H. Hawkline, Sweet Baboo, Nick Murray, and Seattle recording artist Perfume Genius performing guest vocals on "I Think I Knew".
Le Bon described Mug Museum as a reaction to the recent death of her grandmother, stating "rather than it being a grief laden album it is more about what someone at the top of the female chain leaves behind and how there's a palpable shift in every relationship. I suppose when you start meditating on any relationship then others naturally fall into the fold. The Mug Museum is an imaginary place where relationships are looked at and thought upon."{{cite web | last=Perez | first=Christopher | title=An Interview with Cate Le Bon | url=http://www.bowlegsmusic.com/features/interviews/an-interview-with-cate-le-bon-33664 | publisher=Bowlegs Music | accessdate=20 January 2014 | date=14 November 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140204012547/http://www.bowlegsmusic.com/features/interviews/an-interview-with-cate-le-bon-33664 | archive-date=4 February 2014 | url-status=dead }} The title phrase "mug museum" was coined by a former roommate in reference to the accumulation of teacups in Le Bon's bedroom.{{cite web | last=Sweeney | first=Alisha | title=Interview: Cate Le Bon | url=http://www.cpr.org/openair/story/interview-cate-le-bon | publisher=Colorado Public Radio | accessdate=20 January 2014 | date=13 November 2013}}
Critical reception
{{Album reviews
| MC = 77/100{{cite web |url=https://www.metacritic.com/music/mug-museum/cate-le-bon |title=Mug Museum – Cate Le Bon |publisher=Metacritic. CBS Interactive |accessdate=30 December 2016}}
| rev1 = AllMusic
| rev1score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}{{cite web|last=Monger|first=James Christopher|title=Mug Museum – Cate Le Bon|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/mug-museum-mw0002578491|publisher=AllMusic|accessdate=19 January 2014}}
| rev2 = Consequence of Sound
| rev3 = NME
| rev3score = (8/10){{cite web|last=Hewitt|first=Ben|title=Cate Le Bon – 'Mug Museum'|url=https://www.nme.com/reviews/cate-le-bon--2/14924|work=NME|accessdate=20 January 2014|date=11 November 2013}}
| rev4 = Pitchfork Media
| rev5 = PopMatters
}}
Mug Museum received a positive response from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 77 based on 22 reviews, indicating a "generally favorable" reception.{{cite web | title=Mug Museum – Cate Le Bon | url=https://www.metacritic.com/music/mug-museum/cate-le-bon | publisher=Metacritic | accessdate=20 January 2014}} Bob Boilen, the host of NPR's All Songs Considered, compared the album to the work of Nico and Television and wrote that "it's already become one of my new best friends".{{cite web | last=Boilen | first=Bob | title=First Listen: Cate Le Bon, 'Mug Museum' | url=https://www.npr.org/2013/11/03/241921645/first-listen-cate-le-bon-mug-museum | publisher=NPR | accessdate=20 January 2014 | date=3 November 2013}} He later listed Mug Museum as one of his Top 20 albums of 2013.{{cite web | last=Boilen | first=Bob | title=Bob Boilen's Top 20 Albums of 2013 | url=https://www.npr.org/blogs/allsongs/2013/12/16/250753822/bob-boilens-top-20-albums-of-2013 | publisher=NPR | accessdate=20 January 2014 | date=16 December 2013}}
Writing for NME, Ben Hewitt called the album "wonderfully weird" and praised the stripped-down musical arrangements as well as Le Bon's songwriting. Jeremy Larson of Pitchfork expressed similar sentiments, describing "small, graceful songs with deceptive amounts of depth". He also praised Le Bon's vocal performance, writing "Sometimes she sounds like the shyest member of a folksy sylvan choir and other times she rears up and belts out a high soprano note at the climax of 'Duke.'" Brian Josephs of Consequence of Sound gave the album a negative review, writing that "Mug Museum lacks any sort of emotional dialogue with the listener".
Track listing
{{Track listing
| all_writing = Cate Le Bon
| headline = Side one
| title1 = I Can't Help You
| length1 = 4:00
| title2 = Are You with Me Now?
| length2 = 4:20
| title3 = Duke
| length3 = 3:49
| title4 = No God
| length4 = 4:38
| title5 = I Think I Knew
| length5 = 4:48
}}
{{Track listing
| headline = Side two
| title6 = Wild
| length6 = 3:28
| title7 = Sisters
| length7 = 4:05
| title8 = Mirror Me
| length8 = 3:48
| title9 = Cuckoo Through the Walls
| length9 = 5:29
| title10 = Mug Museum
| length10 = 3:44
| total_length = 42:09
}}
Personnel
Credits are adapted from the Mug Museum liner notes.{{cite AV media notes|title=Mug Museum|others=Cate Le Bon|year=2013|publisher=Turnstile Music|type=CD booklet}}
Musicians
- Cate Le Bon – vocals; guitar; percussion; piano; synthesizer; saxophone
- H. Hawkline – bass; guitar; organ
- Sweet Baboo – bass; clarinet; saxophone
- Nick Murray – drums
- Josiah Steinbrick – guitar; organ; percussion
- Perfume Genius – vocals
- Toko Yasuda – vocals
Production and artwork
- Noah Georgeson – producer; mixing
- Josiah Steinbrick – producer
- Samur Khouja – engineer
- Alex DeGroot – assistant engineer
- H. Hawkline – sleeve design
- Piper Ferguson – cover photo
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{Discogs master|622764}}
{{Cate Le Bon}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Albums produced by Noah Georgeson