Is there a song more quintessentially 2002 than “Green Grass of Tunnel” by múm? Probably, but for my purposes – and given the other options – let’s say no. Sigur Rós had just recently introduced the otherworldly sounds of Iceland to the masses, and the appetite for more music of possible/probably Elfin origin was quite high, so another band that managed to tap into that same cosmos of sound while utilizing the de rigueur electronic glitchiness of the day – and fronted by a pair of identical twins who sang like children who knew the secrets of the ages in Gyda and Kristin Anna Valtysdottir – were bound to succeed. And indeed, their 2002 album Finally We Are No One was a beautiful record, sounding both timeless and perfectly fashionable. Lineup changes and creative restlessness would take the band elsewhere on subsequent releases, but this album – and this song in particular – are nearly perfect.

Of course, the audio in the very old and not remastered video is not the best so if you just want to hear and not see, here’s a high-res embed of such.

Well-shot video from 20 years isn’t in very good supply, but there’s this clip of them performing the song in September 2003 in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan at LIQUIDROOM that’s quite lovely.

This clip comes from December 2015 at Yugong Yishan in Beijing, China, one of only a very few shows they played that year. I’m having trouble keeping up with collective’s lineup changes and I certainly thought both Valtýsdóttir sisters were long gone from the band, but whoever is singing here is doing a marvellous job.

And it’s just a single cover so this barely fits in the “iterations” category, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out the version done by (British) Sea Power as a b-side to “It Ended On A Oily Stage” circa 2005’s Open Season.