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Fog and
Ocean: Self-Titled
The lilting combination of Kellys soft voice and the hauntingly morose vocals seem to hang above the listener in a space that is far removed from the confines of the conscious mind. It is as if you are lifted up in a hot air balloon, overlooking a collision between two characters on the street. All of a sudden, you are soaring high above the thoughts of a twee boy, who saunters into the scene with a mechanical gait as he runs into a girl wearing all black. She is carrying a studded purse with a small Joy Division badge that she stole from her sister Isobels vanity last year when she left for college. She represents the gloomy element of the album, which always walks a precarious line between the bipolar thoughts associated with happiness and sadness. One of the songs on the album sounds much like the Magnetic Fields song Smoke and Mirrors, now steadily blaring from her headset as she snaps out of her somnambular trance in time to dodge the contently aloof boy. The crisp drone of the drum machine keeps her moving as her body sways, carefully avoiding the oil puddle left by a burgundy station wagon. She stops short of its murky shore, gazing down at her shoes as she lets the headset fall onto the nape of her neck. She pauses to contemplate her fragile reflection in the puddle as it bleeds into a fresh reservoir of water made by a weeping cloud perched on the dusk skyline: the non-conventional, remotely dissonant vocals pump resonant signals through her ears into sparse areas of the brain that have yet to form new synapses. She turns the corner. Bright Lights illuminate the exterior of the white dome encompassing the giant planetarium, now empty. The electronic quality of the Roland TR808 has an element of lo-fi grandeur one would expect from such a place. From a car radio, she hears some Luddite talking about analogue synthesizers and the death of punk rock. A smile from within forms two crests at her dimples as she turns up the volume on her Discman. This album is truly impressive. Although some have debated whether or not this record has kept true to the philosophy or aesthetic of electro-clash, I highly recommend purchasing this album for the simple fact that it represents something different and refreshing. It has the capacity to keep your body poised and upright while leaving your mind to contemplate the soft whispers of lackluster confidence. All this is accomplished without going the route of the emotionally volatile emo bands whose shouts on the airwaves have the tendency to force the individual to overlook the sheer power of passion communicated through a softer medium: the fragilely quiet and disturbingly brooding mind. Bravo. The debut album from the lachrymosely twee super group, Fog and Ocean, features Kelly (Architecture In Helsinki and the Lucksmiths), David Nichols (Huon, Cannanes, Crabstick, Blairmailer), Jen Turrell, Stewart Anderson (Boyracer), Andrew Withycombe (Cats Miaow, Huon, Hydroplane) and Greg Wadley (New Waver).
This album can be purchased at 555 Recordings About LOTD Contact/Staff Advertise Home All content © LEFT OFF THE DIAL 2001-2005. All rights reserved. |
