Posted on 06/14/2005

 

Lex Records has always come out with some eclectic sounds: sometimes hip hop, sometimes electronica, and sometimes a mixture of both, which ends up sounding nothing like you expected. Case in point: Fog. A very basic name for an artist (Fog is the one-name band from the one-man mind of Andrew Broder), who makes some very complex music with the elements presented.

If N*E*R*D were a bit more multifarious, with the sensibilities of Tricky and Martina Topley-Bird, you might come very close to what Fog is trying to convey. 10th Avenue Freakout (a backhanded homage to Bruce Springsteen's "10th Avenue Freeze-out") sounds as chaotic and dark as the title suggests: folk songs in an electronic-driven world where the only answer to your calls is the static from a plug socket.

It's a solo project where all sounds generate from one source, so upon listening, there's a lot more freedom heard in his vocals and music than there might be in a band setting or even as a duo. Emulating Springsteen, Fog's lyrical world isn't about making poignant statements with each line, but rather he's a storyteller who wants to take time to tell those stories, as he does in "The Rabbit":

You know what they say about doing laundry on your birthday.

The salt stain on your jacket, from brushing against the car.

Birch trees in the snow, stand there in a row,

Stately and quiet, beautifully explaining.

And if I ever got it, I'd puncture the lucky planet,

And suck out all the magma, and I'd be paid to suck it.

And as for today, I've had sneezes with much more to say.

And tiny little novels, and every fleck of snot,

Drops well in the snow, break lights in a row.

Everybody coming up with ideas for a commercials.

And if I ever saw you, and pretended not to see you,

I'm wholly wholly sorry, I just didn't want to see you.

In the background, one hears a simple guitar melody played over a drum pattern. Yet in the distance you hear someone plugging in an amplifier, not quite getting it in. It sounds wrong (or technically wrong), but it brings an anticipation of what may be coming. It finally arrives, with the volume rising, delivering a fierce rock song. But the next track might be a spoken-word performance over manipulated cassette samples.

On an album which proudly states "Jesus Christ is my American Idol/He's the brand new Funky President" (from "We're Winning"), 10th Avenue Freakout is anything but predictable, and it's anything but a calm listen. It does require a concentrated listen, because not only do Fog's lyrics deserve attention, but the music is haphazard and beautiful at the same time, sort of a Beck meets Jan Jelinek. In other words, adventurous from start to finish, and not for those who follow a verse/chorus/verse formula by habit.