Beautiful, mystical IDM
Greg Retro | San Francisco, California | 02/13/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Obscure band, strange name, amazing music.
Deepfried Toguma are the trio of Danish producers Frithjof Toksvig and Martin Lind, along with Morrocan vocalist El Dub.
Their very rare debut cd "Subtic" was good, but a bit too heavy on the vocals, in my opinion.
"Hi-Fi Companion" does not suffer from that problem - the vocals are much more powerful because they are used sparingly...
DF combine electronics with those vocals plus occasional light electric guitar (somewhere between Vini Reilly and Daniel Lanois), to create a unique and somewhat undefineable sound.
The band has embraced a moniker of "funky-trip hop-ambient-world music-pop" - I can't do much better than that. The first track "Aquarius" is sublime and beautiful beyond words, and an amazing example of that perfect balance of vocals and instrumentation. The first 4 minutes of this song gently shimmer, with a filtered and slightly glitchy backing rhythm and occasional cries of guitar. After a short bridge (bearing a resemblance to FSOL's "Lifeforms") builds anticipation, the second half of the song kicks in with a simple but beautiful guitar lick, and echoing vocals that suggest a muezzin calling the faithful to prayer on a distant planet. Rhythm builds... guitar soars... muezzin cries... and then the track fades, leaving me with goosebumps on top of goosebumps.
This track alone is worth the price of admission.The rest of the first half of the album features more softly chugging IDM gems, with bits of vocal and reverbed guitar, an ambient piece with an evocative electric piano-ish melody over soft machine-like atmospherics, and then track 6 marks a change.
This track starts with soft vocals over a slow beat... almost trip-hoppy. Into an ambient bridge... and then into a frantic drum-n-bass beat. Distorted vocals come back in... and everyone gets down. The next 2 tracks are similarly uptempo, and the album closes with a reflective ambient melody that gently takes the listener back into the real world.
Not every track has the same effect on me as track 1 (track 8 is my least favorite), but with the first track being such a beautiful monster - anything short of 5 stars would be a crime.
IDM aficionados: you MUST have this cd."
