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KIR 015CD
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Since the release of his second album Eleven (KIR 012CD) in 2012 ("Stunning" --Dazed & Confused, "Brilliant" --NME), Mr Fogg has continued to tread an unconventional path. In 2014 he spent several months working behind the scenes on the development of Thom Yorke's BitTorrent experiment, recorded a duet with the singing comet 67P, and unveiled a previously unheard collaboration with Under the Skin (2013) soundtrack composer Micachu. Youth -- a response to the death of his father in 2012 -- is a departure from the electronic wizardry of Fogg's previous two studio albums, drawing almost entirely on natural instrumentation, spaces, and sounds. String quartet, flugelhorn, and organ are translated faithfully onto record from a series of churches and found spaces and embellished by the rhythms of timpani and tuning forks. At its core, however, this is an album that puts its faith in bold, expansive songwriting. First single "Time to Ascend" ("Joyous... Incredibly emotive" --Clash) is a statement of intent for an album that ducks the sonic arms race of the electronic music scene in order to concentrate on melody, harmony, and emotion. It is a track that draws its power from the raw energy of the orchestra, with timpani, trumpet, and church organ lending their weight to an intricate construction of harp, grand piano, and tuning forks. Above the drama, Fogg's soaring voice weaves a melody of hopeful, melancholic beauty. Mr Fogg is the grandson of an opera singer and the great-grandson of two 19th-century music hall performers. His first two albums, Moving Parts (2010) and Eleven (2012), both co-produced by Valgeir Sigurðsson (Björk, Feist, Damon Albarn), saw him spring a full marching band on the audiences of Reading and Leeds festivals, collaborate with the controversial film director Tony Kaye (American History X (1998)), take over Trafalgar Square for a one-shot music video, and perform 40 times in three days in his pop-up Fogg Shop.
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CD
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KIR 012CD
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UK electronic musician Mr Fogg returns in 2012 with his second full-length, the follow-up to 2010's debut Moving Parts. That record saw him shooting a self-directed video live in Trafalgar Square, performing on the hour every hour for four days in his pop-up Fogg Shop, and springing a full marching band on audiences at Reading and Leeds festivals. So, when he sat down in January 2011 to write the music that would make up his second album, Fogg didn't take the easy route. Instead, he set himself the target of writing and recording 20 new songs in five months. This new approach saw field recordings of improvised rhythms, melodies and lyrics reconstructed and brought to life in Fogg's Oxford studio, before the finishing touches were added during three trips to Valgeir Sigurðsson's (Björk, Feist, múm, Maps, Bonnie "Prince" Billy) Greenhouse Studios in Reykjavik. The result is an album that sees piano, strings, brass and organ breathe life into precise, intricate and sometimes brutal electronics. And -- crucially -- the artist's distinctive, emotive voice ensures that this is electronic music with a human, beating heart.
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