Ditherer
by Fog

Album details

US: 14 August 2007 on Lex
UK: 13 August 2007 on Lex

Fog’s first release in two years marks the outfit’s transititon from Andrew Broder solo project to trio, with drummer Tim Glenn and bassist Mark Erickson joining the lineup. Why?, Andrew Bird, and members of Low and Mt. Eerie guest.

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The critical consensus

Fog started as a low-fi bedroom-indie-rock-meets-hip-hop project for Andrew Broder, and has certainly evolved its sound over the years, but never quite so drastically. How would the critics react?

BBC Collective definitely likes the new full-band version of Fog. Not only do they hear an "invigorating experimental rock album," they also share the best news of all: "It’s brilliant." The Stranger, too, likes the album, but notes that the band format actually pushes Broder’s evolving sound closer to "classic rock" (well, as close as Fog can get), or at least somethingn that "veers into basement-level reverberations of acid-fried ’70s rock." Treble, in fact, comes right out and says that now, "they’re a rock band." And Ditherer? It’s "one of the most surprisingly enjoyable, aside from just plain surprising, rock albums in 2007." Count Exclaim! as another supporter of the transition to rock band, saying that "Fog have taken a substantial risk. Thankfully, it has paid off big time" with a "complex piece of pop." Tiny Mix Tapes concludes that the result is "a sound that revels in rock’s limitations while working to redefine them," while an impressed Crawdaddy! simply calls the new sound "a revelation." And PopMatters calls it "a superbly crafted offbeat pop record, possibly this year’s most thrilling blend of lyrical seriousness, harmonic nuance, cleverness and fun."

Under The Radar says that while the means may be different, the end result is the same: "the usual confounding but hook-laden cacophony." While Prefix suggests that Broder needs to keep some of his "zaniness" in check, on the whole, "Ditherer is a lot of great noise from a small band with big talent." Village Voice finds the emphasis on noise both "frustrating and titillating," but concludes that the album is "another solid addition to a sadly unheralded catalog." Uncut, however, is certainly not a fan of Fog Mk. II, discounting Ditherer for a lack of melodies that renders it "college-rock wallpaper–and pretty boring wallpaper at that."

Run through his personal echo chamber, Broder’s influences—whether hiphop or folk or heavy metal—become obscured and enveloped, faintly familiar but unmistakably Fog.

- Eric Grandy, The Stranger

Review roundup

Tracklisting and media

1. We Will Have Vanished
2. Inflatable Ape
3. I Have Been Wronged
4. Hallelujah Daddy
5. What Gives
6. You Did What You Thought
7. Last I Knew Of You
8. Ditherer
9. Your Beef Is Mine
10. On The Gallows
11. What’s Up Freaks

Also on the web

• Official Artist Site
• Fog @ MySpace