Mother's Daughter And Other Songs
The Age
Friday April 7, 2006
CD REVIEW: Mother's Daughter and Other Songs Tunng (Static Caravan/Feral Media)****
The concept of "folktronica" has long been an uncomfortable one. An uber-chic expression denoting the merging of acoustic and folk samples with electronic music, it has proved an unnecessary classification for a very limited sub-genre. That said, there isn't a better way to describe Mother's Daughter and Other Songs, the astonishing debut album by British duo Mike Lindsay and Sam Genders, aka Tunng. Genders, an acoustic singer-songwriter, and Lindsay, an experimental sound designer, build a wondrous sound world of pastoral nuances, organic instrumentation and electronic rhythm-craft. Finger-picked guitars and jangling banjos glow amid a sea of clicks, pops and textures of utmost subtlety. Beautiful and Light, Tale from Black and Song of the Sea are crucial cuts, with Lindsay's orchestra of electronic intonations colouring Genders' stark vocals and skeletal guitar. Mother's Daughter is an engaging, affecting and remarkably developed debut - Genders and Lindsay meld deft old-world musical sensibilities with new-world production. This may just be the most genuine articulation of folktronica thus far. -- DAN RULE
© 2006 The Age