Yep Roc/Full Time Hobby
Subtlety has always been the name of the game for this faux-Japanese duo — its lineup actually includes four British blokes — yet the fourth album Ventriloquizzing finds the electro-pop group stripping down its sonic ideas to the point of scarcely qualifying as songs. As always the influence of Krautrock legends Can and Neu! is front and centre with minimalist grooves providing the backdrop for singer David Best’s whispered lyrics here little more than the song titles repeated ad infinitum.
It may be lacking in anything that could be described as adventurous yet the album’s surface level remains as easy on the ears as F & M’s past three long-players. Put it on in the background of any party and you’ll surely see heads nodding. Closer scrutiny is where Ventriloquizzing loses points worst exemplified by lazy refrains like “You change your mind when the wind blows/You go up and go down like a yoyo” (“Yoyo”). It has clever tricks here and there but on the whole this is music for dummies.
