The Wake

With three records out on celebrated dance and DJ label Ninja Tune and an upcoming release on Lex Records, a sub-label of Warp Records, St. Louis Park native Andrew Broder, and his acclaimed five piece live ensemble, Fog, has an excellent track record. The newest Fog album, “10th Avenue Freakout,” is slated for a March 22nd U.S. release. You can catch the release party on March 18th at the 7th Street Entry. I stopped by Hymie’s Vintage Records, where Broder works, to chat about the new record, his previous projects and the Twin Cities scene.

“I think I just got burnt out of everything sounding gelatinous and amorphous,” says Broder about his previous work. Broder says the new record is, “a lot more arranged. I think it’s a function of getting older and being better at articulating what you want to hear.” Previous Fog records are mostly spaced out conglomerations of lo-fi, folk guitars, and whatever Broder could get his hands on. As he explains, “before everything kind of felt like it was luck or something…or being a weird kid stumbling around in the dark and getting lucky. The new record is a lot more grown-up.” The “grown-up” feel may be attributed to the technical changes he went through in making the new record. First, it was arranged on a computer, which Broder says “made a big difference.” “I could be more concise editing.” Also, local-laptop musician, Huntley Miller, appears on five tracks, lending his style of concise beats and grooves to Broder’s loose vocal arrangements. All this change from thick and dense to clear and concise may disappoint Fog fans that embrace the sloppy DIY feel of Broder’s previous work, but don’t let my words get in the way of opening up your ears.

Check out an mp3 from the new record at www.lexrecords.com.