Perhaps best known for their excellent ditty ‘Dinosaur Sex’, Family Fodder are back with excellent new LP Classical Music. We’re very pleased to present to you an exclusive stream of the record via Soundcloud, and also to publish a track-by-track run-through courtesy of FF mainman, Alig Fodder. You can read that after the embedded player, below:
‘Primeval Pony’
A deceptively simple contemporary nursery rhyme for Darlini’s deadpan vocal, electric piano and tape-delay. The original lyric addresses a lonely Dartmoor pony viewed from my bedroom window. The lyric was then rewritten for a forthcoming film about Pzrewalski’s Ponies in the exclusion zone around Chernobyl. There is a cover-version by Fodder collaborator, Mae Kart, called ‘My Circus Pony’. Watch out for the ethnomusicologist!
‘The Onliest Thing’
Droning ‘Cello and Contrebass drive along this startling and edgy lullaby. The hypnotic vocals dissolve into a touching chorus and then splinter into a fuzz-oud and drums middle eight. Music to make babies to. Literally.
‘Whatever happened to David Zé?’
A tribute to the Angolan singer assassinated by the military junta in 1978. This Afro-flavoured paean to the victims of right-wing political violence, also bears a personal message of nostalgia and loss. Saudade. Alig and Darlinis vocals build on a gentle bed of guitars and percussion to evoke an original ‘pop’ take on the West African rumba.
‘Be more wise’
This is Darlini’s song, built on her unique, energetic vocal and jaws harp improvisation. The intense throbbing jaws-harp nods to Rajahstani stylings. Alig deconstructed the song in the studio and rebuilt it with virtuoso ‘Cello samples into an intoxicating rhythmic collage.
‘Ancestor’s Feet’
This is another Afro-influenced song with trademark Fodder French chorus. A cheerful and infectious tribute to the ancestors. The song builds on Alig’s bouncy lead guitar and Darlini’s percussion and vocal support. Implicit puns in the French chorus reinforce the general light-hearted interpretation of a serious subject.
‘Strangest Games’
This song was built on a 5/4 prepared piano improvisation. Sombre strings and gongs support the liquid vocals and backwards oud. A song of loss and rediscovery in the defamiliarisation of the present and the endless rain of an English summer. The intense and ambiguous lyric yields to a simple Doo Doo finale.
‘Do do what you want to do’
Doo doos give way to Do dos. Alig’s plaintive accordion weaves a simple melodic path through the catchy 9/8 rhythm. Melancholy and optimism collide in the simple exhortation to do what you want to and, conversely, to not do what you don’t want. To do.
‘Greed and Fear’
One of those love songs for an imaginary idealized female – or is it? She’s a lovely Crusty, fighting against the property-developers and asset-strippers in rural Devon. She lives in a field and sleeps in a truck, but the kitchen sink has fallen into the mix. Once upon a time on the dock of the bay.
‘Don’t get me high’
A Lo-fi plea – the nostalgic rock tune alternates voice and distorted guitar in question-and-answer over a redundant grungy drum sample. Accidents will happen in collision with Lennon and others. The final chorus is half-remembered from an old song by the teenage Ian Hill – a former Fodder singer.
‘Crumbly Biscuit’
A lyrical oud solo by Alig Fodder, with realtime generated Mac electronics of his own devising. Good with double-espresso.
‘Death and the Maiden’
The song that kick-started the project. a wry take on the medieval theme of mortality and fecundity is driven by densely-packed string samples and a grungy oud. She takes her clothes off on her own/ and strips the skin down to the bone/eyes, lips, teeth, hair and mobile phone/ death and the maiden all alone.
