Having a “try anything” aesthetic when it comes to making music is the kind of tightrope walk far too few artists are willing to attempt. Most stick to the tried and true and dare not risk sounding foolish, often doing just that as a result. There are a few artists out there like Andrew Broder who will hopefully inspire more people to throw off their genre niche shackles. Since his first release as Fog (2002’s self-titled disc), Broder has continually challenged himself and his listeners, building pop songs from turntables, samplers, and bedroom noodlings. These days, Fog has morphed into a bona fide trio (featuring fellow multi-instrumentalists Mark Erickson and Tim Glenn) and, although the results are a lot more straightforward than we’ve come to anticipate, they are no less exciting and full of surprises. Ditherer feels in many ways like a compendium of the band’s wide-ranging influences, jumping from the clunky, new wave of “Inflatable Ape pt. 3” to “Hallelujah Daddy”’s tortured art rock all the way to the gorgeous Laurel Canyon in the ‘60s-inspired collaboration with Low that closes the album (“What’s Up Freaks?”). Ditherer is yet another fun, fearless, almost perfect album, and another clear example of Broder’s musical genius.
--Bob Ham
