Wherever I Am I Am What Is Missing

Laika | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 21, 2003)
• Original Release Date: 2003
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Too Pure / Beggars
• ASIN: B0000C8XH9
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #142,621 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Full title - Wherever I Am I Am What Is Missing. Their fourth studio album. Details TBA. Too Pure. 2003.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars uplifting downtempo, November 29, 2003

By 

elisa (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wherever I Am I Am What Is Missing (Audio CD)

Outer space has never looked so good as when lying on Earth's grassy topsoil, sparkling with chips of mica and quartz. Laika have managed to capture that sound, taking a more melodic journey towards alien territory, leaving behind only trace elements of the inner city, training their eyeballs and telescopes on the night sky instead, and their hearts and minds towards inner space. With lyrics like "I look for the silvery moon, but there's no one but me and my lonely key, a bare bulb rented room," and "believed in a young man, that's where I went wrong, now I'm in the gutter and I ain't got long," this is one of Margaret Fiedler's most personal explorations. Whether the lyrics are about her or she speaks from another's perspective, she's looking further inside.

This is a simpler, more melodic album, a new texture of sonic wizardry creating space and sparkles within Laika's bustling soundscapes. Margaret's also singing more, her sticky whisper making room for a sensual croon. As usual, "Girl Without Hands" is another memorable opener. It croaks and creeps from your speakers, growing into a twisted vine of fragrant blooms with a poisonous hook at the center. Margaret's eerie chorus of "home safe & sound" sneaks into your system like a drug, addicting you to the song. "Leaf By Leaf" floats on lush pillows of synths and percolating beats, as lovely as "Glory Cloud" from Good Looking Blues. "Dirty Bird" is a stellar example of Laika's lonely magic, haunting you with Margaret's bereft chorus of "what went wrong/shame on...", as Rob Ellis's busy drumming and Guy Fixen's shimmering synths uplift the downtempo.

This is what Laika do best - organic electronica: live drumming mixed with sampling wizardry, synths and the occasional guitar effect. Guy and Margaret add in some new elements this time, like the funky bassline around which "Alphabet Soup" shimmers. "Diamonds & Stones" tosses a Carribbean backbeat behind Margaret's sorrowful sing-song tale of another relationship gone awry ("gave him my hips, offered my lips, stop your cryin' child"). It's business as usual with "Fish for Nails," but with a beat so large it crashes through your speakers, and a synthesized sample of Margaret's voice that weaves its way through the song like an alien sex kitten. Yet her lyrics speak of desolation: "all is ash in my mouth, I can't live here anymore."

Not every song on this album is an exploration of hopelessness. "King Sleepy" spreads some hope, "we can be hurt a piece at a time, 'til the curtains of night draw back with the light." And "Leaf By Leaf" glows with lovely imagery: "gliding by on water wings, leaf by leaf, starlings sing..." But, as evidenced by the title of this album, "Wherever I am, I am What is Missing," taken from a Mark Strand poem, hope is hard to come by. Laika may dazzle you with sampled effects, make you wanna tap your toes or shake your bon-bon like you're in some lunar spaceport cafe... but there's a human soul at its center. And we humans are notoriously questioning beings. Who am I? Why am I here? Where do I fit under the stars, above the earth?

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Ten new tracks = ten new drum patterns, November 20, 2003

By 

R. Goldstone (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wherever I Am I Am What Is Missing (Audio CD)

I've enjoyed the music of Laika for quite some time. I own a copy of each of their albums so I thought I'd point out what's new in Wherever I am . . . , and what's stayed the same.

Returning are the playful, sometimes frantic drum patterns in unorthodox time signatures, spooky distant-sounding keyboard, reverberating marimba or vibraphone (or whatever that is), added-in vinyl hiss and pop, and Margaret Fiedler's intensely personal lyrics.

She's foregone the dense rapping style of previous outings and uses her very lovely mellow singing voice to deliver her simple lyrics. She even sounds very "pop" as she warbles about broken hearts on "Alphabet Soup." The lyrics easily fit into the booklet whereas they had to be crammed in on the first two album's liner notes.

The CD packaging is new: dual-fold plain white textured canvas, with a pocket for the booklet, sparsely decorated with rough sketches of human figures. It's very nice compared to a jewel case. And it's an apt analogy for a lot of the contents: the textures of drums as the canvas upon which rough song ideas are hastily rendered. Well, maybe that's a bit harsh. The songs aren't so much rough, but sparse and preliminary. Too much of the time it seems like she's singing to a drum accompaniment. As with "Dirty Bird," the songs have a promising beauty about them but end quickly without expanding on it. The album therefore just flies by in under 42 minutes.

I still give Wherever I am . . . 4 stars because their music is no doubt more rewarding than 99% of the tripe played on the radio. And Laika makes you feel cool just for knowing about them.

If you've been following Laika like I have you'll definitely want Wherever I am . . . But if you're new to the band I would suggest Good Looking Blues ("Badtimes" is so amusing) or Sounds of the Satellites ("Spooky Rhodes"! ) You won't regret venturing spaceward with Laika.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Sleek but shallow, August 19, 2008

By 

IRate - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wherever I Am I Am What Is Missing (Audio CD)

A smooth, sensual trip-hop group supplied this disc of wonderful, though background-music sensibilities. A counterpoint to Portishead's sluggish, depressive state, Laika's crisp, offbeat drum patterns navigate proper female vocals through these spinning celebrations. Pattern-driven though it may be, the experience is immersive enough to enjoy in the moment but repeated listening can prove underwhelming.