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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
uplifting downtempo, November 29, 2003
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?
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by Laika 
