REVIEW: Ana Voog, anavoog.com (Radiouniverse)
- Jon Steltenpohl
Long before words like electronica and techno were coined, electronic artists focused more on melody than beats per minute. Yello, Art of Noise, and the Eurythmics dazzled as much with melody and composition as they did with grooves and samples. Anavoog.com captures some of that forgotten art. At times, Voog is avante garde and abstract; at others, she is pulsing and penetrating.
"Beautiful Accident" captures both sounds in one. It features a bubbling bass line that embraces the melody as well as the beat. Over it, Voog chants nonsense words along a string of consciousness: "password, word play, playground, ground hog, hogwash, wash line, line drive, drive-in, insect, sight see, see-saw, saw dust, dust pan, pan cake, cake walk, walk on, on rush, rush hour, hour glass, glass eye." Add to that a dreamy layered chorus of Voog's little girl voice, and you have a great track.
Likewise, the rest of the album intrigues and excites. There is a jittery energy to her music that keeps you on edge. Melodies, sounds, and lyrics appear and disappear for no apparent reason. From one track to the next, Voog changes characters from artist to diva. But switching roles isn't anything new to Voog. In a previous life, her name was Rachael and she had a group called The Blue Up?. (See the interview at http://www.consumableonline.com/1995/08.19/revblueu.html ) To toss things up on that album, the last track of the CD was the entire album played backwards.
Today, her life is broadcast to the world at http://www.anacam.com . Major publications have compared it to a real life Truman show, but the reality of the site is often hours of dirty clothes, Voog sleeping, and Voog watching TV. Net geeks with raging hormones may find themselves waiting for days to catch her changing clothes, but those with an eye for art will be intrigued and surprised by the galleries of days when she's used the camera for performance art. Voog paints her body with swirling lines and puts filters and lenses on her camera to see what it all looks like.
Simultaneously, Voog is a stunning musician, a skilled performance artist, and a normal person with a messy room and a mundane life. In her role as musician, being a solo artist has allowed for more experimentation. Electronic music suits Voog's unconventional style very well. She can take a song like "Terrified" and sound somewhat like Tori Amos or Kate Bush, and then the next minute, offer up the shimmering electronica of "Hollywood." On other tracks, she recalls the Eurythmics in the mid 80's. "Ask the Dragon" is a palatable cover of a Yoko Ono song that is spooky, avante garde, sexy, and completely accessible. "I Was Waving At You" is a spoken word dream without a clear beat that easily matches the more experimental songs by The Art of Noise.
And while Voog obviously has her influences, her music is exquisite and avoids being derivative. Along with producer Bobby Z, she has crafted unique new soundscapes rather than regurgitating the 35th iteration of the satellite beep, the techno thump, or whatever the dance sound of the moment is. There is a myriad of sounds on anavoog.com that have never appeared in electronica before. In fact, Voog uses few of the devices modern electronica relies upon. Eliminate the constant bass thump, eliminate the diva with a single catch phrase, and eliminate the NIN/Ministry ghoul wannabes, and electronica doesn't have much left.
But Voog thrives without any of it. She manages to be vibrant, engrossing, and abstract while having a completely easy to listen to sound. Anavoog.com is an album which pleases and surprises after many listens.
For a interesting video clip of Ana Voog and a few song samples, visit http://www.anavoog.com ;the streaming Real Video and Real Audio on this site is high quality.
