Cloudberry Jam - Providing the Atmosphere [1996] torrent

Review by Jason Ankeny
Cloudberry Jam's second full-length outing delivers on all the promise of their earlier efforts, building upon their core lounge-op aesthetic to incorporate new space-age dynamics and a much-improved sense of melody and songcraft. While at first listen it's tempting to merely lump the group in with their Swedish brethren like the Cardigans or Komeda, repeated exposure to Providing the Atmosphere reveals a unique band with a sound and style all their own; a number of tracks, most notably "Nothing to Declare," "Another Moment Follows" and "Some Things Are Better Left to Be," glide with the effervescence of '70s-era AM radio classics, while "Going Further" goes in a different direction entirely, employing sampled trip-hop rhythms and DJ scratching. Jennie Medin's vocals are sublime, enriching the songs with a cool-toned elegance -- imagine Julie London fronting Stereolab, and you're there. (4.5/5)