Comments of the Inner Chorus is a funny old album. Strangely pleasant, artistic, gorgeous, endearing, imaginative, homely, traditional, odd, and modern, are all words that could be used to describe it.

It's the second time around for UK based band Tunng. Warm finger-plucked acoustic tunes with sunny harmonies are the basis of this album, but an equally important element is the electronic sampling which highlights the songs and gives them an interesting edge. This style of music has been dubbed "Folktronica" by the British press, and is a pretty accurate description of Tunng's offering. Smartly layered vocal samplings, subtle beats and sound effects make these good songs even better, a delicate touch being the important difference between drawing in the listener and irritating them with unnecessary electronic baggage.

The songs, while often quite odd lyrically, are generally very appealing and pleasant. Stand-out tracks for me are
Woodcat, and The Wind Up Bird, which are both homely finger-picked tunes with sweet melodies. The album is actually quite consistent - there are no real let-downs or filler, and all of the songs are good enough to make an entire listening experience possible. The album flirts occasionally with experimentation in the two instrumental songs, Hanged and Stories, but it fortunately never crosses the line into self-indulgent or unpalatable territory. Even in these songs, and throughout the whole album, the songwriting retains its likeability, and the production highlights their loveliness.

Samples in the form of very British sounding voice-overs form an interesting part of this album's sound. Beautiful harmonies interlace with crackling samples that sound like an old radio in the next room, reminiscent of the The Beatles' I am the Walrus. If I picked apart these songs I'm sure there's a story being told here, or at least I hope so, but at the moment the album has yet to sink into my conscience enough for any cohesive themes or stories to become apparent. Or perhaps, just like I am the Walrus, it's all complete nonsense and the joke's on me.

The combination of folk and electronic genres is a fascinating idea, and I must admit it's actually something I'd never really been exposed to yet. But I must say that the marrying of old traditional sounds (acoustic guitars, folk songwriting) and modern elements (electronic percussion and sampling) makes for quite a compelling listen. Being only a fairly recent genre development, I'm very interested to see where the genre takes us in years to come, and I'm glad that Tunng were the ones to introduce me to it.