[06.03] Styrofoam is Arne Van Petegem, a Dutchman signed to the wonderful Berlin-based Morr Records. This is actually his third album, but only the first I have been exposed to. In fact, I only heard (and saw) him for the first time recently warming up for the Notwist.

I'm What's There To Show That Something's Missing is very much a cousin of the sound of the Notwist, not to mention their related project Ms. John Soda. These two acts committed two of the best albums of the last couple of years, effortlessly blending electronic sounds and organic indie pop in a way that ought to make Radiohead jealous. Styrofoam marches to the same brittle, glitchy electronic beat, but veers toward the sad indie pop of the '80s (think Morrissey and shoegaze). While his previous outings were instrumental, on this album Arne adds vocals, singing in a rather detached style that echoes the aloofness of those bands.

With The Postal Service and Kings of Convenience member Erlend Øye recently delivering their odes to the early '80s wrapped up in electropop, Styrofoam certainly is with the sound of the times. But where the former two aren't afraid to barge in on the dance floor, Styrofoam stays put in the bedsit. Styrofoam is also very much informed by the aural aesthetic of laptop- and glitch-jockeys like Four Tet and Kim Hiorthoy. Track 4, "Forever You Sad Forever" has enough clicks and glitches to make an epileptic worry, but the rest of the album leans heavily towards structured song writing with a distinctively minor chord bent. His electronic touches are largely gentle, underpinning the organic sounds of the sad-tinged pop tunes. —Nils