Lemonjelly.ky

05/03/2001 4:49 PM, Yahoo! Music
Ken Micallef

Just in time for a spring stroll of sunny daydreaming, Lemon Jelly arrive with the most unpretentious chill out offering this side of a pond full of quacking ducks. Nick Franglen and Fred Deakin are your usual British cut-and-splice magicians, though Nick did work briefly as a gardener for Phil Collins. Lemonjelly.ky compiles the duo's three '99-'00 EPs, hazy ambient fun offset by dayglo cover art, furry little beats, and spoken word samples describing sea creatures and mental neurosis. This is ambient chill without the lame DJ/dance borders, a child's world where cuddly strings, perky pianos and lazy beats float in a vast blue sky dotted with fluffy white clouds. It may seem like so much nougat and cotton candy, but there is a clever wit at work in wacky songs like "Nervous Tension," "His Majesty King Raam," and "In The Bath." "Homage to Patagonia" and "Kneel Before Your God" abruptly changes gears with extroverted piano riffs and funky Latin beats, until "Come" creates a '70s soft porn swell of pulsating guitars and a female voice inviting you to "come...." First you laugh, then you forget you are listening still, then you chill.