Fascinating Tininess uses atmospheric, repetitive vocal samples that are often distorted to the point of incomprehensibility. Yusuke Hama and Laurel Wells of Atlanta set out to make a pop record based on French New Wave film clips. I need to say that before I read that information in the press kit, I really didn't understand the album. However, now that I know the intention of the album, it's a pleasant listen. Imagine trip hop and new age vocals spinning at an indie dance club.
I find the music to be somewhat exotic, even irresistible except for the creepy female vocals that come in choruses of four or five layers. There are no conventional verses, following the resent trend toward more dance-music-inspired structure in indie pop and crossover electronic music (see the Klaxons, LCD Soundsystem). Instead of verse and lyric, repetitive sections of instrumentation slip in and out, in a kind of erotic ballet of music and words. I suppose this might mirror the kind of editing techniques first employed in French New Wave films. Not that the album is in the least bit difficult to listen to. Perhaps, like a jump-cut, the song structure makes the album a bit unsettling.
The whole album comes off as rather esoteric, something that might be playing at American Apparel outlet during the early morning hours. The album begins a bit prickly and poppy but moves into a more subdued and cinematic field of music. The song "Irene", exemplifies this transition, beginning with a pop instrumentation that resolves into something like an Enya chorus.