Laika

Laika is a British alternative rock band founded in 1993 by ex-Moonshake members Margaret Fiedler and John Frenett, and producer/engineer Guy Fixsen. The band was named after the first animal to orbit the earth, the Russian dog Laika.

Sound

Musically the band could be described as electronica with "dreamy" female vocals. However, they also rely on a more organic approach to their songwriting with live drums and percussion, together with guitars and samples, creating a complexly-layered and polyrhythmic blend of beats and diverse analogue sounds that defy simple categorization.

History

Vocalist, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Fiedler and bassist Frenett were members of the Too Pure band Moonshake before the group splintered in half after a US tour. Co-chief songwriter David Callahan continued on with Moonshake along with drummer Mig Moreland and the assistance of various guest musicians. Fixsen had been a producer and engineer for Moonshake, as well as working with bands such as My Bloody Valentine and The Breeders, amongst others.

Fiedler and Fixsen began writing and recording together as Laika shortly after the division of Moonshake, and also began a romantic relationship.^[1] On recordings and in live shows, Fiedler and Fixsen shared guitar, vocals, keyboards, and sampling duties, with Frenett joining the new project as bass player.

In their first incarnation, the band was augmented by flautist and saxophonist Louise Elliot and drummer Lou Ciccotelli (God, Eardrum). After the group released Silver Apples of Moon in 1994, Rob Ellis (PJ Harvey, Spleen) had joined them as a sometimes second drummer and percussionist.

Laika released their second album, Sounds Of The Satellites in 1996. Good Looking Blues followed in 2000, with a collection of singles, B-sides and rarities called Lost In Space appearing in 2001. The group gained a lot of press attention, in particular when they supported Radiohead on tour.

Elliot and Frenett played on all Laika LPs apart from the band's last album to date - 2003's Wherever I Am I Am What Is Missing, which was recorded by Fiedler and Fixsen alone. At around this time, Fixsen and Fiedler ended their romantic relationship but maintained their musical partnership. Fixsen has mentioned the strain put on latter-day Laika by their differing lifestyles as instrumentalist-for-hire (Fiedler) and studio-bound producer (Fixsen). This had also meant that he had written and created a much larger proportion of the music than he had on previous records: "A lot of the music was recorded at my place while Margaret was off gallivanting around the world with PJ Harvey and getting drunk, going around Australia and America and hanging around with Bono and shit, while I was stuck in my little room ... I sort of set myself a task to stop myself from going mad in my little room: 'Today I'm going to write a song from beginning to end and then I'm just going to forget about it,' whereas in the past I would've worked on it over a period of weeks. There is a lot of spontaneity for a record that took three and a half years to make." ^[1]

Since the release of Wherever I Am I Am What Is Missing, little has been heard from Laika. There have been no formal announcements of a break-up or hiatus, although Fielder is known to have taken a sabbatical from music to study law. The band are no longer listed in the roster on the Too Pure homepage.

Fiedler's homepage - run under her married name of Mags McGinnis - currently states that she is dividing her time between music, a job at the BBC, eco-friendly candlemaking (for which she runs workshops at The Make Lounge craft space in Barnsbury, North London) and possibly writing a cookbook. There are also strong hints that she has chosen this course due to the fact that "the decline of album sales due to illegal downloads made her recording and songwriting careers less financially viable."^[2]

Fixsen continues to work as a sound engineer, and is rumoured to have claimed that Laika is "taking a break" with about half an album already recorded, and that they will reconvene and complete the next record before the end of the decade.

Outside Band Activities

In 2000, Margaret Fiedler played in PJ Harvey's backing band on an extensive world tour promoting Harvey's Mercury Prize-winning Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea album. On this tour, she had played guitar, cello, and other instruments.

For their 2008 tour of Europe and North America, Fiedler played rhythm guitar on tour with Wire, having replaced Bruce Gilbert.

Discography

Singles / EPs

• Antenna EP (single 1994, Too Pure)
• Almost Sleeping EP (single 1997, Too Pure)
• Breather EP (single 1997, Too Pure)
• Uneasy (single 2000, Too Pure)
• Black Cat Bone (vinyl only 12" single 2000, Too Pure)
• Badtimes (single 2000, Too Pure)

Albums

• Silver Apples of the Moon (album 1994, Too Pure)
• Sounds of the Satellites (album 1997, Too Pure)
• Good Looking Blues (album 2000, Too Pure)
• Lost in Space - Volume 1 [1993-2002] (compilation 2003, Too Pure)
• Wherever I Am I Am What Is Missing (album 2003, Too Pure)

Tracks on V/A compilations

• If You Miss (Laika Virgin mix) (from Macro Dub Infection, 1995)
• Lower Than Stars (V/A Volume 12, 1995)
• German Shepherds (from Whore - Various Artists Play Wire, 1996)
• Looking For The Jackalope (236 remix) (from Beat Experience, 1997)
• Black Cat Bone (Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Radio Sunnydale UK Version, 2003)

References

External links

• Official website
• Discography from official Too Pure website
• Biography from official Too Pure website
• Concert photos by Laurent Orseau (Black Session)