Pselodux - City Fighter Jacky In Poke World (2009) :: Review

Pselodux
City Fighter Jacky In Poke World
[Self Released :: 2009]
Name Your Price

9/10

Imagine yourself locked up in your bedroom in the middle of the night with the lights off, playing the Super Nintendo side-scroller version of some obscure, late '80s after hours action flick and you might begin to understand the feeling that Australian electronic composer Pselodux has captured with his self-released album "City Fighter Jacky In Poke World".

It kicks off with a very upbeat video game music feel, but in this 7-track epic Pselodux shows us that he is much more than just a chiptune artist.  "Tabs For Harold" has an optimistic level-1, stage-1 vibe, and then "Spacebound" comes around the corner to deliver pensive electro krautrock that would serve as the perfect backdrop to a serious montage scene involving a dark hero driving through the night with a lot on his mind.  The album takes an even moodier turn at the Autecherish "Creion", with knocking rhythms, synthy echoes, and a broad, sweeping bassline that will have you hypnotized.  "Tactful Mokey" provides the journey with some gorgeous ambiance, both melodic and emotional, to round everything out.  Pselodux closes the album with a 13 minute masterpiece full of twists, turns, and tempo changes, bringing all of the previous themes and styles together in one big wrap-up. I feel like I could write in-depth about each track, but I don't want to give any more details away.  Let's just say that the skillful execution of this release and the emotional impact it had on me was pleasantly unexpected and I am anxious to hear more from this talented artist.






Connect with Pselodux :: Bandcamp | MySpace | YouTube

Or check out his post-rock project "Rooftop Access" for a different flavor.

Plone - Unreleased 2nd Album :: Review

Plone
2nd Album
[Unreleased :: ????]
Free Download

9/10

The perfect soundtrack for this hot summer afternoon is Plone's unreleased 2nd album which is currently echoing throughout the house as I go about my daily chores and get ready to head out to a party later this evening.  I don't know much about this album other than it was finished sometime in 2001 just before the group split, and my guess is that it was let loose on the interwebs so as to be heard and appreciated.

This collection of 16 perfectly laid-back electronic tracks are full of their cute and simple xylophonic melodies, analog portamento, plinky rhythms, twinkling synths and smooth organ vibrato, but a new style direction can be heard.  Many of the songs do sound like they were written around the same time or shortly after their first album "For Beginner Piano", but some of them contain the addition of live-sounding acoustic drums and an almost krautrock feel, such as the track "140" which extends into something of a lengthy, Neu-ish jam.  A mid-century cocktail bbq feel still dominates with dreamy vibraphone, some vintage strings, uplifting chord progressions, and psychadelic sounds which would be a joy to play on vinyl.  You can definitely hear some new ideas being explored here but you never veer too far away from their signature sound.  I find this album to be a graceful exit for Plone and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Plone - Unreleased 2nd Album [Download]

Footnote:  Plone is gone [for now?] but not forgotten.  Their song "On A Bus" was covered by Plaid and released in 2009 on Warp20 (Recreated) to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Warp record label.  Also in 2009 their track "Plaything" from Warp's We Are Reasonable People [WAP100] Compilation appeared in a Reeses Peanutbutter Cups commercial (see video below.)