Piece of music deisgn for running to review: LCD Soundsystem - 45:33 Nike+ Original Run

Despite the fact that BlackPlastic is a little unsure how it feels about Nike, and even less sure how it feels about LCD Soundsystem teaming up with them we have to admit this is a good idea.

LCD Soundsystem have returned to the fray with not an album, or a single, but a piece of music 45 minutes long written specifically for running to. As you would expect from the DFA stable this is not what you would expect - less four to the floor to set your pace by, more spacey, melodic funk.

Consisting of what could only really be termed 'movements' 45:33 zips through a lovely bit of piano based funk to electronic dub, to electronic punk-funk and beyond. The concept is, of course, that this all fits in with the changes your body goes through as you push it through the experience of running. Following the movements already described, about 28 minutes into 45:33 there's some weird, Mexican sounding freak-out that gradually descends into chaos prior to a 7-8 minute ambient work-down climaxing with the sound of your heart stopping.

45:33 is a good piece of music just for listening to at home, and following BlackPlastic's workout down the gym we can confirm it's pretty good to run to as well.

Currently 45:33 Nike+ Original Run is only available via iTunes.

Album Review: Electric Penguins - Goodbye From The Electric Penguins

Goodbye From The Electric Penguins, in which BlackPlastic gets lost amongst slightly wonky, spaced out vibes.

On this, their debut, The Electric Penguins have attempted to make a contemporary, somewhat ambient, album using 1970s instruments, and, for the large part, it works.

Featuring the same repeated vocal hook over and over, just a moan really, and a gentle piano, album opener 'Gelb' is a deep steamy breath out into an icy mornings. It's a relaxed coffee on your own. 'Transatlantic (Part 1)' is more uplifting - electronic pop music with a slight 80s feel that melts away in 'Transatlantic (Part 2)' like to different mixes of the same track on one album. 'Transatlantic (Part 2)' is slower and more contemplative but continues with the same melody. At the albums centre these two tracks undoubtedly form the cornerstone of Goodbye From The Electric Penguins' feel.

'Lonnie' sounds like a boy band, if boy bands made quirky, organic, abstract pop records. Elsewhere thing get slightly bizarre - 'Supergirl' sounds like Bent whilst the plodding 'Answer The Phone' sounds like nothing you've ever heard, a time stretched, twisted Beatles or Pink Floyd possibly? Whilst 'Answer The Phone' manages to sustain interest for most of its seven minutes, 'Supergirl' is probably the weakest track on the album.

'Too Far' nicely puts the album to rest, deep sea echoes giving the haunting impression of the vocalists singing as they sink to the deaths. Goodbye From The Electric Penguins beautifully conveys feeling and atmosphere; the sound of loss, loneliness and melancholy, and, provided 'Supergirl' gets left behind, it will be interesting to see how they follow it up.

Album Review: Dan Sartain - Join Dan Sartain

BlackPlastic has sat on this one too long... When someone gives you an album and describes it as the post-punk Johnny Cash (a quote from NME) you pretty much expect to be disappointed, so it is in trepidation that BlackPlastic approached Dan Sartain's new long-player, Join Dan Sartain.

With producer Liam Watson (The White Stripes and The Kills) on board Join Dan Sartain oozes attitude from the moment opening track 'Drama Queens' tumbles out of the speakers like a drunken lover falling out of a bar into the Alabama sunshine. 'Gun vs. Knife' offers more of the same, , razor sharp raw guitars flying alongside furious drumming and Dan's vocals - "Well he's got a vendetta and he thinks he's right, you can bring your gun and I'll bring my knife".

Elsewhere, on 'Flight of the Finch' and 'Replacement Man' true rockabilly and Americana shine through.

Throughout it's short 37 minutes Join Dan Sartain never does quite what you would expect and the result is fantastic. One minute Sartain is coming on like the American Willy Mason on 'The World Is Gonna Break Your Little Heart', a bluesy anthem that reveals the facts of life and would probably be enjoyed by your parents, the next he's throwing a torrent of abuse at 180mph to the 'Hangers On'.

The creativity, passion and production on display here is never short of excellent. Sounding like a cross between White Blood Cells-era White Stripes, Johnny Cash and a collection of the best post-punk bands (old and new) is bound to be a thrilling mix... Join Dan Sartain isn't good, it's fantastic. Quite possibly the freshest record BlackPlastic has heard this year and one that most definitely deserves NME's dangerously promising description. As the beautiful instrumental album closer 'Love Is Black' draws to a close you will know you've just witnessed something special.