Album Review: V - Van She

It seems a lifetime ago that Van She's original five-track EP came out and as such a significant level of expectation potentially burdens this release. Things aren't made any easier by the fractured styles the band have meta-morphasised throughout this period and it is interesting to see how they address this point within an album strucuture.

The answer is actually straight forward, if slightly disappointing. V is a rock album, plain and simple, and so everything fits within the template of early singles 'The Cat & The Eye' and 'Strangers'. That disappointment isn't to suggest what is here isn't good, it is. Within the new context both of the aforementioned tracks shine, whilst 'Changes' sounds reminiscent of Zoot Woman's muted and monochromatic take on pop music and 'It Could Be The Same' and closer 'On The Edge' show a darker side.

Atmosphere abounds, V is just perhaps more sophisticated than we had come to expect. Even the gorgeous 80s cocaine ride of an anthem that is 'Kelly' has been revised and toned down slightly into something slightly more subtle.

V is a lush album and what it loses in excitement it gains in cohesiveness, accesibility and maturity. BlackPlastic may well be playing it all summer but you can be sure a little part of us is hoping for the next album to encapsulate the dayglo acid excessiveness of remix side project Van She Tech.

BP x

Album Review: Me, But Perfect - Engine7

Take a dash of post-rock, throw in some Global Communication inspired ambience and a sprinkling of atmosphere. Simmer gently on a hot summer's day whilst stirring gently.

This is Engine7.

Me, But Perfect seems to want to be a concept album in that each track title is followed by a time of day and these run in chronological order from 7:14am through to a not staggeringly late bedtime of 8:07pm. If it is supposed to be a concept album it's a bit thin on the concept side but perhaps BlackPlastic is over-analysing again. And if this is the soundtrack to a day then it must be an important one filled with earthquakes, floods, deaths and births. Or at least an unpleasant break-up and some exciting kissing bits.

Because Me, But Perfect is pretty emo, less in the I-hate-myself-and-want-to-die way and more in the I'm-watching-Planet-Earth-and-want-to-cry way. Which basically translates to this: Engine7 sound like an electronic Sigur Ros who have lost their singer. If you have always hated the Icelandic-guy-wailing (not whaling, we're mostly politics free here) element of the Ros, or maybe just want a bit more moody-yet-at-times-uplifting-atmospheric-music, then Engine7 are worth a listen. Particularly if you can do it whilst cooking on a deserted beach this summer.

BP x

Album Review: Fabric 41 - Various Artists mixed by Luciano

It's been a while since BP preached the virtues of a Fabric album but, shit, it's getting hot outside. And if Luciano hasn't laid down the perfect soundtrack to a summer evening in a club or a day by the pond then BlackPlastic doesn't know who has.

This is all minimal house and techno clicks and whirring noises yet it has such soul and warmth. If you do nothing else, pause to wipe the sweat off of your brow as you listen to Los Updates' 'Getting Late', remixed by and featuring Luciano. It's a beautiful track and if you don't like it you obviously hate electronic music - the combination of space and rhythm is utterly entrancing.

And this is a vibe that permeates the whole mix: it should be boring, but it's just too damn refined to be anything but lush... A series of mood pieces that feel like a holiday they're so refreshing.

It's in the breakdown of M83's 'In Church', a record that sounds like a dancefloor collectively giving in, washes of synths and organs punctured with the same tribal drum patterns that cover much of the rest of this mix. It's in Luciano's mix of 'Good Love', spacious as it is, all dubby basslines and snatches of vocals, so laid back it can't help being so damn sexy.

What we are saying is: Sometimes less really is more.

BP x

Album Revvviews: Paris - Various mixed by Gildas et Masaya / Kitsuné Tabloid - Various mixed by Digitalism

Everyone loves those crazy French guys Kitsuné because they are, like, so hot right now. So hot that the past few weeks have seen not one, but TWO mixes come out of their little french stable. Paris is mixed by label founders Gildas et Masaya, whilst Kitsuné Tabloid is the first in what is presumably going to turn into a series of DJ mix albums and is this time handled by Digitalism.

What you have here is actually two fairly similar, if complimentary, mixes. Neither is as cutting edge as we've come to expect from Kitsuné's mainstay, Maison, series but in some ways that's refreshing. Instead what we have is two slabs of fresh brain melting party soundz.

So Paris says: "Shut up man, I might be late, but I'm fucking here, alright? You may know my tunes but check out the way I lure you in with Chromeo's 'Needy Girl' before unleashing In Flagranti and Does It Offend You, Yeah? on your chicken shit ass! By utilising the Crookers mix I almost make The Chemical Brothers' professional suicide of a record, 'The Salmon Dance', bearable and I finally drag Little Boots out of the MP3 bloggers closet by letting some real people hear that nice Hot Chip mix of 'Stuck'."

Kistuné responds: "Yeah, yeah... You know my tunes too but hey, at least I had a bit of a dig around to find a couple of older records like that awesome Human League track 'The Things That Dreams Are Made Of'. And I crowbarred a lot of fun tunes in like the Shazam remix of Muscles' 'Sweaty' which manages to sound like 40 derranged High School cheer leaders who are all emotionally unhinged but really, really want your body. There's some Hercules and Love Affair (please tell me they are still cool, right? Right?) and I've even got a metronomy mix of Late Of The Pier... You may die waiting for the album but at least you can listen to 'The Bears Are Coming' as remixed by every artist, ever, whilst you wait!"

Paris and Kitsuné Tabloid may both induce nose-bleeds but when BlackPlastic is packed onto a weekday morning commuter train with city sluts in suits it can think of nothing more pleasurable.

Both mixes lack anything to differentiate themselves much from each other, let alone the hundreds of similar mixes you (probably) already have, and so life span is (potentially) questionable. Yet they do both nicely summarise what everything sounds like right... Now! So if you ever want to come back and relive late June / early July 2008 these will do the trick.

BP x

Album Review: Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust - Sigur Rós

It's like jumping off the crest of a waterfall into beautifully cool crystal-clear water.

From track one, 'Gobbledigook', Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust is already a grand departure: Sigur Rós used to make cold and wintery sound scapes. Yet the pounding drums of the opening track are pure summer and it runs down your spine like tingling sweat on a hot
summer's day. Even the grandious 'Festival' is unshackled from the band's cold homeland... Aptly named it feels like a walk through a summery field.

This is the sound of a band that made no compromises. One track here even has English lyrics, yet the massive sales figures of Takk showed that a band doesn't need catchy lyrics to break into Tesco so there is no air of catering to a market here... All Sigur Rós had to do was keep playing their hearts out and wait for the world to catch-up.

The brass on 'Inní Mér Syngur Vitleysingur' may have you crying into your pint but with picnics soundtracked by this you are going to have one hell of a summer.

BP x