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Plu Plux Plan
Poplot/Pluxemburg(2006) |
Not having released a full studio album since 2002's
European Onion, Swedish technopop band
Pluxus gain their belated introduction to Japanese audiences with this compilation on Tokyo-based Poplot Records, who last year released their countryman and labelmate Andreas Tilliander's
World Industries. Compared to Tilliander's work,
Pluxus have a more retro sound, with the cheap-sounding drum machine beats and heavy usage of vintage analogue synths recalling the work of Mute Records supremo Daniel Miller, with the Silicon Teens' influence particularly apparent on tracks like
Djurens Kavalkad. Behind the cheery beats and catchy synth loops, however, there is an icy darkness, such as in the epic ten-minute plus
Pluxemburg, where over the relentless beat and sequencer loop, the melody breaks down into a series of almost psychedelic squiggles and effects. Elsewhere, other tracks are more manageable lengths but with the same intriguing and mysterious contrast between innocent fun and a dark, sinister edge.
Ian Martin Dec.10.06
