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By: Mark Gomes
Date: 22nd Aug 07
Release: Album
To Cure: Hypertension
What:
Francis Plagne
Who:
Francis Plagne
On:
Mistletone / Synaesthesia Records
Where:
Mistletone Shop
MySpace:
here
Related Links:
Synaesthesia blog / Francis Plagne live on ABC TV
Launch:
With Marco Fusinato, Dworzec, Barrage and DJ Patrick O'Brien
Fri Aug 24, The Toff in Town, Level 2 Curtin House, 252 Swanston St, Melbourne
Wunderkind teen experimentalist, Francis Plagne, dons stripes of genius on his second album split-published by Mistletone and venerated ex-pat, Synaesthesia Records. A pleasurably schizoid, patient mix of abstract sound assemblage and skewed melodic hooks, Francis Plagne neatly stiches-up 70 years of winning pop and conceptual music discoveries in just 70 minutes. Dialling through the Out-sounds spectrum as if taking a leisurely Sunday walk, Plagne's ability to skip across and combine field recordings, extended instrumental technique, electronics and harmonic song is staggering, but never pretentious - making for one of the year's most intriguing and go-ahead local releases.
Chamber pop gems and sound exercises appear in equal measure, and everything exhibits a warmth typically foreign to hard-nosed experimental music. Tracks change smoothly and in wondrous detail, taking in wildly different sonic vistas at frequent pace. Where ‘A Chance Exposure to a Distant Rumbling' sounds like the unlikely amalgam of Antonio Carlos Jobim's samba and an Andre Breton poem, ‘A Boat Called Ghost' has electronics, ripping duct-tape and basement carpentry noise. Undeniably avant overall, what's most pleasing about this record is its accessibility without compromise. Plagne is a ripping Art Party dude with historical smarts to rival your local library.