Flux (5) – Protoplasmic

OLD guitarist JAMES PLOTKIN's solo venture into a more commercially-accessible land manages to be both musically structured in a Pop sense while being both intense listening and hard-hitting. Whether the force of this album is through studio technique or compositional prowess depends on the listener's point of view. Curiously enough, from the very first listen it struck me as being a bastard offspring of "My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts", the BRIAN ENO / DAVID BYRNE milestone album of 1981. Okay, so it most definitely lacks that album's subtlety, but has the same manic intensity. PLOTKIN should be bloody proud of himself, as this pushes boundaries in the region of almost hysterical guitar playing and a rhythmic attitude which tries to trip you over in it's strict anti-4/4 approach. "Hollow Spaces" has such a bright, flashing, dazzling sound to it - reminding me of the music GLASS uses to portray teeming city streets in COPPOLA's "Koyaanisqatsi" turned into a seductive, if crazy full-frontal overdriven pop music. The intensity hardly ever abates - even on quieter ages it waits at bay, ready to leap out like some psycho-mad hunter stalking his prey. This is music which could only be made by someone who had been born into the hustle & bustle of a thriving metropolitan concentration of humanity. If PLOTKIN aimed at a specific sound, it was at dazzling brass sections, and on the few occasions he misses, he walks into JOHN ZORN's wildcat territory. Difficult to compare easily with anything else. The mix seems to put every sound forward - I feel inclined to say louder than life. It's in-yer-face, big, brassy and braves new terrain.

Originally reviewed for Soft Watch.