plastov - Mercury Riesling

plastov

​Mercury Riesling
self-released; 2025

​​​By ​Dino DiMuro

Right away, there’s two interesting facts about the “genre-fluid” experimental artist who calls himself plastov. First, he’s been recording exclusively on video game consoles since 2001 (such as MTV’s Music Generator 2). plastov says Mario Paint and the Windows ’97 Sound Recorder “planted the seeds that led me to using gaming consoles to fulfill my musical vision.” Second, he REALLY enjoys puns in his song titles, starting with the album name Mercury Riesling which will resonate with wine connoisseurs. As Frank Zappa said: “You have to name the albums something, so it may as well be something amusing.”

plastov is no spring chicken, having been featured on 103 Records, Fantasy Audio Magazine, No Thank You Record and the Moolakii Club Audio Interface. This new release functions as a 90-minute double album with two halves: the first section is straight electronica jams with elements of House, Glitch, and Jazz; the second half explores a calmer atmospheric sound palette (for this reviewer, the two parts were not radically different). plastov’s influences include Orbital, Underworld, Juno Reactor and FSOL. These tracks are intended to showcase a broad range of sounds made possible by “pushing the limits of a single piece of retro software.” 

“Floop” wastes no time in establishing a pinched, herky-jerky beat with random blasts of synth melodies. It definitely sounds retro and is supported by a cool, trebly bass track. “Sacrificial Lambo” has a similar arrangement but packs in four times as many melodies and beat variations, as well it should for a seven minute track! This is definitely one for the Rave dance floor. “Aplomb Bomb” departs a bit from the previous formula for a more bass-heavy synth pattern, suddenly shocked out of complacency by sax-sounding Moog-like blasts. There’s definite melodies here but they follow an internal logic I haven’t quite cracked! I did note that “Aplomb” has a satisfying three-act structure with a majestic finale.

“Copper Paste” takes a surprising left turn into Funk. The middle section has a beat similar to Devo’s “Are We Not Men?” second half. At a certain point the beat drops out and things get very spacey and almost ambient, with quiet swells and reverses. “Pork Barrel” feels like an auto-beat providing background to a Fun House journey with all sorts of weird creatures lunging out of the dark. “Mustard Siege” has a similar “dark ride” middle section and almost feels like bluegrass from another planet. The synth melodies are especially strong toward the end.

I believe “Pewter” is the dividing line for the “second” album, but aside from more of a live feel in the beats, the style doesn’t change too much. “Pop Art” is more of a departure, with a mellow ambient atmosphere with a few of those fast patterns thrown in. The melodies almost feel like they’re being played on water droplets! “Wading Room” (and this is just my take) reminds me of those movies where people try to pick up alien communications on staticky walkie talkies. Later on, plastov has an almost “jamming” section among the various drum-like sounds. 

“Corrugated Pepper” begins like a funky jazz quartet getting down and dirty, with sounds approximating drums, bass, keys and horns. Getting even closer to traditional jazz, “Plucky Duck” is a pleasing mixture of combo sounds, space keys and diverse beats. Finally we have the title track “Mercury Riesling” to close out the piece. Showing my age and nerdism, the opening recalls the warning sounds on Captain Kirk’s bridge. There’s no tempo per se but the individual clusters of notes and pads are quite aesthetically pleasing.

There’s sixteen tracks total and I couldn’t hit them all, but this album as a whole feels very cohesive: I’d often find myself floating away and forget which track I was on! A very interesting take on electronic music and definitely worth investigating!

Become A Fan

103records.bandcamp.com

Tweet