· PLANKTON - Plankton (GYR004) ·
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::T R A C K S::
01. varlevitation
FORMAT: Audio CD / Jewel Case
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On their debut self-titled disc PLANKTON, an "out of this world" & incredible instrumental dual heavy guitar band from Stockholm, Sweden, pushes the envelope of "TOTAL GUITAR" into the "outskirts of infinity" and beyond. PLANKTON features two amazing gifted guitarists named CHRISTIAN NEPPENSTROM and EMIL FREDHOLM and together, backed by an outstanding rhythm section, otherwise known as the BROTHERS IN GROOVE, have successfully created an incredible heavy guitar work of art in the form of the PLANKTON disc, exclusively available on GROOVEYARD RECORDS, a label dedicated to top-shelf world class TOTAL GUITAR music. Armed with an arsenal of STRATS and MARSHALLS and taking their cue from the classic, retro-bluesy heavy guitar heros of yesterday and today, PLANKTON (meaning HEAVY WOOD) has created their own original and unique brand of instrumental heavy guitar "EARTH BLUES FUSION". Drawing from a vast pool of musical influences and inspirations, the PLANKTON disc is HIGHLY recommended for fans of HENDRIX (long live jimi...), ROBIN TROWER, FRANK MARINO, ULI JON ROTH, MICHAEL SCHENKER, LESLIE WEST (MOUNTAIN), CREAM, GOV'T MULE, TOMMY BOLIN, ERIC JOHNSON, STEVE MORSE, RITCHIE BLACKMORE, WISHBONE ASH and any other true heavy guitar hero you can think of.
The music of PLANKTON ranges from hard-assed funked-out Hendrix wah-wah land to the deepest vintage Trower to Uli's astral skies to elegantly trippy tones that are guaranteed to blow your heavy guitar mind. The PLANKTON disc features 12 awesome instrumental heavy guitar trax that are parallel to none, complete with unique themes revolving around such topics as swedish fairytale giants, levitating in spring, monsoons, groovedawgs in pickadoll land, a strange obsession with the elephantman and taking a humble colossus trip through the universal walkabout...complete with an incredibly brilliant version of TAKE FIVE by the Dave Brubeck Quartet. The music of PLANKTON is inspirational on many levels, and we strongly urge all of the "serious heavy guitar freaks" in guitarland who dig REAL guitar playing to tune into the "PURE HEAVY GUITAR BEAUTY" of PLANKTON.
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01. varlevitation |
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· Plankton Earth Blues Fusion ·
· reviews ·
I wish I had found them first!
Mike Varney (Shrapnel Records)
These almost shockingly gifted young axe soldiers give bright new hope to an old guitar warrior's tormented soul. And, if you dig Jimi, dinner is served!
Clas Yngstrom (Sky High)
Plankton gives you over 58 minutes of highly interesting, varied and totally killer instrumental music with top-notch guitar playing. PURE SATISFACTION.
Janne Stark (Fuzz/Sweden Rock Magazine)
Plankton resurrects the spirit of Jimi Hendrix.. their first CD is an instrumental tribute to the mood and attitude of rock's greatest legend.. though the material is original. Their double-guitar assault leaves listeners breathless, as if Jimi's shadow came to life and worked with him to create musical magic.
Steve Rosen (Author) (3.04)
Plankton achieves the ultimate musical synergy in combining lush trad tones with rad jaw-dropping chops on their self-titled debut. A seamless blend of classic retro-70s rock, blues, jazz and progressive elements combine to create emotionally powerful grooves which provide the sonic foundation from which this twin lead juggernaut melodically soars with sophisticated and soulful riffage. Add the tasteful "just right" use of vintage effects to all of the above, and you have something truly rare, exquisite and awesome. Plankton pulls it all together in this tightly focused and wonderfully stylized dual guitar sonic assault. Words are insufficient to convey the power and the passion burned into this CD. You simply must listen to it to believe it. Period. If you've been waiting to find that one unforgettable "must-have" in your CD collection, this is your lucky day. You just found it - Plankton is the real deal. End of story.
Jimmy Ryan (TRUTH SQUAD) (5.04)
I'll let you in on a little secret. Actually, it's not anything you don't already know if you read my page. The skinny is, Ray ain't perfect. Now that this newsflash is over, I'll tell you why it comes up under the PLANKTON heading. Back last update, when I reviewed this Swedish band's debut disc, I gave it some pretty positive ink, but not enough to really explain it thoroughly, nor to give y'all anywhere near the lowdown on just how killer they are. So, after plenty more listens, I'm going to do something else Ray has been known to do...expound a bit! When Joe R sent me this CD, he was singing it's praises way-loudly. Now, I've known the Grooveyard Dawg for years & have known his tastes to be impeccable, but I was wondering how an all-instrumental disc was going to stack up. The truth is, there have been some records sans vox that have rocked my world, but few & far between. For instance, Return To Forever's "Romantic Warrior" & Mahavishnu's "Birds Of Fire" are 2 biggies, but then again, these are jazz fusion. When I hear about instrumental guitar rock, especially these days, my first reaction is usually to cringe, hold my ears & expect something unfortunate like Satriani or Vai. In other words, I'm waiting for a drum machine running in 4-minute intervals with a Julliard-schooled-by-the-numbers-scale-roller yawning his way thru boring TV-theme-sounding drivel. Imagine, then, my surprise & delight when I loaded up the PLANKTON disc & heard something entirely different! Far from Shrapnel-shredding, names like Trower, Marino, Roth, Wishbone Ash, The Allmans, etc. are more the order of the day here, but there's way more to it than that... PLANKTON are a 5-piece band composed of: Christian Neppenstrom - guitars, Emil Fredholm - guitars, Tomas Thorberg - bass, Sebastian Sippola - drums, Lars Normalm - percussion (having a separate percussion player is a pretty cool thing, don't you think?!). On this album, their debut, they have concocted 11 original songs, plus add 1 cover version, that merge to complete a masterpiece. It's a blockbuster not only because of the wonderfully intuitive, impassioned & downright kick-ass playing, but even more importantly, the care & love obviously put into the writing of the songs. That's a point I want to really bring across hard in this review, & I can't emphasize it enough. While the 11 trax that Christian & Emil have written here are strictly instrumental, they are some of the very best SONGS of the year, rivaling the craftsmanship & memorability of anything out there, including any with lyrics! I know that may sound hard to believe, but brothers & sisters, I kid you not. Let me just pick a track like "Elephantman," for example. Sure, there's a ton & a half of '70's style riffsmanship here, but a couple things stand out immediately. First off, the sound, baby! Unlike other so-called "guitar" albums that are dragged into mediocrity by that over-produced '90's studio gloss, this is ALIVE! Listen to the warm, thick Strat tones as Christian & Emil lay down a lush, creamy Fender heaviness that recalls the days of "Bridge Of Sighs." Secondly, & even more importantly, you are being graced with melodies that will be with you tomorrow, the next day & the day after that. I am so pleased to say that this is not an axe exercise, but a SONG! God, I love that! Another one of my faves is the swinging "Jorm," which calls to mind one of the coolest guitar bands ever, Electric Sun & legendary Strat master, Uli Roth on the "Earthquake" album. That is so cool, as the irresistable blues-groove sears, with crying leads that would melt the most polar of nights.
I could go on like this in regard to each song on "Plankton," and while I won't do that (in order to let you have some surprises when you get it), that's the real indicator of what a great album is. Still, I will add a couple other details that I love. One is the no-holds-barred harmonica on "Zeitgeist." Who does this anymore?! It's incredible how it brings back such a '70's vibe, referencing things like Cactus etc., and yet keeps a forward-moving, vital edge. Also, the cover of jazz legend Dave Brubeck's "Take Five" is a landmark. For a band to lend such a respectful yet innovative interpretation to a piece of music of this stature is a sign of maturity, confidence &, most importantly, enjoyment of what they do.
And, I think that brings me (nice segue, Ray...hey, you know you're in the middle of a serious-ass review when somebody uses the word "segue!") to the final point I wanted to make about this album. For a rock record that is as musically deep, sonorous & moving, it is one that has a dramatically positive feel. I don't know how else to describe what I mean, it is not that "Plankton" sounds "happy" in some kind of silly way, no, not at all. To use a comparison, I find the upward-soaring feeling I get when listening to it comparable to (and here comes a name we've seen before) some of the Electric Sun stuff. It's the fact that you have a record that is "heavy" and yet, at the same time, uplifting. That is not only unusual, it is brilliant.
All in all, there's not a whole lot more I can say about the debut by PLANKTON without sounding like a fan, frothing at the mouth. This is a singularly great effort and anybody, I mean ANYBODY reading this page should immediately get themselves a copy. Mandatory.
Ray Dorsey (Chaos Realm - 2002)
Just imagine if we could experience the past again. To witness the heavy, bluesy, funked-out, guitar whalings of artists like Hendrix, Trower, Beck, or even the mighty Cream back in the day must have been a sight to be seen. The music of those artists undoubtedly defined a generation. Honestly, it was during this time the real soul of rock guitar was born. Fast forward thirty or so years, to a time where it seems like putting out your own cd is as affordable as buying a fast food burger. Unfortunately, the quality of most of the instrumental guitar-based offerings that are released today seem to have about the same quality as a fast food burger as well. Well, I have news for you, I have found hope for instrumental guitar music and it resides in a band out of Sweden by the name of Plankton.
When you put on your Plankton cd, prepare to enter that past world where the guitar had meaning and where it had its birth as an instrument of beauty and power (to maximally enhance the vibe experience, pop on a pair of those old bell-bottoms and a tie-dye shirt.
To get right down to it, the interplay between guitarists Christian Neppenstrom and Emil Fredholm is amazing to listen to and must be even more amazing to watch. The vibe of the whole record, from the funky, upbeat, sailing melody lines of opener, "Varlevitation", to the beautiful, yet sad bluesy vibe surrounding "Jorm", shows a constant attention to the song structure, emotion, and musicianship by both guitarists. Most instrumental guitar artists today cannot even accomplish one of these pivotal ingredients, yet Plankton manages to encapsulate them all on their debut recording. The band’s cover of the Dave Brubeck classic, "Take Five" is also superbly done, showing class throughout and a worthiness when compared to the original. The first rule of covering a tune is to do it well and Plankton have undoubtedly done this.
To be honest, Plankton does borrow heavily from artists of the golden age of guitar, but so what, they do it well and they even add their own original elements, such as on the track "Zeitgeist", which features not only the essential Plankton twin guitar attack, but some serious harmonica shredding, which was a very pleasant and original surprise to these ears. This is not to mention that Plankton includes a percussionist by the name of Lars Normalm, in addition to their standard drummer. How many guitar-based bands have you seen with this element as a mainstay? Normalm’s lively vibe-enhancing bongos add another essential element to Plankton sound, which I feel also gives the band an original edge in today’s scene.
The self-titled Grooveyard Records release by Plankton features 12 tracks of instrumental bliss that is good to the earhole throughout and recalls a time when the soul of rock guitar was born. Honestly, for the instrumental guitar freak there is not a weak track on the offering. We may not have some of the guitarists of the past with us no longer, but they live on in Plankton, who bring this classic sound to a new generation of listeners who now have the opportunity to listen to and appreciate it in full digital sound.
Steve Bauer (Academy of Shred - New York - 2002)
Smooth Axe Rippers... Sounds something of an oxymoron doesn't it? But after first listen, the fluency of this masterful, guitar-instrumental, rock album will make you a true believer! And, believe me, it gets more intense with each listen!! Duelling lead-guitars, one with the sense of a Uli Jon Roth and the other with the urgency of a Steve Morse, both in the spirit of Jimi Hendrix, mesmerize and captivate you in a miriad of guitar soundscapes, eruptions and hypno-psychadelias. The highlights being the subtle translucency during the time-changing transitions of each phenomenal composition. Further stretching their over-riding techniques of FEEL AND FLOW first, over the mundane speed and power runs that has over-saturated the neo-classical guitar genre. The smooth, rich, musical textures are truely a unique and pallitable listen and a breath of fresh air! I raise a toast to Plankton for creating such tasty-sweet, classy, guitar beauty and hats off to Grooveyard Records for the courage and balls for putting it out! If this is the flagship release for Grooveyard Records concept of "pure, heavy guitar beauty" . . . then leave me here to drown in this pure, heavy guitar utopia!!!
Geno Dezi (Axecaliber - New York - 2002)
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