Fenton — Pup
Chessa had an immediate impact on me: after one spin, I was already convinced that I was listening to a great album. However, it was not an easy CD. Pup is actually much more accessible.
Maybe it’s just a feeling I get, but on this album, Abrams use of instruments is much more obvious. They do the talking while the glitch, the microsound is part of the background. Although it is a heavily processed work, the processing, the editing seems, for this listener at least, to take a step back in order to let us hear the guitar harmonies. In a way, Abrams is almost becoming a folk guitarist with a love of technology instead of a minimal artist with a love of string instruments. Once again, the man proves that melodies are one of his forte although one might think it is sometimes too obvious. I will not complain because sometimes I do need the gentleness and the soothing aspect of a familiar sound.
Pup is not as brilliant as Chessa, but it still stands miles above a lot of electronic music released this year. It’s also a very nice way for Plop to close 2005. Let 2006 be even better.