Pictureplane (real name Travis Edgey) strikes me as one of the most entertaining figures in modern electronica. Rarely does music seem to tap into my subconscious so strongly, but that’s exactly what Pictureplane’s 2009 LP Dark Rift does. With the exception of a couple of clunkers, the album is a true gem, and its standout singles (easily some of my favorite songs of 2009) are so excellent that I’m more than willing to forgive a few minor missteps.
Pictureplane, who apparently lives out of Rhinoceropolis, a warehouse where he also throws concerts/shows, has recently gained some fame from high-profile remixes of like-minded artists like Crystal Casltes and HEALTH. Additionally, his song "Goth Star" charted in Pitchfork's Top 100 Tracks of 2009.
On “Goth Star,” one of the more popular tracks from the album (and rightfully so), Pictureplane slices and dices a cheesy, late-80’s Fleetwood Mac song called “Seven Wonders” and layers it over a clubby drum machine and fuzzy, saturated synthesizers. One enlightened YouTuber described the song as a “chopped and screwed version of ‘Seven Wonders,’ basically,” and I totally see where this guy is coming from.
The way that Pictureplane recontexualizes the original sample into something so aesthetically separate from the source material is a perfect example of just how artistically satisfying sampling can be. Pictureplane’s sampling technique reminds me of what Amon Tobin said about sampling: "[Samples have] a certain reality. It doesn't just take the sound, it takes the whole way it was recorded. The ambient sounds, the little bits of reverb left off crashes that happened a couple of bars ago. There's a lot of things in the sample, just like when you take a picture….” Here’s the bizarre video of "Goth Star" below:
Another great track is “Trance Doll,” a song that features Travis Edgey performing vocals over world-music and drum & bass rhythms; truly a WTF moment if there ever was one, although WTF material hardly sounds this well thought out and executed. While some have described his vocals as "bordering on the horrible," I find that the emotion in the delivery and in the lyrics really adds to the overall work. In an interview with A.V. Club, Pictureplane stated "It’s taken me a long time to get my voice to where I’m happy with it, but I’ll still have to record and rerecord, and it’s like, 'Oh, my God, that sounds like shit!'" It’s very rare to hear producers sing on their own productions, which makes Pictureplane’s project something of relative uniqueness in the scene. On the subject of the song's title, Edgey explained in the same interview that "I guess for me it’s about that magical power a girl can have over you sometimes—like they’re this doll or something that elicits your trance."
I will leave you with the awesome video for "Trance Doll":
*Note: You can buy the cd/lp from Lovepump United here, you can download "Goth Star" for free here, and you can get "Trance Doll" for free here.*
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