fredag 21 mars 2025

Fem album: Planet Opal

Foto: Press

Den italienska duon Planet Opal är aktuella med singeln I've Heard Brian Eno in the McDonald's Fridge (fantastisk titel). En fantastisk elektronisk pärla där titeln kommer från sångaren Giorgio Assi som själv jobbade på McDonalds under en period och där ljudet från ett kylskåp lät som det hade skapats av Brian Eno. Surrealistiskt och fantastiskt. Bandet är experimentellt och leker mycket med ljud. Resultatet blir ofta helt fantastiskt. Idag gästar de serien "Fem album" och Spotify-länkar till albumen, där det är möjligt, hittar ni genom att klicka på det specifika albumets titel.

Pyrolator - Ausland (1981) 
Behind Pyrolator is Kurt Dahlke, a key figure in the German experimental scene, member of Der Plan, and co-founder of the Ata Tak label, which left an indelible mark on European electronic and avant-pop music. With Ausland, released in 1981, Dahlke pushes the concept of “travel music” into uncharted territories, assembling mechanical rhythms, manipulated tapes, and field recordings from around the world. The album is a disorienting and visionary sonic mosaic, where structures dissolve and recombine in a flow between industrial, exotica, and minimal synth. 

I only started exploring krautrock after the release of Cartalavonu, and I was surprised to find affinities between the mood of my synth lines and those of groups like Palais Schaumburg, Der Plan, or D.A.F. Ausland later influenced the writing of our second album, pushing us to experiment with sound collage and fluid structures while maintaining a free and instinctive approach. There’s something fascinating about the way these artists treated sound, without worrying about categorizing it, and that freedom became an important reference for us.

Brian Eno - Thursday Afternoon (1985) 
More than an album, Thursday Afternoon is a place, a space suspended in time. Brian Eno brings ambient music to its purest essence: an infinite sonic flow, with no beginning or end, where time stretches and perception shifts. I discovered it during a time of searching when music wasn’t just listening but a necessity, a remedy. Before Covid and then throughout it, this album accompanied me as a ritual, a sonic refuge that adapted to the days. 

The influence of Thursday Afternoon is evident in our writing, surfacing in two tracks on my album. I’ve Heard Brian Eno in The McDonald’s Fridge was born from a lived experience. Right after, Field of Thyme follows this path, taking shape through an ambient drone, an indirect homage to Eno’s ability to sculpt silence. Eno didn’t just invent a genre; he created a method for listening to the world, and this album is one of its clearest expressions. 

Atom TM - HD (2001) 
With HD, Atom TM transforms technology into a medium for expressing complex emotions, creating a unique fusion of glitch, abstract electronics, and ambient. It’s an album that almost seems to reflect on the digital age, capturing the essence of electronic sound at its peak, between the human and the machine. The dense textures and micro-sounds that define HD have an almost tactile quality, as if every little imperfection were an integral part of a larger sonic discourse. Its influence has been immense on our journey. 

This album pushed us to explore the idea of a sound that is not perfect but vibrant, dynamic, almost sensory. It inspired us to use technology in less conventional ways, searching for a new kind of beauty in fragmentation and sonic details—just as Atom TM does, where every glitch or distortion can become a significant part of the work. 

LCD Soundsystem - LCD Soundsystem (2005) 
LCD Soundsystem’s debut album is a perfect balance of electronic, punk, and dance, with an ironic and at times self-critical tone that explores themes of alienation, urban life, and identity. The tracks are built on enveloping grooves and repetitive riffs, but with a force that makes them hypnotic and engaging. The production is both minimalist and rich in detail, blending lo-fi elements with more refined touches, creating an atmosphere that recalls the past while simultaneously opening new paths. 

This album had a direct impact on the writing of our record, especially in the way James Murphy creates tension and release through simple yet highly effective arrangements. The use of loops and linear rhythmic progressions inspired us to work in the same direction, focusing on the interaction between synths and drums. Their ability to balance spontaneity and structure motivated us to maintain fluidity and movement in our tracks, always ensuring we didn’t get lost in the details but kept an energetic feel throughout the album. 

Soulwax - From Deewee (2017) 
From Deewee is an album that blends electronics, rock, and dance with surgical precision. The strength of the record lies in its use of drums, which are always at the forefront, with relentless grooves and highly detailed spatial arrangements. Each track has a solid rhythmic structure, but it never feels static, thanks to the interplay between synths and drum machines. This was one of the main inspirations for our work, especially in terms of drum sound. During recording, we decided to use three full drum kits, panning each kit in the stereo field to give more depth and dimension to the sound, as if three drummers were playing in unison. From Deewee’s approach pushed us to focus on how different rhythmic elements could be separated and combined with precision, creating a dynamic and coherent movement between all instruments.

/ Planet Opal 

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