Global Goon :: Plastic Orchestra (030303)

Since Rephlex, Taylor has floated across a number of labels. He has tested acid sounds with WeMe Records, released Roland swirls for Planet Mu and Syntheme and runs his own digital label J-HOK. 2012 sees Taylor return under his original guise with an album, Plastic Orchestra on Holland’s 030303.

[Release page] I’ve moved about a decent amount in my adult life. And, I’m moving again. But before I head for the new, I’m returning to the old. I grew up in the midlands of Ireland. It’s here that my taste for electronic music brewed. I set off like many with Aphex Twin, migrated to Warp and explored Rephlex. I missed the early days of Rephlex, but did get on board when the likes of Bochum Welt, DMX Krew and Global Goon were testing the boundaries of electro, techno and electronica. It is to this last entry that we return. Global Goon, aka Johnathan Taylor, gained acclaim in the late 90s for albums like Goon, Cradle of History and later Vatican Nitez. Since Rephlex, Taylor has floated across a number of labels. He has tested acid sounds with WeMe Records, released Roland swirls for Planet Mu and Syntheme and runs his own digital label J-HOK. 2012 sees Taylor return under his original guise with an album, Plastic Orchestra on Holland’s 030303.

Mock tudor organs get the show underway with the folksy electronics of “Dance Seven” followed by the padded analogue sounds of the near beatless “G.O.L.D.” and into pagan panpipes and key changes of “Morphon Diezpad.” In short, you’re never on solid ground. The tracks sit on tectonic plates which seem to have been left atop a washing machine on spin. Global Goon jumps from one musical program to another. “Human Flute” is slow, melodic and steeped in the sounds of King and Court while “Battle of the Drohnken” is a higgledy piggledy piece of free jazz electronica. There is a brazen, while quite innocent, quality running through the entirety of the record. Taylor seems to have given little regard to the latest trends and gone it alone. The tracks range from the abstract to the near demented. “Infinite Blossom” is low tempo perfumed electronics. Samples are draped over beats and autumnal computer chords. For the finale the curious harmonics of “Modern Fire” are served. A peculiar melody, an almost organ grinder and brass sound, is tapped out. The track has a sadness to it, a downtrodden humour and fairground forlorn.

I’ve left my home of three years now, Glasgow, and am off. But before I did hit the proverbial road I got to see Global Goon play. I’d never seen Taylor before, and he did not disappoint. I must admit it was strange to see a man jamming acid tunes out of an iPad; but who am I to stand in the way of progress with my low brow and Luddite ways. His performance, to a pretty piddley crowd, was a cacophony of sounds and musical textures; as is. Sometimes silly, sometimes strange but definitely soulful; Plastic Orchestra is a multi-tonal album.

Plastic Orchestra is available on 030303. [Release page]