“Radio Pluto is a good EP which is not a necessity if you have Neptunes, although Microchannel Surfing is quite nice”
1 Radio Pluto 7:30
2 Friendship 7 10:38
3 Microchannel Surfing 5:12
(DDL 23:30) (V.F.)
(E-Rock)
I must admit that it took me a long time to catch the very heavy and noisy musical universe of Jerome Froese. I listened to Neptunes and RADIO PLUTO with a new open ear. But with the eavesdropping scattered here and there, the discovery of the very beautiful Shiver me Timbers and especially of Nightshade Family, I plunged thoroughly into the world of Neptunes and by ricochet of his EP to discover here a brilliant artist which just didn't fit into the Dream's turning point. An artist who, once released from this shackles, will freely explode his talent with solid opus. Having said this, the fact remains that RADIO PLUTO is still close to the roots of TD. An E.P. which includes 3 titles including 2 that we find on Neptunes.
Radio Pluto offers a rather ambient opening with angelic choirs which emerge from the breaths of a synth rich in its sound effects and wandering on subtle modulations. The rhythm awakens quietly with percussions whose clashes create a metallic echo effect among light chords which frolic there. It is a fluid rhythm winding the sound effects and which explodes with more lively percussions and heavy riffs of a raging guitar in a dense veil of ambiences and these choruses to end the race of Radio Pluto. Heavy and languid layers of guitar open Friendship 7, a track with musical imprints from Jerome's years in the history of Tangerine Dream. Acoustic guitar chords wander there as a nervous line of jerky sequences surrounds this introduction. The six-strings sparkle and the percussions dance to this nervous flow, embellished with beautiful synth pads which deviates the rhythm towards a more ambient passage. And throughout its progression, Friendship 7 will be divided between heavy rhythms, hammered with good and nervous percussions, and more melodious passages where guitars and synths exchange beautiful solos as aggressive as ethereal. Microchannel Surfing is a nice ballad sitting on a stormy flow of percussions. The chords of the six-strings have fun with their echoes' effects, giving a more intense vision to the music. After a first wild sequence, the title deviates towards an atmospheric phase nourished by beautiful coats of cooing synth on a flow more and more accentuated by percussions. Good electronic effects and tinkling bells are added to this second phase which sounds very Tangerine Dream from the pre-Jerome years.
RADIO PLUTO is a good EP which is not a necessity if you have Neptunes. While a track like Microchannel Surfing is pretty good, it's not worth the price of downloading this 23-minute EP. But if you don't have Neptunes it's worth it. On the other hand, I strongly advise you to buy the album well before the E.P.
Sylvain Lupari (September 26th, 2010) *****
Available at Jerome Froese's Bandcamp