I find it interesting to see what sort of things inspire various people. Take Porcelain Raft, the project of one Mauro Remiddi. Apparently, Mr. Remiddi's obsession lies with the last half of U2's 1987 record The Joshua Tree. The songs there moved at a lethargic, unhurried pace, and Bono had a tendency to croon in a slightly melancholy way while The Edge's guitar reverbed and echoed widely.
Mr. Remiddi has taken that general sound, the crooning, the lethargic dreamy pace, the reverb, and married it to laptoptronica to produce this record. This is an IDM version of the last half of The Joshua Tree. For many readers, that is all they needed to know, and they can move on right now. That's fine. This really isn't for everyone.
However, for those of you who are still here, in addition to hearing a lot of The Joshua Tree in this record, i also hear a bit of Active Child, a little M83, and perhaps some Beck. That is the laptoptronic part of this template.
For the most part, Remiddi pulls it off. I am not going to go over the whole record, because to be honest it gets a bit "samey" at times. But the high points are pretty darned good.
Shapeless & Gone is folkish psychedelia, a tune of strummed guitar reminds me of Spaceman 3. It has that sort of spacey, echoed vibe.
Put Me To Sleep is probably my favorite here, a fun disco song with a fast laptop beat clattering along in a vaguely hip-hoppish loop. Remiddi really croons Bon-esquelly on the chorus, which surprisingly works with the beat. The song grows nicely, with layers of voice all droning. Fun.
Backwords starts with Remiddi talking over a fuzzy keyboard drone, and something in the pace and tone of his words really reminds me of Roger Waters on The Final Cut, a record i have always adored. The song in general is a light summery song, with him crooning over keyboards and a popping rhythm sample. Towards the end he croons in that same way that Bone crooned at the end of Running to Stand Still. Gorgeous.
Now, those are my favorites, but there is a lot to like here.
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