You know an album is good when it makes you want to revisit the artist’s entire catalog. There is that point in the album in which I think, “man, what have I possibly missed here?” In Pluramon’s case it looks like it might be quite a bit. Although I came along the Marcus Schmickler based project Pluramon back in ’03 when the projects last album came out called Dreams Top Rock, I casually listened to it from what I recall and then never really dug it out again. The more I listen to Pluramon’s latest album The Monstrous Surplus the more it’s appearing to be a huge mistake for neglecting any of the past material as I did.

Schmickler dates back into the mid 90’s with Pluramon and even further regarding electronic music as a whole. He has released numerous albums among other things under many different aliases all of which explore the vast landscape of electronic music. Pluramon happens to be really the only one I am semi familiar with however, having listened to it in the past, albeit briefly and lazily probably. That being said, Monstrous Surplus snuck up on me in the best possible way, capturing me with the albums first track “Turn In”, which is one of the finest portions of dream pop to reach my ears this year. Featuring the beautiful sound of swirling guitars and plenty of reverb, the song is made even more delicate with the inclusion of vocalist/collaborator Julee Cruise. Some might recognize her from when she provided vocals for the soundtrack to the David Lynch series Twin Peaks. Those who know her will undoubtedly recognize her voice. This should also make fans of Dreams Top Rock happy too, since she also collaborated with Schmickler for that album as well. Also making vocal appearances are Schmickler himself and backing him up is Julia Hummer for the majority of Monstrous Surplus.

Like I mentioned, The Monstrous Surplus is practically a complete surprise. Those are always nice though. Pluramon has managed to release an album of dream-pop that makes it home above the clouds and occasionally within, to which I’ve been searching for in many other albums this year but had yet to stumble upon. I have to give kudos to Schmickler for upping the ante here.

Pluramon – Turn In [MP3]
Pluramon – Drowning in You [MP3]

For those interested in picking this up, The Monstrous Surplus comes out October 23rd through Karaoke Kalk, which can be pre-ordered now through any major vendor such as Amazon. I definitely recommend it for those that are fans of dream-pop and such.

Labels: dream-pop, shoegaze