Plankton

Plankton - Plankton - 2002 - Grooveyard

JUST IMAGINE IF WE COULD EXPERIENCE THE PAST AGAIN. TO WITNESS THE HEAVY, BLUESY, FUNKED-OUT, GUITAR WHALINGS OF ARTISTS LIKE HENDRIX, TROWER, BECK, OR EVEN THE MIGHTY CREAM BACK IN THE DAY MUST HAVE BEEN A SIGHT TO BE SEEN. THE MUSIC OF THOSE ARTISTS UNDOUBTEDLY DEFINED A GENERATION. HONESTLY, IT WAS DURING THIS TIME THE REAL SOUL OF ROCK GUITAR WAS BORN. FAST FORWARD THIRTY OR SO YEARS, TO A TIME WHERE IT SEEMS LIKE PUTTING OUT YOUR OWN CD IS AS AFFORDABLE AS BUYING A FAST FOOD BURGER. UNFORTUNATELY, THE QUALITY OF MOST OF THE INSTRUMENTAL GUITAR-BASED OFFERINGS THAT ARE RELEASED TODAY SEEM TO HAVE ABOUT THE SAME QUALITY AS A FAST FOOD BURGER AS WELL. WELL, I HAVE NEWS FOR YOU, I HAVE FOUND HOPE FOR INSTRUMENTAL GUITAR MUSIC AND IT RESIDES IN A BAND OUT OF SWEDEN BY THE NAME OF PLANKTON. WHEN YOU PUT ON YOUR PLANKTON CD, PREPARE TO ENTER THAT PAST WORLD WHERE THE GUITAR HAD MEANING AND WHERE IT HAD ITS BIRTH AS AN INSTRUMENT OF BEAUTY AND POWER (TO MAXIMALLY ENHANCE THE VIBE EXPERIENCE, POP ON A PAIR OF THOSE OLD BELL-BOTTOMS AND A TIE-DYE SHIRT. TO GET RIGHT DOWN TO IT, THE INTERPLAY BETWEEN GUITARISTS CHRISTIAN NEPPENSTROM AND EMIL FREDHOLM IS AMAZING TO LISTEN TO AND MUST BE EVEN MORE AMAZING TO WATCH. THE VIBE OF THE WHOLE RECORD, FROM THE FUNKY, UPBEAT, SAILING MELODY LINES OF OPENER, "VARLEVITATION", TO THE BEAUTIFUL, YET SAD BLUESY VIBE SURROUNDING "JORM", SHOWS A CONSTANT ATTENTION TO THE SONG STRUCTURE, EMOTION, AND MUSICIANSHIP BY BOTH GUITARISTS. MOST INSTRUMENTAL GUITAR ARTISTS TODAY CANNOT EVEN ACCOMPLISH ONE OF THESE PIVOTAL INGREDIENTS, YET PLANKTON MANAGES TO ENCAPSULATE THEM ALL ON THEIR DEBUT RECORDING. THE BAND’S COVER OF THE DAVE BRUBECK CLASSIC, "TAKE FIVE" IS ALSO SUPERBLY DONE, SHOWING CLASS THROUGHOUT AND A WORTHINESS WHEN COMPARED TO THE ORIGINAL. THE FIRST RULE OF COVERING A TUNE IS TO DO IT WELL AND PLANKTON HAVE UNDOUBTEDLY DONE THIS. TO BE HONEST, PLANKTON DOES BORROW HEAVILY FROM ARTISTS OF THE GOLDEN AGE OF GUITAR, BUT SO WHAT, THEY DO IT WELL AND THEY EVEN ADD THEIR OWN ORIGINAL ELEMENTS, SUCH AS ON THE TRACK "ZEITGEIST", WHICH FEATURES NOT ONLY THE ESSENTIAL PLANKTON TWIN GUITAR ATTACK, BUT SOME SERIOUS HARMONICA SHREDDING, WHICH WAS A VERY PLEASANT AND ORIGINAL SURPRISE TO THESE EARS. THIS IS NOT TO MENTION THAT PLANKTON INCLUDES A PERCUSSIONIST BY THE NAME OF LARS NORMALM, IN ADDITION TO THEIR STANDARD DRUMMER. HOW MANY GUITAR-BASED BANDS HAVE YOU SEEN WITH THIS ELEMENT AS A MAINSTAY? NORMALM’S LIVELY VIBE-ENHANCING BONGOS ADD ANOTHER ESSENTIAL ELEMENT TO PLANKTON SOUND, WHICH I FEEL ALSO GIVES THE BAND AN ORIGINAL EDGE IN TODAY’S SCENE. THE SELF-TITLED GROOVEYARD RECORDS RELEASE BY PLANKTON FEATURES 12 TRACKS OF INSTRUMENTAL BLISS THAT IS GOOD TO THE EARHOLE THROUGHOUT AND RECALLS A TIME WHEN THE SOUL OF ROCK GUITAR WAS BORN. HONESTLY, FOR THE INSTRUMENTAL GUITAR FREAK THERE IS NOT A WEAK TRACK ON THE OFFERING. WE MAY NOT HAVE SOME OF THE GUITARISTS OF THE PAST WITH US NO LONGER, BUT THEY LIVE ON IN PLANKTON, WHO BRING THIS CLASSIC SOUND TO A NEW GENERATION OF LISTENERS WHO NOW HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO LISTEN TO AND APPRECIATE IT IN FULL DIGITAL SOUND. - STEVE BAUER (ACADEMY OF SHRED - NEW YORK - 2002

ON THEIR DEBUT SELF-TITLED DISC PLANKTON, AN "OUT OF THIS WORLD" & INCREDIBLE INSTRUMENTAL DUAL HEAVY GUITAR BAND FROM STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN, PUSHES THE ENVELOPE OF "TOTAL GUITAR" INTO THE "OUTSKIRTS OF INFINITY" AND BEYOND. PLANKTON FEATURES TWO AMAZING GIFTED GUITARISTS NAMED CHRISTIAN NEPPENSTROM AND EMIL FREDHOLM AND TOGETHER, BACKED BY AN OUTSTANDING RHYTHM SECTION, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE BROTHERS IN GROOVE, HAVE SUCCESSFULLY CREATED AN INCREDIBLE HEAVY GUITAR WORK OF ART IN THE FORM OF THE PLANKTON DISC, EXCLUSIVELY AVAILABLE ON GROOVEYARD RECORDS, A LABEL DEDICATED TO TOP-SHELF WORLD CLASS TOTAL GUITAR MUSIC. ARMED WITH AN ARSENAL OF STRATS AND MARSHALLS AND TAKING THEIR CUE FROM THE CLASSIC, RETRO-BLUESY HEAVY GUITAR HEROS OF YESTERDAY AND TODAY, PLANKTON (MEANING HEAVY WOOD) HAS CREATED THEIR OWN ORIGINAL AND UNIQUE BRAND OF INSTRUMENTAL HEAVY GUITAR "EARTH BLUES FUSION". DRAWING FROM A VAST POOL OF MUSICAL INFLUENCES AND INSPIRATIONS, THE PLANKTON DISC IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED FOR FANS OF HENDRIX (LONG LIVE JIMI...), ROBIN TROWER, FRANK MARINO, ULI JON ROTH, MICHAEL SCHENKER, LESLIE WEST (MOUNTAIN), CREAM, GOV'T MULE, TOMMY BOLIN, ERIC JOHNSON, STEVE MORSE, RITCHIE BLACKMORE, WISHBONE ASH AND ANY OTHER TRUE HEAVY GUITAR HERO YOU CAN THINK OF. THE MUSIC OF PLANKTON RANGES FROM HARD-ASSED FUNKED-OUT HENDRIX WAH-WAH LAND TO THE DEEPEST VINTAGE TROWER TO ULI'S ASTRAL SKIES TO ELEGANTLY TRIPPY TONES THAT ARE GUARANTEED TO BLOW YOUR HEAVY GUITAR MIND. THE PLANKTON DISC FEATURES 12 AWESOME INSTRUMENTAL HEAVY GUITAR TRAX THAT ARE PARALLEL TO NONE, COMPLETE WITH UNIQUE THEMES REVOLVING AROUND SUCH TOPICS AS SWEDISH FAIRYTALE GIANTS, LEVITATING IN SPRING, MONSOONS, GROOVEDAWGS IN PICKADOLL LAND, A STRANGE OBSESSION WITH THE ELEPHANTMAN AND TAKING A HUMBLE COLOSSUS TRIP THROUGH THE UNIVERSAL WALKABOUT...COMPLETE WITH AN INCREDIBLY BRILLIANT VERSION OF TAKE FIVE BY THE DAVE BRUBECK QUARTET. THE MUSIC OF PLANKTON IS INSPIRATIONAL ON MANY LEVELS, AND WE STRONGLY URGE ALL OF THE "SERIOUS HEAVY GUITAR FREAKS" IN GUITARLAND WHO DIG REAL GUITAR PLAYING TO TUNE INTO THE "PURE HEAVY GUITAR BEAUTY" OF PLANKTON. © 2012 & BEYOND - GROOVEYARD RECORDS, INC. http://www.grooveyardrecords.com/plankton-.html

PLANKTON GIVES YOU OVER 58 MINUTES OF HIGHLY INTERESTING, VARIED AND TOTALLY KILLER INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC WITH TOP-NOTCH GUITAR PLAYING. PURE SATISFACTION. - JANNE STARK (FUZZ/SWEDEN ROCK MAGAZINE)

The terrific debut album from the great Swedish progressive instrumental rock/fusion band. Read an interview with the band @ http://www.rockprog.com/02_interviews/plankton.aspx Check out more of this great band’s releases, and buy the originals if possible [All tracks @ 320 Kbps: File size = 132 Mb]

TRACKS

1. VARLEVITATION
2. PICKADOLL
3. MONSOON
4. ELEPHANTMAN
5. I'M NOT AN ANIMAL
6. JORM
7. ZEITGEIST
8. GROOVEDAWG
9. TAKE FIVE
10. HUMBLE COLOSSUS
11. LIVING ROOM JAM
12. UNIVERSAL WALKABOUT

All tracks composed by Christian Neppenstrom & Emil Fredholm except “Take Five” by Paul Desmond

BAND

Christian Neppenstrom & Emil Fredholm – Guitars
Tomas Thorberg – Bass: Harmonica on “Zeitgeist”
Sebastian Sippola – Drums
Lars Normalm - Percussion

ABOUT PLANKTON

Plankton is an instrumental 5-piece band out of Stockholm, Sweden. The band was formed in 1998 by guitar players Christian and Emil, who at the time were playing in various bands around the Stockholm area. They´d known each other for a few years and were both heavily influenced by the music of the sixties and seventies. They usually got together over a cup of tea and listened to the music of The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Beatles, Mahogany Rush, Electric Sun, Jan Johansson, Mountain, Deep Purple, Jojje Wadenius, Jeff Beck, Led Zeppelin, Cream and other bands and artists from that era. On a rainy day they decided to put a band together and some time later they hooked up with Lars, Sebastian and Tomas and started jammin´ and recording. These recordings were sent to Joe Romagnola at Grooveyard Records by Janne Stark who had recieved a copy from Sören Dahlgren, a close friend to the band. Joe Romagnola liked what he heard and Plankton was signed to the Grooveyard label. ...the music of Plankton is based on a variety of influences that the five members grew up with. You´ll find blends of everything from The Jimi Hendrix Experience to traditional Swedish folk music, from The Beatles to The Rutles, from Deep Purple to Swedish fairy-tales, from The Shadows to Monty Python´s Flying Circus and of course the legendary Elephantman... © 2011 ROCKPROG Stockholm Sweden http://www.rockprog.com/02_interviews/plankton.aspx