Pitchfork

According to an inside source (read: Plone's press release), Plone formed in Birmingham, England. They immediately went to work "creating sounds and ideas for songs." Then the guy who runs the independent label Wurlitzer Jukebox put out their debut 7". After their first single was released, they finally started to go out and buy equipment. Take a guess as to what kind of gear they bought-- that's right! "Old drum machines, analogue keyboards and effects." So far, these guys sound pretty inspired.

Plone's goal, apparently, is to create instrumental electronic pop music. Hence, their concept: "timeless electronic melodies." They really are timeless, too, if you take that to mean you'll spend little or no time listening to them. I guess For Beginner Piano sounds nice enough, though. You've got your lilting, somber retro-future music ("Summer Plays Out"), your haunted forest music ("Press a Key"), and the incidental music for a lost level from "Sonic the Hedgehog 2" ("Marbles"). Sadly, Boards of Canada already beat Plone at their own game with the release of 1998's Music Has the Right to Children.

On For Beginner Piano, the Plone guys just barely step over that line from being serious electronic experimentalists like the majority of their labelmates, to writing nicely-executed but predictable Sega Genesis music. No, it's not so bad if you can stay awake, but it's terribly bland. In fact, it's the new elevator music. Just wait and see if by 2010 doctor's offices aren't comforting their unhealthy visitors by playing this kind of low-volume ambient pop music over the lobby P.A. And if nothing else, I can at least guarantee one of these tracks will show up in a luxury car ad before the year's out.

Like so many songs being sold to hip marketing campaigns these days, you can listen to any of For Beginner Piano's ten tracks for hours without ever noticing they're there. (I had headphones on, too.) If these guys could just pick up the pace for a moment, or put some neat effect in there, or even just change the bpms-- anything to keep me interested-- this would be a whole different record. Unfortunately, fate's chosen a different path for Plone-- one of everlasting obscurity and used bin damnation.