{"title":"Ancient Plastix","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"ancient-plastix","title":"Ancient Plastix","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn a perennial maze, paths and dreams carefully designed through repetition, a puzzle through which one has to find a way. Liverpool’s producer and composer Ancient Plastix’ self titled debut and first release for Maple Death presents immaculate soundscapes with a surgical and sharp sense of rhythm and pace, a gentle mechanical heart that carries the album through infinity and beyond. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePaul Rafferty, the mind behind Ancient Plastix, recorded ‘S\/T’ alone, in the summer of 2019 using just a Tascam 414, a cheap Yamaha synthesiser and a small collection of guitar pedals, working spontaneously and linearly, seeking to conjure the similar feelings of adventure and discovery that he experienced when using the 414 as a teenager in the 90s. Without the burden of screen squashed waveforms interfering, the neo-ambient compositions took on an independent analog life, picking up grain and density, sounds gently undulating as if they were breathing machines, freewheeling arrangements that contain instinct, plot and execution. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLate Summer Low, the opening mood piece, sets the tone, a string of sad weird lonely islands in a forgotten sea fluctuating in a perfectly orchestrated mechanism. Rafferty’s delicate synthwork recalls the grace and bliss of Japanese ambient pioneers Yasuaki Shimizu and Hiroshi Yoshimura, where circular figures are allowed to dance (Endurance Dream) in unison, forming clockwork patterns (Dead Body Drawing) and meditative elegies (Aging Edges, The Yellowed Grass). What is stunning about Ancient Plastix’ nightly debut is how fully formed the song structures are, essentially distinctly scoring an evocative soundtrack to an imagined neo-noir movie that slowly moves between industrial landscapes (Cursed Space) and fog wrapped coniferous forests (The Dream Within The Dream Within). \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA light eerie presence hovers across, continuously challenging an album that sounds hopeful, even romantic, an inside game where both the ambient melancholy of Marc Barreca and the Carpenterian horror soundtrack work of Tim Krog can be heard making this debut an immersive, cohesive piece of work, where restriction leads to extension. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Maple Death","offers":[{"title":"Clear | LP","offer_id":50417514742091,"sku":"1143538","price":11.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/d9e2aca7-4026-49d8-ac4f-46387dfe09b2_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726731806"},{"product_id":"ii-79","title":"II","description":"\u003cp\u003eNight shifting patiently, slowly drifting in constant flux. Where Ancient Plastix’ debut used rhythm to create geometrical sound architectures and craft elaborate mazes, his new offering ‘II’ glides effortlessly, combining incredibly rich textures with soft swan-like strokes, oscillating gently, an unhurried pace that combines the depth of Japanese ambient maestros and the choppy British mist. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLiverpool producer Paul Rafferty aka Ancient Plastix, recorded ‘II’ straight to cassette with a number of different synths (Yamaha Reface, Korg MS20) and keyboards (90s casio and 70s Gem organ) via a collection of guitar pedals, outboard (Roland Space Echo, Melos delay, spring reverb). His tape machine this time was a Japanese Sansui from the 90s, a strange 6 track machine with a pleasing fidelity bought off from an old rave dad who was finally giving up the ghost. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Musically, this album is more patient in its approach to the predecessor. Recorded towards the end of lockdown in my highstreet basement below a used record shop, the arrangements reflect the personal era. No responsibility, no reasons to adhere to the previous patterns in my music making. As a result the album is a patient trawl through new discoveries and possibilities presented by improvising with old technology.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThere is a widescreen grandeur that permeates Ancient Plastix’ production, a cinematic instinct that steers clear of crescendos by creating paths that revel in warmth and emotion. Flotsam and jetsam, instinct, burnout, heartbreak.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Maple Death","offers":[{"title":"Black LP","offer_id":50506365665611,"sku":"2019153","price":22.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/0203342a-3d8c-76ad-8505-b40ce8f20ff6_6cef3bf0_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727822428"}],"url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/collections\/ancient-plastix.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}