Avant-garde trumpeter Nathan Plante has thrown caution to the wind; after 20 years of performing as a classical musician, he releases his first EP as a purveyor of darkly subduing ambient explorations, Electric Birds. The Californian started at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and continued his academic training at the Hochschule für Musik in Berlin, Germany, where he still lives today, currently acting as principal trumpet for Kammerakademie Potsdam. Yet the perenially sophisticated and professional world of classical music can become static for Plante, who balances his musical output with modern and experimental electronica. Based on the concept of natural phenomena, Electric Birds conjures images of nature in flux—a constant magnetic force via permeating synths battles with more gravitational elements through low-end foundational world-building and sonic ephemera in the form of manipulated field recordings.
Natural phenomena are certainly one of the more intriguing aspects of human existence, yet not all are created equal. A rainbow has a more delicately beauteous constitution than, say, a tsunami, the force of which could help us reassess our security on such a volatile earth. For this reason, any investigation into natural phenomena in general, whether it is by science or art, should consider this marked dichotomy. Plante does this over three tracks that exhibit the multi-faceted aspect of the phenomenal world, with ethereal soundscapes existing alongside more tense and foreboding weather.
"Distorted Reflection" opens the collection with ominous sounds of a storm brewing in the distance before heavenly helpings of delayed tones fall from the ether. It's weighty but, at the same time, effortlessly soothing. "Cumulus" paints a more vivid portrait of strangely alluring tornados, their wake setting off dulcet windchimes and swirling debris of entropic notes. The title track is more ruminative and debauched. Sinister sounds weave in and out around unsettling drones with little to no harmonic recompense. The title and intense soundscapes created suggest a fractured relationship with nature, as Plante captures its beauty in tandem with its terrifying power.
Electric Birds by Nathan Plante is a startling debut that introduces an artist who has fun with their delicate craft. Unshackled from the restraint of classical performance, Plante exudes playfulness and curiosity through conceptual music that, while mostly beautiful, has a tendency to twist towards the darkness.
★★★★