Treasure in a Toy Box

Francis Plagne
Francis Plagne
Mistletone/Synaesthesia, 2007
4.5 stars 4 stars

Those lucky enough to have seen Melbourne teenager Francis Plagne's performance on ABC TV's Set program last year, and those that chanced upon hearing his 2005 debut Idle Bones (he was seventeen at the time of its release), will have no doubt as to this guy's talents as a musician. As hoped, his self-titled follow-up is a gem. Here Francis is fossicking through a massive box of psychadelic Lego, pushing unwanted blocks of found sound to the side as he searches for the perfect beat, sample or guitar strum to set him off on one of his fantastic experimental art-pop tunes. Imagine Noah Lennox (Panda Bear) cutting up the songs of Brian Wilson and Olivia Tremor Control, and pasting the pieces together into colourful musical collages. A front-runner for local release of the year.

Artwork: B-

Published in mX, Thursday 23 August 2007.