Back To Mine with Plutonic Lab

Following his striking singles ‘Good Thing’ (ft. Natalie Slade) and ‘Long Slow’ (ft. Olivier St. Louis), Australian producer Plutonic Lab readies his EP ‘The New Ruins’ presenting his solid take on modern soul, establishing himself as a musical force to be reckoned with. Having gained support from the likes of Earmilk, SoulBounce, Huey Morgan (BBC 6 Music) Jyoty (Rinse FM) with his previous work, this is a highly anticipated project accommodating an impressive set of collaborations out now via Low Key Source. We check in for a perfect Back To Mine 10…

MRR – ADM ft. Malcolm Catto  

Listen to any song on this Ep and you’re hearing my favourite drum sound, I get inspired  by these guys a lot, I don’t really make music like this but tonally I get drawn to it. They’re  little enigmatic for sure, co-signed by Gaslamp Killer and Malcolm Catto this music is a  psych library melting pot.

Edan  

Rock And Roll ft. Dagha  

One of the best to mix psych and rap, this track has such a ferocious energy, and both  Dagha and Edan ride it perfectly. Always loved all the rock references and drops in Edan’s  verse. For me alongside “Making Planets” and “Promised Land” the song is a real jewel  that I keep coming back to.

El-P  

Deep Space 9mm  

A favorite track from El-P and for me the beginning of his path towards Run The Jewels.  I’ve always dug Producer/emcees and a big fan of “producer” driven rap records. Again  the drums are insane. The song is of a certain time in my life and also kinda timeless to  me.

Little Simz  

Offence  

Another song I keep returning to, an example of simplicity and focused energy – greater  than the sum of it’s parts. I’ve been a big fan of Curtis Mayfield almost all of my life and  this kinda references his more savage moments but modernised and flipped so well here. Feels good to know Little Simz style of rap exists and is popular too.

Broadcast  

Pendulum  

Broadcast are one of my go to road trip soundtracks, exciting, brutal and melancholy all  in one package, mostly due to Trish Keenan’s incredible vocals. Tragic to know we’ll never  get another record from her. I spent a week driving through Japan almost exclusively  listening to them. They can make any landscape feel otherworldly to me.

Beach House  

Silver Soul  

Love everything Beach House does, when we were able to tour I would often throw this  on headphones on flights all hungover from the show the night before. It’s one of those  songs that makes you feel like you’re whole life is passing before your eyes, or like you’re  in a movie. I try to get as much emotion out of my production, just trying to make people  feel something with the simplest of arrangements and Beach House are masters of that.

Nick Drake  

Things Behind The Sun  

Grim, it’s just such a desolate song and production is so stripped back. I love this song so  much, if you ever want to just feel insular or deep inside your own skin, Nick Drake can do  that. Originally I fell in love with the production of Robert Kirby and Joe Boyd on songs like “River Man” and as amazing as those strings are I keep coming back to the starker  more stripped down “Pink Moon” LP

 

BADBADNOTGOOD ft. Little Dragon  

Tried  

Two of my favourite artists on one song, it’s such a beautiful track too. Such a big fan of  these guys I especially love the wavy synths that you find in Lo Fi production, but it’s so  tasteful the way they employ it. The filtering of the band in the second verse is brilliant,  such a brave choice that fits the delicate delivery of Yukimi Nagano perfectly.

Karate Boogaloo & Daniel Ponder  

Look Around  

There’s a movement in Melbourne of a kind of soul/library/psych revival of sorts which  has surpassed the corny soul revival that happened here. Bands like Surprise Chef are  going back to recording with primitive techniques and the results are getting really  exciting. I mean I don’t miss those days of having to record to tape! Ha but I love hearing  this stuff. “Look Around” is such a classy single. It reminds me of a certain era of  American soul music I would obsess about and play drums to as a kid.

Alton Ellis  

It’s A Shame  

I’ve played and listened to reggae/rocksteady and dub from when I was really young. I  love how Alton’s version is uplifting and really quite sad at the same time. Everything  about this is understated. Maximum emotion with a subtle arrangement from Lloyde  Charmers. Every time I put this record on the turntable someone will ask what it is.

Artist: Plutonic Lab
Title: The New Ruins
Label: Low Key Source
Release Date: Out now

Bandcamp order link

https://www.facebook.com/plutoniclab/