Interlinked, atmospheric, and with a hint of progressive jazz: Lee Bannon fascinates his listeners on his third producer-album, »Fantastic Plastic«. It’s not just the name that seems vaguely familiar with the last Gorillaz-works, but it’s also the imaginative way of handling arrangements that is similar to the comic-group’s approach. Bannon, who is hardly known in these parts, illustrates how to handle original sound-material in a creative manner – overdriven, full of effects, and never boring. In the style of Flying Lotus, the 24-years-old musician from Sacramento intertwine layers and combines unconventional sound-snippets with one another. What comes out, are elaborate collages with a high level of music- and sound-quality, which have only little in common with the usual beat-building in the scene of bedroom producers. Static noise, which has almost become courteous in these circles, meets electric guitars, floating along minimal piano-licks and stumbling drum-rhythms within empty space. And the guest-list, which seems like a pick’n’mix on first glance, is not seen every day: the Stones-Throw-gang around MED, Oh No and Roc C, Chuck Inglish of the Cool Kids, the funky Homosapien Del and even an available member of the Clan, Inspectah Deck, was convinced to join the fantastic plastic trip. In the end, Bannon managed to create a tonally coherent piece of art, in which the rap-contributions seamlessly fit into the album as a whole.
Fantastic Plastic
