MIKKEL PLOUG - Balcony Lullabies
Stunt Records : STUCD 20102
Mikkel Ploug (electric & acoustic guitars) Recorded in Copenhagen, May 27th to 29th 2020
As we approach the anniversary of the pandemic it is inevitable that we are going to see many artistic responses to the effects of isolation and constraints on personal freedom. Indeed, we already have Brad Mehldau’s `Suite`, a collection of solo piano pieces reflecting his feelings on being locked down in Amsterdam and now we have a similar undertaking by Danish guitarist Mikkel Ploug which began as a series of live performances delivered over a number of evenings from the balcony of this Copenhagen apartment as a means of relieving his pent up frustrations and to open up a point of contact with his neighbours . The resulting music was so well received that he was persuaded to take it into the recording studio for the benefit of an even wider audience who may now imbibe its ameliorative effect through the medium of this superb album.
Deploying both electric and acoustic instruments with a little tastefully applied multi-tracking, Ploug, a seasoned performer on the international stage with an impressive discography at his back, presents a programme of pieces drawn from diverse sources but all permeated with a slightly melancholic, nocturnal feel that is at turns soothing, mesmeric and spiritually ethereal. There are luminous versions of songbook standards like `Somewhere Over the Rainbow`, `The Nearness of You` and ` You are My Sunshine` interspersed with Danish folkloric material as well as two pieces by Denmark’s national composer, Carl Nielsen whose restless existential yearnings are perfectly replicated in the transcendent sound of Ploug’s `music of spheres` harmonics.
So, if this horrible situation we are in is getting to you and you need something to ease your troubled mind, then tapping into these `sounds of solace` could be just the remedy you are looking for.
Reviewed by Euan Dixon
Stunt Records : STUCD 20102
Mikkel Ploug (electric & acoustic guitars) Recorded in Copenhagen, May 27th to 29th 2020
As we approach the anniversary of the pandemic it is inevitable that we are going to see many artistic responses to the effects of isolation and constraints on personal freedom. Indeed, we already have Brad Mehldau’s `Suite`, a collection of solo piano pieces reflecting his feelings on being locked down in Amsterdam and now we have a similar undertaking by Danish guitarist Mikkel Ploug which began as a series of live performances delivered over a number of evenings from the balcony of this Copenhagen apartment as a means of relieving his pent up frustrations and to open up a point of contact with his neighbours . The resulting music was so well received that he was persuaded to take it into the recording studio for the benefit of an even wider audience who may now imbibe its ameliorative effect through the medium of this superb album.
Deploying both electric and acoustic instruments with a little tastefully applied multi-tracking, Ploug, a seasoned performer on the international stage with an impressive discography at his back, presents a programme of pieces drawn from diverse sources but all permeated with a slightly melancholic, nocturnal feel that is at turns soothing, mesmeric and spiritually ethereal. There are luminous versions of songbook standards like `Somewhere Over the Rainbow`, `The Nearness of You` and ` You are My Sunshine` interspersed with Danish folkloric material as well as two pieces by Denmark’s national composer, Carl Nielsen whose restless existential yearnings are perfectly replicated in the transcendent sound of Ploug’s `music of spheres` harmonics.
So, if this horrible situation we are in is getting to you and you need something to ease your troubled mind, then tapping into these `sounds of solace` could be just the remedy you are looking for.
Reviewed by Euan Dixon
