Fourcolor - As Pleat

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4...according to our Phil on Thu 05 May, 2011.

Pretty much everything I've heard on this label has been great. Though I've only really heard the last 10-15 releases they've all been super high quality. I like that. I've not heard of this guy before but this is his 3rd release for the label (after Letter of Sounds and his debut Air Curtain). I like that... Air Curtain. Anyway, on first listen I can confirm this is lovely electro acoustic stuff. Processed guitars and electronics create a rich organic sounding album with an emphasis on melody. There's loads going on here though and some of the sounds he's created are amazing. It's a deep one with plenty of twinkles and tinkles and a small dose of clicky business (and there's even a dubby sounding track). Drones and tones are present but they're there as part of a larger picture. Really lush sounding stuff.

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Fourcolor is the solo project of Keiichi Sugimoto (Minamo, Filfla) and should be well known to the 12k audience with his two previous releases, Air Curtain (2004) and Letter of Sounds (2006) both highly regarded and now out of print, which established him as one of the label’s leading roster figures.

As Pleat takes the familiar sound of Fourcolor and explores some subtle new sonic territory. It’s as tonal and warm as always but he expands on his style by including more fractured, accidental sounds and an obvious growth in experience and talent. What makes Fourcolor’s music so engaging is how Sugimoto manages to coax a lovely spectrum of sounds from his guitar without it ever sounding too over-processed or digital. From bubbling, low bass that provides a foundation to woven harmonies, pulses, and shimmers, there is a rich palette of sounds created. Add in a bit of careful, jittery skip-editing and implied rhythms and a groove starts to emerge from the ambience. Hints of his poppier Filfla project also come into play once again as Fourcolor brings in some guest-vocals courtesy of Sanae Yamasaki (aka Moskitoo) who lends her angelic voice to “Quiet Gray 1” and “Iris (Familiar)” adding further dimension to the works.

As Pleat is unquestionably Fourcolor, but there is a pillow-like quality to the sound, a softness that plays beautifully off of the more organic edits and sharper plucks that all combines to create the most engaging Fourcolor album to date.

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