Classical guitarist and composer Giuseppe Bonaccorso delivers an intoxicating conceptual deep-dive with his latest project – an album artistically exploring the idea of atonal progressive music, by way of avant-garde presentations and electronic detailing in line with the organic playing of his unplugged instrument.
Featuring six original works, Plastic Triode begins with Luminescence – a disconcerting audio realm, combining soothing fingerstyle guitar with gasps of breath and canned spoken vocals that captivate and unsettle.
The vintage crackle of an age-old recording invites a level of time-transcending escapism with this music, the set-up appearing focused on its topic, but also pouring through with a sort of improvised, live performance freedom that’s unpredictable yet calming.
Provocative fragments of voice continue to intrigue, as Melting watch presents us with the concept of time as an illusion, and proceeds to pair sweet melodies with mild dissonance, and distant, chaotic production that sounds almost like a sci-fi scene or haunting circus of static and noise. The action evolves as we progress through another near-five-minute composition, marching in time with the ticking clock or these rising and falling musical crescendos.
It’s a fascinating style, both eerie and comforting, and in many ways, Bonaccorso has quite perfectly encapsulated the precise implications and ideas intended with the artistic depth and equal dark and lightness of the music.
Rabbit hole is a defiant highlight, a familiar story reimaged amidst a rhythmic electronic realm and juxtaposed organic, acoustic guitar performance that’s intimate and honest in the face of uncertainty and distantly warped images and ideas. You really have to listen to understand, but while this feels in some ways like two opposing worlds or styles, there’s a bold degree of relevance to the dreamy and unnerving combination of elements that rain down throughout this composition and imagined story.
“Madness is not an option here, it’s the solution.”
Simulated mirages takes this approach further still, a much more bold and futuristic or apocalyptic sense of cinema and intention effortlessly contrasting the peaceful meanderings of our acoustic guitar performance. This is another highlight for how easy it is to lose yourself within the chaos, concern, wonder, and majesty of the music.
Persona follows with arguably the most uncomfortable listen yet – a swirling arena of electronically programmed winds, a storm of sound and rhythm, with fragments of bass and guitar, and those ever-familiar instances of spoken vocal guiding your thoughts down a relevant pathway. Echoing caves drip water as our protagonist and musician consistently attempts to both engage with and unnerve his audience. This piece is as captivating as any, a post seven-minute journey that’s forever shifting gears and turning unexpected corners.
Nucleation wraps things up with perhaps the most retro-electronic work of all – an old-school cinematic sci-fi venture through robotic sounds and rising rhythmic hits, as a crackled voice whispers hints of scenes and incoming drama; amidst an almost Willy Wonka-esque factory setting of busy hands and never-ending processes.
Somewhat uniting outright simplicity and fearless complexity, Plastic Triode is tyrannical treat for the ears and the mind. Highly experimental, unlike anything else you’ll delve into this season – the project is a timeless, uninhibited, provocative collection of original tracks, from a talented musician with a clear passion for exploring the unexplored as a sound-designer and performer.
Find out more via Giuseppe Bonacorso’s Website. Follow Giuseppe on Facebook, X, TikTok & Instagram.
