If it seems like some of the initial excitement around Porcelain Raft has faded a bit since their 2010 debut, chalk it up to fans coming to terms with the fact that PR mastermind Mauro Remiddi is, in fact, an earthling and not some E.T. (emo-terrestrial) zooming around the galaxy with a synth and a four-track. When Remiddi’s perfectly formed first EP, Gone Blind, came out in 2011, it felt like six tiny, perfectly formed moon rocks had fallen from space into our ears. Rarely was the expression album drop more apropos.
2012's Strange Weekend, from 2012, was a lost broadcast of androgynous android doo-wop and decayed signal patterns, as if Remeddi had remixed NASA launch data (as opposed to the U.S. Open tennis data James Murphy remixed for IBM), but the record somehow still jibed with his self-created tag of “sleepwalking pop.” Now earthbound, the Italian lives in Brooklyn with a wife and dog like a regular human dude. Still, his music has lost none of its interstellar charm.
Like his original output, Remiddi has once again created an alternate musical universe with A JukeBox in the White Whale. A soundtrack to life on another neighboring planet—which may come in handy when this one becomes inhospitable.
“This is a collage of music I love which somehow is connected to NY. Music I've heard in some local DIY venue, music made by musicians based or once based here, or simply music I repeatedly listen to while at home. I chose ten tracks. As you will hear I tried it not to be too safe; some are known artists, some less so. It is very moody, I like it very much and hope you do too. There is this Polish bar in Greenpoint that I often like to visit. I imagine this music to be played there. This is a juke box left in the belly of the White Whale.”
Porcelain Raft plays Cameo Gallery with Noveller and Ponyhof Thu 29.
Tracklist:
1. Robert Ashley (Extract from Private Parts)
2. Clam Casino (Lvl)
3. Vatican shadow (Chopper Crash...)
4. Le Petite Chanter, Young Congo Sings (Extract from Imbie-Ya Ngo)
5. Martin Rev (Te Deum)
6. Jefre Cantu Ledesma (Song Of Forgiveness)
7. Emar Diem (Frame 2)
8. Lord Invader (extract from Out The Fire)
9. Alberich (Gold)
10. Pruriest (Washed Against the Rock)
