Porcelain Raft – Strange Weekend

Having impressed with four eclectic EPs (most notably last year's Gone Blind) and stirred significant buzz at 2011’s SXSW, Porcelain Raft release debut LP Strange Weekend. Entirely the work of Mauro Remiddi, these intricate soundscapes and layered vocals could easily be mistaken for the efforts of a collective. Standout numbers Is It Too Deep For You and Put Me To Sleep are especially striking, revealing Remiddi’s underlying pop sensibility.

When you suspect that these elaborate sonic swathes and drones are headed towards chaos, in sweep brittle acoustic guitars and tender vocals to maintain order and highlight his ear for melodic songwriting. This contrast of real and synthetic noise blends and counteracts in a fashion; along with Remiddi's androgynous vocals, it's strangely reminiscent to Blonde Redhead – no bad coincidence, of course. That it’s all the work of one frustratingly talented man operating in a Brooklyn basement is especially incredible.