Label: R Cat Records

Producer: WJ Plecha

Release Date: 2006

WJ Plecha's Private Investigations is a 'double CD' pack featuring some engaging photography from Ian Hanslope and somewhere around 28 tracks of pure, unadulterated, intercontinental 'electronica 4 film' music. Private Investigations is a gift from an artist that has never lost his appreciation or preference for unpredictability.

Rather than issue the set as a 'disc one - disc two' deal, WJ has decided upon naming the discs 'Open' and 'Closed' which is a loose reference to open and closed case files for his private investigations. It's a unique approach and it's time to see how the album itself fares..

'Open' has Polar Paradise at the journey's start and we're immediately treated to a bass/percussion pacing with some gliding sweeps and industrialized riff collages emerging here and there. The thing that's pretty obvious to the beholder on first listening is the fact that there's a nice build up in the arrangements that's bright and upbeat with plenty going on around the core sequences. Play this one loud and follow the mutliplied melodies!

See Life relies on drums and bass in it's initial build up to entice the senses. I can see this track being 'cased' for quite a few purposes that would include dance electronica all the way across to a truly clever background event for end titles. As the track progresses, we get a clearer idea of how WJ might have visualized the sweeping lights and lasers to accompany the really outstanding finale. Case 001 meanwhile, has splinters of Eastern influence here and there and some really nice string work to accompany the Asian percussion and Antarctic sweeps. Female Voice samples are pleasantly surprising as they kinda lead you over to more Mediterranean climbs and again we are treated to some lucidity as the track closes.

Liquid Enlightenment takes the flavour of the album further north and you can see that the artist has quite an insight into the value of unpredictability in electronica composition and production. Very often these days, artists can commit to an electronica project, however classy on the production and software side of things, but ultimately, the proof of the pudding in this highly competitive genre is the uniqueness in approach. Liquid Enlightement is certainly unique in that sense and my guess is the track will stand the test of time in pretty much the same way as many Tangerine Dream and Kraftwerk titles have.

On to The Storm Has Ended.. WJ has chosen another pacing series of rhythms to illustrate his adherence to soundscape scaffolding and other traditional rules of the trade. It's clear that WJ's fondness and appreciation for cello and string quartet arrangements is rather high. The addition of harp against a backdrop of pacing percussives further on down the line makes the track stand out that bit more and as the title suggests.. a little like the clearing of grey cloudy skies.

Teela's On A Rainbow escorts the listener along a vast shore of color and tonal vibrancy as the fairground-like tunes and effects maintain an engaging horizon in the distance. Musically, Teela is a very clever track with so many compositional incidents occuring that it's actually quite refreshing without ever becoming sedatory.. Teela keeps you awake and interested from beginning to end. Case 002 has absolutely taken things to another plane of existence altogether and again, the artist has stuck entirely to the plan in providing an album as diverse as possible without spoiling the syntax that Private Investigations was conceived to manage and maintain. Watch out for the cleverly mixed ending that WJ Plecha has now got us all accustomed to!

Common Abnormality follows Case 002 but leaves the known realms far in the distance. It's an interesting track filled with dynamic walking tempo meanderings that are occasionally interrupted by glistening industrializations and anthemic thematics. (I was just testing to see if you were really that attentive!). Common Abnormality is further evidence of WJ's insight into the genre and I get the feeling that, rather than provide music for some kind of expected or anticipated feedback, WJ has relinquished all ties with everything other than the job at hand... making a damn good piece of music!

Otherworld begins with choir elements that lead you to assume one thing when suddenly some nice string inserts have you assuming something else. This is the stuff of incidental music, especially half way across the track's play plan.. nice momentary inserts and an overall outstanding arrangement make this piece a true treasure that demands to be played repeatedly. By the time we get to the title track Private Investigations, it's very clear that WJ Plecha's debut album is truly worth it's weight in gold. Rising and falling sweeps and pads are caressed by some truly progressive vocal sequences supported by some fleeting yet haunting soundscapings. Private Investigations is a superb piece of incidental music that could have done with being extended in my view but I won't go rocking boats that are actually already moored in all the right places.

Ainslie is somewhat of a departure from the previous pieces we've seen so far. Here, the soundscaping is a little less confined and made to be completely engaging. I've always been a little weary of whale song in music... it's ike a whole load of artists messed with cetacea and pan pipes especially during the late nineties but in this track, WJ gets the sounds to act like signposts to something engaging and inescapable rather than utterly transient and over-laboured. Points of Grace on the other hand is almost festive in it's flavouring and color and the nice glass-like fragility in the piano and harp work is all the more engulfing and enchanting.... a bit like a crystalline snow-covered landscape is to the eyes on the first day of snowfall. Again, WJ utilizes the srength of orchestral sounds in the form of horns rather than cellos to add that touch of casual expression and contemporary classicalisms.

Case 003 brings back the lone female visitor to WJ Plecha's Private Investigations office complete with cigarette holder and lipstick and a pair of high-end Bose speakers. The separation employed in the final mixdown has reaped rewards for the percussion and strings throughout the track and it is, without doubt a splendid performance all round!

Wild Ride brings us to the end of disc one.. or 'Open' as WJ would have it, and of course, the track has been rather aptly titled in it's provocation of images of a wild ride either by scooter, skateboard, or Star Wars land cruisers. The track resides on the fast tempo side of the spectrum and will undoubtedly become a lasting memory of the close of the first CD. There are some outstanding uses of percussion and integrated sweeps especially as the track divides itself off from it's former excursions with some random floods of cascading electro-euphoria. Wild Ride is a true Plecha classic and I can think of no better way to end the journey so far on.

With the first CD packed neatly into position, it's time to take out the second... 'Closed' . The opening track is the magnificent east-industrial Hope Springs Ethereal which unfolds amidst clouding rhythms and desert soundscapes that take the idea of electronica production to it's absolute height withut the necessity for anything that could make the track overbearing or unwelcome. What a great opener for disc two!

Dreams In Colors comes to us in the form of a musical Pandora's box.. the likes of which I haven't heard since Isao Tomita unleashed his superbly inaugurated electronic-classical renditions upon the world in the late seventies. Dreams in Colors is Fen Shui room music... your entitlement to aromatherapy candles, incense, and curiously positioned light furnishings has now been realised as you listen most intently.

Case 004 begins in India, races to the West Coast of the United States, and does a lap of honour somewhere in the region of Western Europe. There's alot of inspiration and imagination that's gone into this one and no doubt, a lot of thought. It's another superb piece of music that adds a little more shine to the rest of the collection.

Clones has me wondering if WJ was intending to make the second CD a little more upbeat than the first and upbeat is certainly what this little classic was conceived to be. With lots of clublandations spread thoughout, the track exudes the magic of dance, atmosphere, and intelligent electropop which, is quite an outing from the trips offered on 'Open'. But then, just as you thought it was safe to chill, comes Momentus Nightmaricus - an adventure in fast paced Voltage Controlled Oscillation and carefully selected waveforms. Momentus is an outstanding pierce of music and one that deserves a number of observations from different angles. Watch out for the suddeness of things towards the ending!

Nephthys is made all the more interesting by the way the arrangement acts like a kaleidascopic sound collage with some nice sweeps following the passive keyboard riffs and intensely lit and uplifting pads. This is perhaps the second most electropop of WJ's adventures so far on this disc and it's also quite possibly the most innovative.

Night Sky With Black Moon reaches out towards the tribal in one sense and yet lets it go just as soon as we notice. It's one of the things that makes WJ Plecha a classy Private Investigator.. thorough research and observation, priority appointments, detailed follow-ups, and seeing things through right to the end!

Now, for some reason known only to the producer, Case 006 actually preceeds Case 005! The thing is... it works brilliantly... here we have a nice Jarre-esque feel that's been re-modelled into something much more adventurous with unscalable unpredictability and unfathomable cohesion. The rhythm work is exceptional and the sweeps are quietly transcending as they guide your vision to something wonderful. Case 005 is the brilliance that follows Case 006 all the way to that place where music produced by mortals in moments becomes timeless. Cleverly realized strings and piano sequences that surface about half way through the track add beauty and strength to the entire soundscape making it one of the most endearing tunes performed thus far.

Healing of the Heart slows the pace down a few notches and we're guests in a great hall built specifically for late nights only. Of course, Mr Plecha would not have arranged such gatherings without having something rather extraordinary occur and so this piece becomes the epitaph in sound we've come to admire and appreciate.

Shadows Of The Endless is a perfect follow up to Healing of the heart with it's occasional reflections of Vangelis and Brian Eno and with it's subliminal sweeps and colortones acting like a fresh breeze across a field of already excited electrons. The composer's imagination shares its unbridled imagery with the listener and you feel like your being drawn quite voluntarily into that distant yet reachable tangible realm.

The thing about June Iwosaki that makes the track stand out most is the new age blessings that manifest themselves in the form of slow meandering sweeps that give one the vision of a feast of pastels and acrylics during their first sweep across the canvas. It's a short incidental piece but nicely delivered.

Flowers For A Moon Godess is a superb piece of music that comes fully equipped with an armoury of melodies and a kind of bright optimism continually evolving around the thoughtfully laid out sequences. Again, WJ Plecha has shown us another approach to intelligent electronica that bridges European and American influence to form an identity that's pretty unique.

Finally, this 2 CD spectacular of hidden promise and sensual delight comes to an end with Lock the Door - here we see Plecha aligning a little more attention towards the 'global' percussion treatments that he seems to have made a feature in much of the work contained within his Private Investigations project. I've just visited the Edmonton Fringe Festival on Whyte Avenue which would have been made a couple of touches brighter with this track... especially for some of the stunning dance routines that were made freely available for passers by like me to enjoy!

Private Investigations is not a 'pioneering' album as such, but it is explicit in it's honesty for the genre and in it's simple true-to-form innovation in soundscaping. For the price of a single independent CD, you get your money's worth in many more ways than you could possibly have hoped for and I'm hoping that WJ Plecha's next album is something R Cat Records already has at hand!

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