Review by Daniel for Plini - Handmade Cities (2016)

I've been aware of Plini's existence for a long time now given that he hails from my home town of Sydney although I've never gotten around to giving any of his records a spin until now & I can honestly say that I've been very impressed with the experience too. The dude not only has chops to burn but he also understands the value of quality song-writing. What we have here is a combination of djenty progressive metal, artsy progressive rock & experimental jazz fusion (three styles that offer a lot of appeal for me personally), all bundled up into your classic late 80's instrumental guitar virtuoso style package. Plini wears his influences on his sleeve as I can easily pick up elements of Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Allan Holdsworth & Al Di Meola in his sound however he still manages to give his solos his own personal touch as well. The thing that really dazzles me is his restraint & his stunning use of phrasing. This is certainly NOT your showiest guitar shredder record & that's a credit to Plini's understanding of what makes good music, something he's likely learnt from Satriani's philosophies on composition. He sounds like he's in total control at all times & there's not a note that's played without purpose & conviction. The simpler Satriani-esque melodies are definitely the highlight for me here, along with the more stripped back solos where Plini can be more emotive & expressive. Where he starts to lose me a bit is when he ventures into that quirky & joyous Frank Zappa-inspired territory that Steve Vai has so often made his own in the past. It all gets a little too arty-fartsy for my taste once things head in that pleasantly unintimidating early 80's jazz fusion direction but I don't ever feel like pressing skip because the promise of something more interesting is always only a few moments away.

Overall I'd suggest that "Handmade Cities" is a really solid example of the instrumental guitar record & has enough of a point of difference to represent a fresh take. What it lacks though is those one or two standout tracks that can elevate a "very solid" record to an "outstanding" one but you get the feeling that Plini has that in him on the evidence here & he may have already delivered on that potential for all I know.

For fans of Liquid Tension Experiment, Joe Satriani & Steve Vai.