PRESS REVIEWS (2)

"Verplanken is a French musician performing modern e-music with a variety of influences ranging from electronica to Berlin-school to Kraftwerk-styled krautrock. Performing mostly on digital synths with sampled vocals (in accented English).The percussion is programmed but fairly inventive rather than the usual insipid 4/4 techno beats; it sounds more like found sounds or musique concrète.

I am reminded a bit of Jean-Michel Jarre in that the music is based in electronica and is not overly complex, but Verplanken definitely takes more after the darker French school including artists such as Zed, Pinhas, or Zanov. Verplanken's material can be more abstract still, approaching industrial noise or modern electro-acoustic music similar to Zoviet France or similar noise makers.

The final influence on Verplanken comes from minimalism, as many of the tracks consist of brief cells of music repeated with little variation. While Verplanken has numerous influences distilled into his music, I can't help but feel a bit disconnected from it. It is something academically interesting but emotionally distancing, and I think something with no vocal samples, or samples in French, or samples by an Anglophone, would probably remove a lot of my distraction. An odd and adventurous release, though, and that counts for something".

  (Exposé - USA)