Former guitarist of Eternal Tapestry and collaborator of Jackie-O Motherfucker, Dewey Mahood returns to focus on his favorite creature: Plankton Wat.
With the help of Dustin Dybvig (drummer of the Rose City Band), James Shaver (bassist in Abronia and Deep Earth) and Victor Nash (trumpet player in the Decemberists), the Portland musician continues his interpretation of the 70s rock canons of bands like Can and King Crimson, with a post-hippy attitude and an expansive psychedelic streak managed with sufficient technical mastery. Having archived the experience with the Thrill Jockey, Plankton Wat have scaled down the more adventurous nuances, focusing on more angular sounds. However, there remains room for introspective moments in a psych-prog key, enriched by the incursions of an unusual and magnetic trumpet, capable of emotionally oscillating between free-jazz and post-rock.
Intelligently derivative, “The Vanishing World” finds solid foundations in the impeccable touch of James Shaver's bass, protagonist together with the rest of the band of the tightrope escape in Allman Brothers style meets afro-funk of “Kaldi”, and unique star of the splendid “Hot Tropics”, which I like to imagine as a potential demo of the latest Jimi Hendrix. As monolithic as it may appear, “The Vanishing World” moves easily from the ethereal sounds of “Synesthesia” to the atypical mix of shoegaze and jam-rock of “Forgotten Dreams”, where the voice becomes the protagonist.
And it is precisely this assiduous and restless sequence of instrumental textures that is the strong point of a record that feeds on the virtuosity of “Iberia” and evocative pages that become the object of sonic raids elaborated in “Black Satin”, in a tour de force that remains in the balance between creativity and rigor.
07/21/2026
Daniel D`Amico for SANREMO.FM
