INVISIBLE BIRD (2008)   Reviewer: Pyracantha   Gregg Plummer, based in arty San Francisco, has been making ambient music for more than a decade.   Most of what I've heard of his is seriously moody, much more for contemplation than any kind of driving action.   His new album, "Invisible Bird," which is self-published, is definitely in the meditative mood category.   

"Invisible Bird" consists of ten medium-length (5 to 7 minutes long) sound picture pieces, each with an enigmatic abstract title that reveals little.  Plummer, at least in this album, does not stray beyond tonality.   He builds his pieces from major and modal harmonies, with a couple of the tracks settling into pentatonic sequences.   He can build a piece from just a few notes, which would qualify him as a "minimalist," but his textures are lush enough to amplify the minimal harmonies into a larger statement.

In this he is similar to Tim Story, and this album does indeed remind me of Story's heartbroken style, especially the last track, "Goodbye for Now."   Plummer may be one of the few composers I know who can evoke a sad mood with a major key. Like Tim Story, there is an implied narrative in these quiet, slow image-pieces, but the composer isn't telling you what it is. >>more