Mauro Remiddi is a musician who began his career composing soundtracks to short films. In his recent years, he became an artist working with various bands. He formed the London-based indie psychedelic pop band Sunny Day Sets Fire in 2001 and collaborated with electropop group Filthy Dukes. In 2009, he went off as an indie dreampop solo artist under the artist name Porcelain Raft. His first album, Strange Weekend, released early January 2012.
Strange Weekend is a 10 track debut album. These songs mostly contain modern electronic instrumentation with slight 80’s influences. Remiddi uses an oldies voice in all the songs. The atmospheric air surrounding each song goes well with the “Strange” theme of the album.
The tracks on Strange Weekend fit a range of emotions. Songs like “Drifting In and Out”, “Picture”, and “Put Me to Sleep” tend to cheer up a melancholic mood. The dreamy sound and soft voice of Remiddi provides a calming listening environment.
“Drifting In and Out” features bending electropop pitches that vibrate throughout the song. They give the track a dreamy tone and a beat anyone can bob their head to. The electric guitar that comes in after 2 minutes serves as the transition to the bridge of the song, leading to the outro. It builds up into a white noise chord, and suddenly the song ends.
“Picture” opens up with a rough drum introduction, but eases out when the guitar chords enter. The high-pitched falsetto voice in the chorus that echoes the lines “I Know” and a capella sounds provides the contrasting melodic line.
Overall, Strange Weekend is an album worth purchasing. Mauro Remiddi’s genius combines the old with the new in terms of style. Based on Porcelain Raft’s debut album, he is definitely worth seeing live.
