"Gregg Plummer is one of those artists who defies easy description.   His music has a definite new age influence but lands squarely in the light ambient realm.   Either way we love his music!   Give it a listen and see if you agree." - Stillstream.com

The following is a review of Gregg Plummer's 2008 work, Invisible Bird:

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.

In the later tracks, Plummer explores a more spacey atmosphere, including the lovely nebula-lighted Track 8, "Dreams and Visions," which would not be out of place in a planetarium.   As for that "Invisible Bird," the title track (number 9) is the chilliest piece on the album.   There isn't a lot of scary material on this CD, unlike the disturbing "They Await" on his previous album VAST.   In fact, Plummer in a communication to his listeners has said that he removed an extremely scary piece from "Invisible" because it didn't fit.   And he was right to do that.   A quiet track is much more in keeping with the wan and wistful mood of this set.   There's no clue for us listeners as to what the "Invisible Bird" might mean, though the equally minimal graphics for his album include a smudgey photograph of what might be a dove, with a single word: "Peace."   It may or may not be a comment on the state of the world today.

The following is a review of Gregg Plummer's 2007 work, Vast:

VAST begins as a spacemusic album, rather melancholy in mood with a touch of "Gothic" added by ambient vocalist The Tunnel Singer - Lee Ellen Shoemaker in track 2, "Blessing."   True to classic space-ambient form, Plummer's music consists of slow smooth chord changes, layered with long synthesizer notes and lots of reverb. He works in both major and minor conventional keys, without too much reliance on the overworked modal/pentatonic sound of Euro-American ambient.   For instance, Track 3, "Sunspots," is in a quiet and "sunny" major key.

But by Track 4, "Spatial Curve," Plummer's album starts turning into something a bit darker and more ominous.   Track 5, "They Await," drops you right out of luminous space into a horrific world of ancient, inhuman intelligences from some black frozen abyss.   He uses an effective combination of a deep dark repeating four-note figure topped with knife-thin metallic atonal notes.   The next track, "Angel of Forgiveness," moves in a slow funereal orbit, while the piece after that, track 7 "Outside the Womb of Reality," places the listener in a nearly toneless, chilling world of technological drones, while in the distance what might be a persistent alarm bell warns of some unseen emergency.   But the composer is merciful, and in the last track, "Embracing Infinity," he returns the listener to the world of rationality and hope, as his slow-moving, icy sound-clouds part to reveal the sunlight of a major chord.

Gregg Plummer's VAST, while remaining within the "tradition" of synthesizer ambient, conveys plenty of emotion and could easily be the soundtrack to a science fiction or space film.   The music is purposeful and despite its slowness, it is concentrated enough to encourage imagination and visualization rather than putting you to sleep.   Forces of both light and darkness can co-exist in this "Vast" universe.