For Beginner Piano

Plone | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 28, 1999)
• Original Release Date: September 28, 1999
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Matador Records
• ASIN: B00001IVAI
• Also Available in: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #106,629 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #26 in Music > Indie Music > Dance & DJ > IDM

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars forget the comparisons, January 26, 2001

By 

bowery boy (seattle) - See all my reviews

This review is from: For Beginner Piano (Audio CD)

people keep comparing this cd to other groups and musicians which boxes it in and places loftly expectations on it. (if i were to compare it i would say think air's "remember" or "kelly, watch the stars!". vocoder vocals, funky 70s bass lines and simple synth beats. i know. . . i'm being hypocritical) so when i bought this cd i was expecting kraftwerk-like rhythms or autechre=like beats (after all they are on the warp label) needless to say i was disappointed at first listen. then, i threw all of the pre-concieved ideas that were shoved on me out of my head and listened to it again with a clear open mind. lo and behold! i discovered that this is one of the freshest, funnest simplest CDs i've ever bought. i won't try to explain the songs or describe the style (with the exception of my hypocritical comparison at the begining of this review), i just suggest that you buy it, listen to it, and enjoy it without paying any attention to what anyone has to say about the cd. you'll love it based on it's own merits. i did.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Catchy melodies, but perhaps not a "keeper", April 4, 2000

By 

Bryan O'Sullivan (CA, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: For Beginner Piano (Audio CD)

Listening to "For Beginner Piano" provides a fine opportunity to play "spot the influence". For me, at least, the closest antecedents to this album would be European instrumental music from the late 1960s through the early 1980s. From Kraftwerk-like abstraction, through stirring tunes that sound for all the world like old Ennio Morricone movie soundtracks, this album is a journey in nostalgia.

Every track on this album is immediately accessible, but I don't really feel like there's enough depth or variety to keep me coming back to it. Once you've listened to a given tune a few times, you're unlikely to get more out of it. The simplicity of the music is beguiling, but it also leaves "For Beginner Piano" bereft of lasting impact.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Pleasure of Synthetic Euro-Pop Melodies, October 6, 1999

By 

Sam Grawe (SF, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: For Beginner Piano (Audio CD)

Those familiar with Plone's earlier singles should know what to expect from this album. Not only does it include two of the songs from those releases, PLOCK and PRESS A KEY, but the rest of the tracks are quite similar in nature. For curious electro-trainspotters this album is unlike any other in the Warp catalog, so dont expect any Squarepusher jungle, or Autechre bit-bleepage. Plone's simple "fischer price melodies" and "lego beats" (from Matador's promotional sticker on the wrapper) hark back to Kraftwerk and the 1980's electro-pop, while at the same time referencing current analog trendsetters AIR and I.S.A.N. That's not to say that Plone dont have a sound of their own or that this album isn't a worthy addition to anyone's music collection. "For Beginner Piano" has been worth the wait (for those few of us who have been looking forward to it all summer). Every song on the album is great. That said, I shall register my one complaint: about 2/3rds of the pieces start to sound very similar upon listening to the disc as a whole. On a record that doesn't break the forty minute mark, that's a little dissapointing. Its as simple as a favored chord change and melody (that lilting minor chord sort of Euro-sound from French and Italian records of the 60's), but you would think that such talented musicians would persue a little more variation on a disc of such brevity. If you like melodic music with a sense of humour (BE RUDE TO YOUR SCHOOL could be the uplifting theme from the end of an 8-bit Nintendo game) and analog synths, check out this disc... you will love it.