24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
beautiful, December 13, 1999
This review is from: Not for Threes (Audio CD)
Plaid and Black Dog (the previous incarnation of Plaid) are a little treasure known only to true electronica lovers. I wouldn't define them a quintessential electronica group like Autechre or Aphex Twin (who is a rather plural musician): programming is only an instrument to express their musical ideas. That's why they can take the human voice so seriously: listen to a full-fledged vocal song like Rakimou, and you'll notice the difference with the little children's sampled voices of Aphex or of Board of Canada. Consistently with this approach, they treat synthesizer as a classic instrument; as a result, their timbric palette is very "clean", without much noise or experimentation with artificial sounds. Plaid know how to craft a good melody and how to make a drum not sound dull, two qualities hard to find in the same group. And, they are not afraid to mix sophisticated tracks with danceable, commercial ones. For the first group, check out Lilith; for the second Spudnik. There is an underlying fascination by early music (milk) or eastern music (Rakimou). But every song is very gracious and definitely original. If you happen to be a novice to the "intelligent techno" world, and would like an enjoyable introduction, flawlessly realized, resistant to heavy rotation, good for both careful listening and background noise, consider this. Another beautiful CD could be the second of the "Artificial Intelligence" series of Warp Records.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Superb Place to Start....if your New to "Plaid", February 16, 2005
This review is from: Not for Threes (Audio CD)
Plaid have had a celebrated past with electronica, having long since not only been part of a (then) fledgling 'Warp' label. but this release, An album, before they made the jump to the Warp Label, is nothing, if not a consistently re-firmation that Plaid have been consistently making superb albums for sometime now, that are an amalgamation of: trip-hop, electro-techno, IDM, Experimental and ambient electronic, that remain tightly woven across the tracks on their albums and retain a cerebral yet hypnotic sound, that is remarkably unique to them, and all the more surprising that this album still stands up brilliantly today, as it did, when released back in 1998.
The album opens with "Abla Eedio", that is a energetic piece of experimental electronica, fused with the ingenuity for melody and skittering beats that would later become someting for a trademark sound for Plaid. It even has a little of that 'Start' / 'Stop' dynamic with the sound, that is probably more associated with music based around 'Glitch', it's a wonderfully powerful statement of intent for the album and proves to be a very strong opening track. More incredibly "Myopia" is electronica, by way of a pairing with a Caribbean/Calypso melody, that seems like it's been lifted directly from a tropical fruit drink advert, with the subtle twinkling Melody coupled with the Caribbean vibe and the sampling of some superb steel drums , this is a reasonably different departure in sound from the rest of the albums more hypnotic & freewheeling sound, and yet doesn't feel completely out of place, such is Plaid's ability to make albums that are varied in sound, but remain complete in structure.
Anyone familiar with Plaid's remix of "Nicolette's - No Government" will be in similar territory here, with the harsh, and stunningly abrasive "Extork" with the direction of the music taking a surprisingly Utopian & ambitious approach with driving stark beats, persistent bass effects, on a tune, that harks back to the sound of someone like 'Aphex Twin' at some of his more Acerbic. This is one of only a handful of vocals tracks on the albums, but the restrained use of vocals on those tracks is impressive, as Plaid give more emphasis to fractured sound, and Clinical rhythmic beats and solid bass lines, than being reliant on vocalists, to carry the tracks.
The move to a more industrial sound is largely complete with the excellent "Fer", with it's brooding metallic sounds, and galvanising beats, its spare on the percussion side of things and instead focuses on Lo-Fi Bass, and uplifting synths balancing out a very detached and nocturnal arrangement, almost intrusive series of rhythms, that although minimal in their construction are nonetheless significant in this track, that feels similar to the work of early "Autechre", as it remains stripped back to it most basic levels, yet strangely hypnotic and paranoid, and just as reliant on crisp drum-machine patterns to produce something more recognisable by ambient-techno, than electronica.
If your new to Plaid's distinctive brand of electronica, you really couldn't find a better place to start than this album. It combines everything that is so superb about Plaid. A remarkable album in that is not only is melodic and beautifully arranged, but shows a high level of ingenuity and diversity, that makes this such a delight to listen to, and shows that not only do that have a keen ear for sound, but also know how to fully expolit that sound for the benefit of the recordings, that sits on the more comfortable end of intelligent electronic music, and the fact that even today, that the tracks all stand up more than admirably and remain as enjoyable listenable as they did back on its initial release, highly recommended.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
music that cares for people who care, December 5, 2001
This review is from: Not for Threes (Audio CD)
This music quite possibly saved my life; it gave me hope during a very dark time. Plaid manages to have a sense of humour while being very eclectic, intelligent, and beautiful. This album is NOT for music snobs - the people I know who love this album don't necessarily like this genre, but rather have curious, compassionate, slightly childish personalities in common.
This music is complex, but sounds very simple and natural. It's very sincere, but at once casual and effortless. To me, this music is like a person...when I have Not for Threes playing in the room, I'm never alone. This music not only speaks; it embraces with loving arms. It may take some time to grow on you, and you may have to have something happen to you that makes you grow up a little before you can appreciate this music, but this album is among the most beautiful I've heard: loving, thoughtful, funny, fragile, very human music.
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