Rest Proof Clockwork

Plaid, Plaid & Bob Jaroc | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 22, 1999)
• Original Release Date: June 22, 1999
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Nothing Records
• ASIN: B00000J8BZ
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #301,030 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #94 in Music > Indie Music > Dance & DJ > IDM

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

British music rag NME once dubbed Black Dog "the most revered techno outfit since Kraftwerk." After Ed Handley and Andy Turner disbanded Black Dog in 1995, they began recording under the name Plaid. While Not for Threes was overshadowed by the ghost of Black Dog, Plaid's sophomore outing, Rest Proof Clockwork, shows a slightly matured sound. Both albums were recorded for Plaid's home-base label, the techno-pioneering Warp, and though often filed under "intelligent dance music," their sound is less fitting in the clubs than in one's living room. Many of the tracks here have a playful, childlike quality ("Dang Spots"), while others recall the retro, switched-on sound of Wendy Carlos's soundtrack to A Clockwork Orange ("Lambs Eye"). A must-have for anyone seeking to expand their techno horizons. --Courtney Reimer

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Plaid are making the only truly timeless techno music., October 14, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Rest Proof Clockwork (Audio CD)

Unless you count Bjork, who appeared on last year's overwhelming Not For Threes. This album isn't quite as indelible as that masterpiece, featuring too many Electric Boogaloo / Herbie Hancock funk-downs for my taste ( which runs more toward the oneiric and otherworldly ) but the decision NOT to include famous chanteuses this time out was a good one, as Plaid's music is always at its best and most unsettling when stripped of comfortingly familiar presences.

The bottom line: If you're a newcomer to Plaid buy Not For Threes first. Then take a plunge and buy Black Dog's Spanners by the same musicians -- the most Mozartean, well-structured electronic music I've heard. Then you'll be ready for the after-dinner mint which is Rest Proof Clockwork.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars wise, witty and wonderful, August 31, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Rest Proof Clockwork (Audio CD)

In their previous incarnation as two thirds of The Black Dog, Plaid's Ed Handley and Andy Turner helped create the godlike Spanners, the crowning achievement of Sheffield's beeps 'n' beats movement and Nevermind's only serious competition for Best Album of the Decade. They've never been as in-yer-face as Britbeat crossover successes like Fatboy Slim or The Chemical Brothers, but their music is wise, witty and wonderful. The follow-up to 1997's 'Not For Threes' is achingly beautiful in the way that only Plaid can be. As usual, they have so many great tunes at their disposal they frequently use more than one during a single song, mixing up heartwarming electro and smoky dub with jungle beats and funky off-the-wall rhythms. The titles - spellcheck nightmares like Shackbu, Ralome and Pino Pomo - are as opaque as the music is soulful and sexy; the gorgeous melodies are the sound of boxfuls of techno ping-pong balls bouncing down flights of musical stairs; the electronica is so warm and welcoming you want to lie down and take a bath in it. The world feels like a better place after you've listened to Rest Proof Clockwork.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Extra tracks" ?, June 26, 2000

By 

S. E. True "spazquest" (Seattle) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rest Proof Clockwork (Audio CD)

I recently listened to the U.S. release on Nothing Records (and thoroughly enjoyed it). I haven't gotten to compare the import version, but please be forewarned that the only "extra track" I see on the listing, "Face Me," is actually included on the US version as a secret track at the end of "Air Locked".