This is by far the best of Plaid's releases to date. The album as a whole covers so many different genres of electronic music and hits them so perfectly that it is hard to know where it all went wrong with future releases. Anyway, if you have not already heard this album, then where have you been? Go get yourself a copy!
This is a masterpiece. Amazing.
As a huge Black Dog fan, I became a fan of these guys, too. But the brilliance of this album is that there is no trade-off of listenability and emotion, of originality and familiarity.
This sophistication of this release makes most other "IDM" releases seem jejune in comparison. The break down at the end of "Gel Lab" is a revelatory vista; "Shackblu", a perfect album-opener, is laid-back and funky yet satisfies the hunger for prettiness and warm strings. Ralome is gentle and wistful, with a forward yet calm finesse that is life-affirming.
But, caveat: no license for snobbery here- "Dang Spots" is music to jump around to! And "Little People" with its scratches and breaks wills your head into bobbing to its big lovely melodies.
Ed and Andy do it again...Top Ten album to take it with you, if you could...