s w e e t b e a t s
october.02.2001 - #746
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artist : Plastiq Phantom
album : Enjoy the Art of Lying Down
year : 2001
label : Sweet Mother
genre : Lo-Fi
catalogue : NE PRSMCD0110
url : www.plastiqphantom.com
quality : CD 192k HQ True Stereo
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01.Plastiq Phantom - Track Before 2 00:35
02.Plastiq Phantom - Birds 03:12
03.Plastiq Phantom - Select Imputor 03:34
04.Plastiq Phantom - Kicking Mister Bubbles 04:03
05.Plastiq Phantom - Slouch 03:43
06.Plastiq Phantom - A Simple Chaos 03:28
07.Plastiq Phantom - 492 Cups to China 03:39
08.Plastiq Phantom - Raincoat Sonata #2 04:26
09.Plastiq Phantom - Data Relapse 00:34
10.Plastiq Phantom - Falling Through Windows 05:41
11.Plastiq Phantom - Transmodular Binary Influx 02:20
12.Plastiq Phantom - Edison 06:25
13.Plastiq Phantom - The Fifth Season 01:36
14.Plastiq Phantom - Uncleclipper 01:17
15.Plastiq Phantom - Experimentation on Foreign Light 03:41
16.Plastiq Phantom - Cultivated Oscillations 04:32
16 tracks | 52:46 mins | 72,6 MB
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The overall sound of Plastiq Phantom is not too distant from some
Ennio Morricone material. It's somewhat emotional, not overly
complex and able to create a fully functional world. You get your
walls of lush textures, your hip-hoppety garden beats
("Transmodular Binary Influx") and your flushing toilets (sampled
during a multi-purpose trip to the lavatory, in "Data Relapse")
too. Departures from Morricone's sound are obvious too, as Plastiq
Phantom's past is indelibly contained here; this is
autobiographical electronica, in which the tone of the tracks makes
it obvious that he once was in an indie pop band with a Yogi Bear
crush (Family Size), or even that he once dug the first ten (and
only first ten) seconds of a bizarre experimental piece
(ascertained from the loop-crazy insanity of "Cultivated
Oscillations").
While a few simpler song titles might work better in the overall
meaning of his art -- I don't see any of this having much to do
with technology, despite being electronic -- there's a great deal
of humanity and warmth in these sound pieces. You don't play this
disc while sitting down, admiring the cover art. Enjoy the Art of
Lying Down is music best heard while on the move, be it in one's
dreams or in one's daily movement from home to workplace, workplace
to church, etc.
There's a wonderful bonus track here, too, and I think it should be
judged in total separation from the other material. In this fun and
funny piece, samples from Public Enemy and Chariots of Fire help
set the foundation, while one Beaver-like kid tries to answer
another one on the question, "What's a penis?".
"Even hardcore music fans must admit that 'intelligent dance
music' is in peril of becoming as wonky and unexciting as stamp
collecting. But Seattle's Darrin Wiener-aka Plastiq Phantom- is one
of a handful of young American producers out to steer IDM away from
the processing-trick-of-the-month-club, most recently on his debut
album, Enjoy the Art of Lying Down. In a move destined to
scandalize the geekiest IDM geeks, Wiener uses loads of
straight-outta-the-preset sort of sounds, complete with pomp-y
strings and chimes, while the stately, intricate beats of a cut
like "Kicking Mister Bubbles" come across more like the work of an
orchestral percussionist than a breakbeat kingpin. Wiener's knack
for old-old-old-school concepts like melody, structure, and even
classical counterpoint means that the tinkling tune behind the
stripped down techno of '492 Cups to China' sticks with you like a
double order of lo mein and the tiptoeing melody line, echoing
strings, and skittering beats of 'Edison' will haunt your steps on
lonely streets for weeks."
- Lee Gardner (NYLON - Feb. 2001)
Enjoy The Art Of Lying Down. (Sweet Mother)
"Plastiq Phantom's version of chill-out music doesn't owe nearly as
much to his European counterparts as you might think. While he's
cited influence from notable IDM (Intelligent Dance Music) artists
like Aphex Twin, Luke Vibert and Mu-Ziq, he pulls from less obvious
sources on his debut album. In fact for a callow 21-year-old
Seattle-born DJ, Plastiq Phantom (a.k.a. Darrin Wiener) possesses a
remarkably unique and unconventional style. Over the 17 tracks on
Enjoy The Art Of Lying Down, it's apparent that he isn't so much
interested in relaxing his audience as luring them in with pleasant
melodies and then messing with their heads. But that's also part of
Wiener's charm. On tracks like "Kicking Mister Bubbles," he updates
Mike Oldfield's new-age anthem, "Tubular Bells" before kicking his
drum machine into hyper-syncopation mode. Shades of symphonic
gradeur sprout up more than once, most notabley on the piano- and
string-driven "Falling Through Windows" and the Stravinsky tribute
"The Fifth Season." By album's end, Wiened's sense is in full force
on "Cultivated Oscillations," a collage of stell drum loops, Public
Enemy Samples, and snippets from a children's sex-education record
that turns booty bass on its head."
--KURI KONDRAK (CMJ New Music Monthly)
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s w e e t b e a t s
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greetings to klangwerk, mgc, sour, dh, impg & sfe
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