IDM Mailing Archive

quoted 4 lines From: "James" <JSEO@us.oracle.com>

>From: "James" <JSEO@us.oracle.com> >Subject: (idm) NME in Plaid > >and Not For Threes is rather disappointing.

Hmm - ever so slightly disappointing. I love this LP because the sounds, the structures, the skewed funk, the little melodies, basically everything I loved about old BDP stuff is on here. The only problem is the production - it's just that bit too smooth and over-worked - as a result, any kind of roughness (which was the icing on the cake of tracks like _Focus Mel_) has been sanded over and lost. Nearly all the tracks have the skippy little beautiful melody/bass/chord mixups that's their trademark - it's closer to the smoothness of _Spanners_ though than the variety and more chaotic nature of _Bytes_. Still damn astounding in places - completely recommended. || [CiM] || simonw@sol.ftp.com || -

At 10:18 am +0100 29/9/97, Simon Walley wrote:

quoted 15 lines From: "James" <JSEO@us.oracle.com>

>>From: "James" <JSEO@us.oracle.com> >>Subject: (idm) NME in Plaid >> >>and Not For Threes is rather disappointing. > >Hmm - ever so slightly disappointing. I love this LP because the sounds, >the structures, the skewed funk, the little melodies, basically everything >I loved about old BDP stuff is on here. The only problem is the production >- it's just that bit too smooth and over-worked - as a result, any kind of >roughness (which was the icing on the cake of tracks like _Focus Mel_) has >been sanded over and lost. Nearly all the tracks have the skippy little >beautiful melody/bass/chord mixups that's their trademark - it's closer to >the smoothness of _Spanners_ though than the variety and more chaotic >nature of _Bytes_. Still damn astounding in places - completely recommended. >

It's rather unfortunate that the contextual element in any appreciation of Not for Three's is so strong. I'm just as guilty of it myself but if you try to listen without allowing your perception to be coloured by the Black Dog baggage you'll find it is indeed a very fine album. If listened to blind (by someone not familiar with the Black Dog/Plaid oeuvre) I suspect it would be lauded as the discovery of the year. For me there is a similarity with Music for Adverts in that in both cases it is the first time the 'creative unit' has produced an album on its own. Yes, all the tracks for the BD albums were recorded separately, but presumably the process of compilation entailed input from all parties. Well, maybe that's completely wrong but it's a thought I had. More importantly, there is much to wonder at and admire here, the main surprise being the range of styles represented, including a happy steel-drum driven number and two mournful piano-based tracks at the end. Possibly Simon is right about the production but I think that's inevitable. Musicians often deliberately move away from the roughness of their early works, which was probably more a result of circumstance than design in any case. adam

quoted 4 lines You might also listen to the Plaid album 'Not for Threes' on Warp,

>> You might also listen to the Plaid album 'Not for Threes' on Warp, > >No, this one sucks, though the IDM "If It's On Warp, It Must Be Good" >club will protest loudly.

You can't deflect arguments like that, mate! You forgot the all powerful "If its by Plaid, it must be good" club. Anyhow, Not for Threes is defintely one of my favourites of last year. More tuneful than a sack of Val Doonican, groovier than Rolf Harris and Esquivel combined, warmer than honey on toast and a mug of tea. Best moments - (sorry I'm not up on tune names) The one with the ultra fuzzy fluffy drone out of which gradually emerges a tune. This one knots my stomach up, its so pretty. The carnival one with the doo-ooo-ooo-ooo-oh singing at the beginning and the best rolling piano line since the (plaid produced) Kushti single (finest drum&bass ever? perhaps) The ambient one towards the end of side 3 - dreamy dreamy. Not for threes is EZ listening of prime quality. Nothing harsh here, just sublime tunes, funky drums, and bibbly bobbly basslines. In a manner of speaking... Andrew