Rockbites: Plaid’s deep & ambient Double Figure

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July 2001 • Rockbites Alternative Daily

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Plaid’s deep & ambient Double Figure
6 July 2001

In May, UK electronica pioneers Plaid (the duo of Ed Handly and Andy Turner, formerly in Black Dog) staged a brief tour of selected cities in Europe and the US, previewing their sublime new album Double Figure, released simultaneously in the US and the UK the last week of May.
    They have recently confirmed and extended dates for a major North American tour in August—now running into September—supporting Squarepusher aka 28 year old UK electronica musician Tom Jenkinson—one of many artists who’ve acknowledged their musical debt to Plaid. See below for more on the tour.
    Plaid’s 19 track, 70 minute Double Figure is their first studio release since 1999’s Rest Proof Clockwork. Along with that album and 1997’s Not For Threes, Double Figure, say the band, concludes a trilogy of sorts—hinting that whatever’s coming next may be rather different.
    According to Handly and Turner, Double Figure explores the stereo panorama and its psychoacoustic effects. Translation: wear headphones or miss a lot. The spatial playfulness of Double Figure extends Plaid’s layering agenda to another dimension, within which you can get even more lost.
    Unlike Squarepusher or plastiq phantom, who tend to explore electronica’s timbral extremes and favor the iconoclastic approach to music making, Plaid make instrumental songs that are disarmingly unobtrusive yet as deep and engaging as your attention elects to go. Call it abstract art rock.
    Double Figure, all recognizable as Plaid to Plaid fans, is extremely varied—from the meditative Zamami, New Family, and Sincetta; to the breakbeats of Squance and Porn Coconut Company; to the interregnum sterility of Tak 1 through Tak 5; to the jazzy Ti Bom; to the leftfield trance of Manyme. It takes several listens to appreciate the album as a whole piece, something greater than the sum of its parts, but you’ll be rewarded for persistence. Four bites out of five.

Rockbites ratings  5: life changing, 4: stunning, 3: captivating, 2: amusing, 1: annoying.

Back to the tour: While Plaid are promoting Double Figure, Squarepusher are supporting the album Go Plastic, released a couple of weeks ago; the first single Red Hot Car promptly made 'single of the week' on UK music mag NME. Opening for Plaid and Squarepusher will be fellow Warp Records arist Mira Calix, who released her debut album Oneonone in March for the UK.
    Here are the confirmed North American Plaid and Squarepusher dates

August
  7 - Vancouver, BC (Sonar)
  8 - Seattle, WA (The Showbox)
  9 - Portland, OR (B Complex)
10 - Oakland, CA (Indigo Event Center)
11 - San Francisco, CA (Bimbo's 365 Club)
12 - Los Angeles, CA (El Rey Theater)
14 - Denver, CO (Bluebird Theatre)
15 - Lawrence, KS (Granada)
16 - Minneapolis, MN (First Avenue)
17 - Chicago, IL (Metro)
18 - Detroit, MI (St. Andrews Hall)
20 - Columbus, OH (Wexner Center for the Arts)
21 - Toronto, ON (Phoenix Concert Theatre)
23-24 - New York, NY (Irving Plaza)
25 - Boston, MA (Paradise Rock Club)
27 - Philadelphia, PA (Trocadero)
28 - Washington, DC (9:30 Club)
29 - Atlanta, GA (Echo Lounge)
30 - Orlando, FL (Sapphire Supper Club)
31 - Miami, FL (Knights of Columbus)

September
  1 - Dallas, TX (Trees)
  2 - Austin, TX (Mercury At Jazz)
| Plaid (IE5 + Flash Player 5 required) | | Warp Records | | Squance (full length MP3) | | bio | | discography | | CD | | top of page |

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