plaid Scintilli - Reactions

[NewSchoolScience]

Fuck all of y'all. This is solid.

[NewSchoolScience]

No idea if ThePlaided has posted this already. But here's a

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[Guest Individ]

I've listened to Scintilli about 4-5 times through now.

 

At first listen I liked it, but I didn't really begin to fully appreciate it until my 2nd-3rd listen. My opinion on each track:

 

*Missing (melodic, beautiful, gets in your head, excellent opener)

Eye Robot (sexy, good night driving tune)

*Thank (dark, fun, incredible melodic/beat structure timing! Classic Plaid.)

Unbank (hmm ..interesting? I like PARTS of it..I guess, but overall am not sure why Plaid made this)

Tender Hooks (Decent background tune, but it's missing something)

Craft Nine (Beautiful, love the melody, wish it had more of a build with perhaps some "plaid" pads and strings!)

*Somni (Dark and dirty, love the hints and underlying melodic layers)

*Founded (The start reminds me of older NIN, freaking great tune!)

Talk to Us (Quirky, fun, reminds me of "Buns", but less chaotic)

35 Summers (Beautiful melody, but the live version is MUCH better and really brings out the melody)

African Woods (Never was too crazy about this side of Plaid, very "Porn Coconut Co"-ish)

*Upgrade (THIS is Plaid to me, very "To" and "Chasend" like. Def my fav. I just wish it kept going...)

*At Last (Excellent outro, love the bassline loop, just perfect overall and wraps the album up well)

 

*=My favourites. 6 out of 13 is relatively solid! But I definitely can appreciate the other tracks too and overall LOVE THIS ALBUM.

 

Way to go Plaid. Seriously.

[Guest ploom2]

enjoying it so far :)

a return to form :)

[modey]

Fuck all of y'all. This is solid.

Yeah pretty much. I didn't get through the whole thing on the way to work this morning (got up to the end of track 10) but it's sounding pretty good! I don't understand the Scooter comparison that someone made about Unbank.. That track is awesome! I love dance music with triplets.

 

And re: the guitar sounds. They seem to be entirely sampled, which is a little disappointing, so actually much less 'real' sounding than I expected - it was a bit unsettling in the first track before the other instrumentation kicked in.

 

Overall though, this album is lush as fuck! Better than Spokes imo. Though maybe I don't share the disappointment others have in this thread because I'm not a rabid Plaid fan - I was disappointed by Spokes after how utterly amazing Double Figure and P-Brane were, so Scintilli is a refreshing change.

[gl0tch]

2nd half is better than the first.

 

 

[Guest]

I think Plaid could do so much better.

 

Why do we love Plaid? I think between all the IDM experimentalism and FX stuff they are expected to deliver melodic music, maybe the more conservative approach. So now what I don't understand why they fall back to the 4 notes melodies (e.g. c-a-f-d in upgrade). This is too simple, this is what everybody could create. Yes, of course, there may be more melodic layers, but basically it all comes down to that 4-notes scheme. Why don't they just try to create more complex melodies, a key change here and there, some classical structure of how music is made? IDM could be so successful. Let's say Masato Shuffle from HD. This is so great having a bit more melody in it.

 

LA

LA

LA

LA

[kichiguy]

Lots of great moments on the album. Can't wait to hear this live at the album release party in London. Whose coming?

[Lianne]

I think Plaid could do so much better.

 

Why do we love Plaid? I think between all the IDM experimentalism and FX stuff they are expected to deliver melodic music, maybe the more conservative approach. So now what I don't understand why they fall back to the 4 notes melodies (e.g. c-a-f-d in upgrade). This is too simple, this is what everybody could create. Yes, of course, there may be more melodic layers, but basically it all comes down to that 4-notes scheme. Why don't they just try to create more complex melodies, a key change here and there, some classical structure of how music is made? IDM could be so successful. Let's say Masato Shuffle from HD. This is so great having a bit more melody in it.

 

LA

LA

LA

LA

 

Actually, I do miss the more developed and unpredictable melodies/harmonies that they usually employ. It sets them apart from the rest. But still, this album is too much fun to listen to. :)

[Caretstik]

My first feeling after hearing this for the first time was relief, as my expectations dropped through the floor after hearing 'Missing' and '35 Summers', which are still my two least favourite tracks on Scintili. There's enough of the Plaid I know and love for me here, although the tinkly synths that most people seem to hate seem to be largely missing which is a shame. On repeated listens I can pick out more of the Spokes thing going on in places which is nice. And as for the tracks being too short, I'm bored these days of 6+ electronic epics (maybe I'm getting old and my attention span's shortening), ffs let's have something different. Also, I don't get how 48 minutes is short for an album? Back in my day, double-vinyl albums were the prehistoric relics of Pink Floyd and Yes, and you were content with 40 minutes over two sides.

 

Also agree with sirch, the guitar sounds and vocals are unwelcome.

[Guest lunarphase]

Hmmm.., I love Plaid, but I can't say I'm feeling this album :(

 

What the hell happened, I thought it was going to be filled with beauties like these two:

 

 

 

So when the hell are these tracks going to be released?

[fumi]

Hmmm.., I love Plaid, but I can't say I'm feeling this album :( What the hell happened, I thought it was going to be filled with beauties like these two:

So when the hell are these tracks going to be released?

 

I would have sacrificed more than half a dozen other tracks just to have had those. Instead we get things like a cheesy Doctor Who theme that was done (equally embarrassingly) by orbital.

 

And I wonder why this album fails to impress me.

[Guest hydrozone]

Mhh, shall I wait until the Live act (7th October!)...or shall I listen to it right now.

[Guest sirch]

Mhh, shall I wait until the Live act (7th October!)...or shall I listen to it right now.

 

if you possily can, then i'd wait until the live gig. no doubt that will be 100 times better than just whacking the album on for 3/4 of an hour... and maybe being really dissapointed/puzzled/unsatisfied/confused, if you had high hopes for this, which is how i felt the first time.

but i should really give it more of a chance and take into account some of the things other people are saying about it. especially peeps like vamous, who gave very interesting impressions and insight into the album, imo.

 

to do list:- try and get into Scintilli, more...

[modey]

Strange. I'm actually surprised that you Plaid fanboys aren't absolutely fucking ejaculating over this. Listening today whilst walking home from work I found myself getting lost in the lushness of the album, it's just so gorgeous in parts. Of course there are a couple of typical Plaid-noodle tracks reminiscent of the lesser moments of Spokes but most of the album is just really fresh sounding imo. And I found that the sound design is pretty much the best I've heard from Plaid—on par with mid-late era Autechre. Once again, just my opinion as a neutral Plaid listener.

[Guest hydrozone]

Mhh, shall I wait until the Live act (7th October!)...or shall I listen to it right now.

 

if you possily can, then i'd wait until the live gig. no doubt that will be 100 times better than just whacking the album on for 3/4 of an hour... and maybe being really dissapointed/puzzled/unsatisfied/confused, if you had high hopes for this, which is how i felt the first time.

but i should really give it more of a chance and take into account some of the things other people are saying about it. especially peeps like vamous, who gave very interesting impressions and insight into the album, imo.

 

to do list:- try and get into Scintilli, more...

 

I guess I managed to wait 9 years (and now I have MEGA expectations) so a few more weeks won't make much difference! I'll just try not to get hammered before I get there...

 

Interesting to read everybody's views on here actually.

[Guest sirch]

Strange. I'm actually surprised that you Plaid fanboys aren't absolutely fucking ejaculating over this.

 

maybe we're not such huge fanboys after all, eh. shame on us!

 

most of the album is just really fresh sounding imo. And I found that the sound design is pretty much the best I've heard from Plaid—on par with mid-late era Autechre.

 

check out this interview, if you like, :) http://www.ilikemusi...iew_2010-9106/1

where Ed talks about how they've been making some of their sounds recently. tis quite interesting.

somebody was talking before about how they'd clearly used sampled guitar sounds, and not real ones? or even a vst? well judging by this interview it's neither of those things... (maybe)

 

We've always loved computer music, from Kraftwerk onwards. One of the attractions with it is it's un-realness. It's lack of humanity. The fact that it sounds like it comes from out of space. That's something very attractive to us. The physical modeling thing is a slight twist on that. Acoustic sounds that you associate with a regular band, but are slightly wrong.

[Key]

First listen now, it sounds like what I was expecting or hoping for, and seems to improve as it goes with the final track being the standout. It usually takes me quite a few listens for Plaids stuff to bed in due to their complex chord progressions and massive amount of stuff going on at the same time. Definitely sounds like a continuation of what they were doing on Spokes (and much better than their soundtrack work which I never really got into) and I'm liking the sound design especially the subtle use of vocals. I agree that it would have been recieved much better if it came out a few years ago, it meets their high standards but people were expecting more because of the long gestation period. Hopefully we'll see a follow up release sooner rather than later.

[Guest fox]

a) loving the album - a return to form.

b) what's with all the whining about guitars? there were clear, unabashed guitars on the first three albums, in fact their collabs with benet walsh are some of their finest moments - so why is this suddenly a problem?

[vamos scorcho]

damn now that they say it it kind of reminds of Electric Cafe with it's 'unreal computer' sound

 

 

regarding melodies: there be plenty.

[Guest]

Also agree with sirch, the guitar sounds and vocals are unwelcome.

 

I agree at least with myself: they are welcome. In founded, they use vocals a bit like good old Ralph Vaughan Williams in Sinfonia Antarctica. OK, most of you don't know that, but you should, a devastating piece

[Guest sirch]

b) what's with all the whining about guitars? there were clear, unabashed guitars on the first three albums, in fact their collabs with benet walsh are some of their finest moments - so why is this suddenly a problem?

 

because on this album they sound shit, to me. in the past they've sounded really, really (Bennet) alright, to me.

 

but now i've remembered that interview i just posted again earlier, i do like the idea that those are synthetic guitar sounds created by Plaid. i just don't like the results/sounds/use of the 'guitar' sounds in this case. just like i didn't like it on BoCs' The Campfire Headphase album.

 

i'm still not into 'Missing'. - just doesn't resonate with me at all, nor do any of these guitar sounds really.

it's not a choice, i just naturally don't like it, personally. not a lot i can do about that!

but at least this album and its 'guitariness' might open Plaid up to a new/different audience who will appreciate this, and who might not have enjoyed or bothered with them before... or might never have heard of Plaid before. so at least they might be able to sell a bunch more tracks and albums than before, which will mean more money in their pockets so they will be able to continue creating more (awesome) new music in the future.

so, result,.. hopefully. and as a mega fanboy i'm all for that! :) - bring on the next one!!

[oscillik]

hipster alert

[Guest AcrossCanyons]

go away oscillik. every post you makes is annoying. you're worse than maximus, sirch, or anybody else that gets flak around here.

 

gave this one listen through so far. I did like it but it's not stuck with me too much. gonna have to listen to it some more. the last track is gorgeous.

[sexagon hun]

can someone make eye robot longer please? from the 1:40 mark, just loop that for another 4 minutes or so.....so 7 mins total

do it!