Taking a cue from Ninja Tune's Hexstatic, long-time WARPers Plaid have decided to join the AV club. Ed Handley and Andy Turner have hooked up with underground video artist Bob Jaroc to bring you the electronic duo's fifth album, the first to actually be written in stunning 5.1 surround sound. I think Bob's visuals, however, are designed to be seen on huge projection screens behind giant speakers, as, on a normal TV, the stagnant, scrolling settings he produces (a stadium with rotating clouds, a bird-covered sunset, cityscapes, and subways) are momentarily interesting but far from captivating. There's only one actual "video" on the whole disc, while the rest are just party visuals.
The first track makes you wonder in general, as the sounds of "War Dialler" are a simple audio collage of a Happy Dude autodialer looking for a modem that, as a song, builds to nothing. Actually, it doesn't build at all in its three minutes of layered dial tones and automated "the number you have dialed... " messages, the monotony of which is compounded on the DVD by a limp, Pong® basic circular pattern that's in time, but barely moves. Perhaps if I actually had surround sound, the track would achieve mild interest, but I don't and it doesn't. The mild politics of "The Return Of Super Barrio" are also presented in a rather boring way (far less humorous visually than the title would lead you to assume, dragging from start to finish, while the politics are totally non-specific), again compounded by a fairly weak, twangy steel drum hip-hop beat. The rest of the album settles into more typical Plaid tracks, pooling progressive dance beats with ominous synths and keyboard sounds both bizarrely delightful and delightfully bizarre. Skip the first track and Greedy Baby is a welcome addition to the Plaid catalogue, though not nearly as essential as their earlier works.
CD:
1. War Dialler
2. I Citizen The Loathsome
3. The Launching of Big Face
4. Zen Zero
5. The Return of Super Barrio
6. The Return of Super Barrio - End Credits
7. E.M.R.
8. Super Positions
9. To
DVD:
1. War Dialler
2. I Citizen The Loathsome
3. The Launching Of Big Face
4. Zn Zero
5. The Return Of Super Barrio
6. The Return Of Super Barrio - End Credits
7. E.M.R
8. Super Positions
9. To
10. Crumax Rins
11. Assault On Precinct Zero
12. Zala
13. New Family