Originally published in Now Then Magazine Issue 74
PLAID.REACHY PRINTS
WARP RECORDS
I love this album. It carries so much similarity to many highlights in the electronica world that I have followed for many years without sounding particularly like anything else, which to me is quite remarkable. Imagine tasting a wine and finding notes of known flavours like honey or mulberry, yet knowing that it contains neither. I get partial nostalgic elements of Boards of Canada and Ulrich Schnauss.
Harmonising chimes and melodies influenced by 80s theme music are expertly combined with a fusion of pounding drums, spacey frills and basslines which in places sound almost like electronic replicas of old school thrash metal.
Moody elements break up the happy-go-lucky fun that, for me, are the best bits, but without these progressions they wouldn’t work so well. The way the music builds and changes is lovely. A large selection of sounds is used and although each one continues the particular atmosphere of the album, the morphology of colour is diverse and entertaining.
Reachy Prints carries a definite beauty and tranquillity, but there is something quite sinister hiding in the shadows. A shrill pitch, a nervous howling or some frantic rhythm just peeking from the mix can turn this into a double-edged sword. With this dualistic feel, we’re kept guessing, listening and most of all engaging with the tracks. It’s calm enough to be on in the background but its striking enough to grab your attention.
From the intense, catchy ‘OH’ and the moody but ultimately peaceful ‘Wallet’, the pace quickens and we are treated to an upsurge of energy, an incorporation of major keys and soon the memory of uneasiness washes away into the nicely named ‘Liverpool St’. Remarkable.
Rowan Blair Colver
PLAID.REACHY PRINTS
WARP RECORDS
I love this album. It carries so much similarity to many highlights in the electronica world that I have followed for many years without sounding particularly like anything else, which to me is quite remarkable. Imagine tasting a wine and finding notes of known flavours like honey or mulberry, yet knowing that it contains neither. I get partial nostalgic elements of Boards of Canada and Ulrich Schnauss.
Harmonising chimes and melodies influenced by 80s theme music are expertly combined with a fusion of pounding drums, spacey frills and basslines which in places sound almost like electronic replicas of old school thrash metal.
Moody elements break up the happy-go-lucky fun that, for me, are the best bits, but without these progressions they wouldn’t work so well. The way the music builds and changes is lovely. A large selection of sounds is used and although each one continues the particular atmosphere of the album, the morphology of colour is diverse and entertaining.
Reachy Prints carries a definite beauty and tranquillity, but there is something quite sinister hiding in the shadows. A shrill pitch, a nervous howling or some frantic rhythm just peeking from the mix can turn this into a double-edged sword. With this dualistic feel, we’re kept guessing, listening and most of all engaging with the tracks. It’s calm enough to be on in the background but its striking enough to grab your attention.
From the intense, catchy ‘OH’ and the moody but ultimately peaceful ‘Wallet’, the pace quickens and we are treated to an upsurge of energy, an incorporation of major keys and soon the memory of uneasiness washes away into the nicely named ‘Liverpool St’. Remarkable.
Rowan Blair Colver
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