Plaid

Plaid has produced exceptional albums in the past and collaborated with such foremost talents as Massive Attack's Nicolette. So what happened with Double Figure? The first three tracks, "Eyen," "Squance" and "Assault of Precinct Zero," fairly rocked with some up-beat energy, and track four, "Zamami," is a nice, ethereal piece but the rest of the album (19 tracks in all) seems like pure fodder. In an effort to be fair, I have played this album on several occasions and at different times of day, yet each listen yielded the desire to listen to something else. Where did this safe, streamlined IDM come from? Did producers Andy Turner and Ed Hanley get into an argument with Warp? What happened to Warp's quality control department? How can a label that puts out some of the world's best electronic music let this bit of mediocrity by? Plaid have put out such good music in the past, they're hanging themselves with their own high standards. I would be happy to concede that this album could be over my head and I don't get it, but I doubt it.