Plug (Luke Vibert)

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After giving “Drum ‘N’ Bass for Papa” a listen last night for the first time in a year or so, I found myself wildly bouncing around to its layered rhythms. I have to wonder what the hell happened, as there are a handful of Plug tracks that are rhythmically mind boggling.

I don’t know about you, but Wagon Christ or his experiments with odd guitarists just don’t have the same fire. Vibert seems to be into making compilations of obscure recordings and his other productions seem pretty tame in comparison to the Plug tracks.

Maybe making this kind of music is just too much work.

Plug seemed to this neophyte to be pretty much outside the dnb/jungle universe. Was this music actually at one point actively mixed or considered a curiosity/slumming in this particular style?

― earlnash, Wednesday, 21 May 2003 12:53 (twenty-three years ago)

Shit, man. Who cares. Plug is perfect. 'Nuff said.

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Wednesday, 21 May 2003 12:59 (twenty-three years ago)

plug has had a lot of (off-hand) hate posts on ILM in the past, by people whose opinions i otherwise trust. so i hope we get a good debate going on this thread. personally, i'm 100 per cent with earlnash on this one. "...for papa" is one of my favourite records of the 90s

― zebedee (zebedee), Wednesday, 21 May 2003 14:42 (twenty-three years ago)

i quite like the early plug ep's, but he was never considered part of the d&b mainstream.

― jess (dubplatestyle), Wednesday, 21 May 2003 14:49 (twenty-three years ago)

I think Vibert's always been in love with breakbeats (hence the recent library overhauls) and so, altho' obviously inspired by d&b, i think it was more an attempt just to get ultra-beatdown. the programming is looser, less frantic than the rest of the drill & bass mob. it really does seem to be like hyper-fusion, with any indulgences bled out.

i agree, all the plug stuff (and there are some other trax not on the elpee floating around) is so much fun, but Vibert was on it back then. I agree, he hasn't done much of any interest for ages (his rave updates have been terrible) but Throbbing Pouch and the At Atmos EP are great.

― nebbesh (nebbesh), Wednesday, 21 May 2003 15:04 (twenty-three years ago)

so yeah, i agree.

― nebbesh (nebbesh), Wednesday, 21 May 2003 15:05 (twenty-three years ago)

He rocks for mad hours. Now hit the showers.

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Wednesday, 21 May 2003 15:17 (twenty-three years ago)

Plug is the only dnb artist that I still listen too. I guess there's just more personality--each track is distinct--in his music, a lack of which virtually killed jungle.

― oops (Oops), Wednesday, 21 May 2003 16:42 (twenty-three years ago)

Amen to that.

― Lynskey (Lynskey), Wednesday, 21 May 2003 16:44 (twenty-three years ago)

"Amen to that."

Har. Unintentional pun?

― Xii (Xii), Wednesday, 21 May 2003 18:10 (twenty-three years ago)

Just recently went through my d'n'b/hardcore/rave/etc. CDs to pull out ones I never listen to, with the intention of trading them in.

Plug (I've got the double CD that combines "Papa" with 2 E.P.s) was one of the few that I knew immediately I'm keeping. Which is kind of odd, since he has this goofy stoner humor in lots of tracks, which I would normally hate; but there's so much good stuff going on that I actually don't mind it.

― Paul in Santa Cruz (Paul in Santa Cruz), Wednesday, 21 May 2003 18:55 (twenty-three years ago)

the best plug moment is in 'military jazz' is the break when everything drops out except for one stuttering snare that pans from center to one speaker and back to the other and then back to the center and pops like a lightbulb. that was mindblowing.

but really, how much more could he do? was there ever anything he did as plug that matched the wildness of his "extreme possibilities" remix or was it all diminishing returns? i think his wagon christ project has also run out of ideas since "throbbing pouch" or maybe the moloko "lotus eaters" remix.

― vahid (vahid), Wednesday, 21 May 2003 22:57 (twenty-three years ago)

I still think Vibert has some great ideas. He just doesn't feel the Plug sound anymore. A lot of artists who were doing really great stuff in the mid-late nineties have fallen off in this decade, who knows why really, or maybe it's just me (though I doubt it, based on other critical sum-ups I've seen). Of course DnBfP is a completely fantastic record - but how often can you expect that from anyone? Chances are if you made an album with breaks in it from 1993-1998 you haven't done anything near as brilliant since, no matter the style. See: The Ninjatune roster/turntablism.

― Millar (Millar), Wednesday, 21 May 2003 23:55 (twenty-three years ago)

saw luke vibert play last night. it was a bit lame. but the bug was heavy! also ,aphex sounded fresh and wild for the first time in ages

― ambrose (ambrose), Thursday, 22 May 2003 07:07 (twenty-three years ago)

I heard that Vibert himself said the Plug album was shit. that he just did it to make some money, and to prove how easy and pointless Drum n Bass was.

― Savin All My Love 4 u (Savin 4ll my (heart) 4u), Thursday, 22 May 2003 22:52 (twenty-three years ago)

Oh but last weekend i was listening 9to some 303 acid styled track he did .. and it is way cool. - can't remeber it.

― Savin All My Love 4 u (Savin 4ll my (heart) 4u), Thursday, 22 May 2003 22:53 (twenty-three years ago)

"I heard that Vibert himself said the Plug album was shit. that he just did it to make some money, and to prove how easy and pointless Drum n Bass was."

If this is the case, more people should sell out. I guess sometimes it works for the better.

― Earl Nash (earlnash), Friday, 23 May 2003 01:41 (twenty-three years ago)

four years pass...

yes

― El Tomboto, Thursday, 3 April 2008 07:44 (eighteen years ago)

one year passes...

has anyone heard his new lp yet? thoughts?

― butter tickle (tricky), Tuesday, 5 May 2009 22:32 (seventeen years ago)

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