Luke Vibert has two speeds: super fast jungle, which was mostly done under the name Plug, and which he really hasn’t done since the mid-90s; and everything else, which is just slower, and usually comes close to hip hop and techno, though often abstract and sometimes very danceable.
Wagon Christ, a great moniker if ever one has been created, has been home to abstract hip hop and sometimes ambient efforts for the full length of Vibert’s career. On Toomorrow, the first WC full length in seven years, it sounds like Vibert could bust out with Plug-style drum ‘n’ bass at any second. This album veers back and forth between dancey and laid back, but is never confusing and flows unshockingly well.
Vibert is an evil genius, somewhere between Richard D. James and Tom Jenkinson for actually portraying evil, but all three are equally responsible with a few others, for creating the mind-bending and stupidly-named but none the less obsessive attraction of Intelligent Dance Music.
While recording Wagon Christ, Plug and a few other names, Vibert explored rhythms and sampling in ways that require the listener to want to be there, much like his contemporaries. Put on any of his albums and watch the room clear, leaving only those aurally adventurous enough to nod their heads and wonder how long that beat can continue for.
“Manalyze This,” the third track on Toomorrow, is almost a pure techno track, and wouldn’t sound out of place in the 90s. This new album deserves to sit comfortably on the shelf with Musipal and Tally Ho!. It’s refreshing. Now if only Vibert would really drive us nuts with a new album from Plug, it would really feel like 1996.
Buy Toomorrow from Shockhound.
Buy other Wagon Christ albums from Shockhound.
Blow your mind with the classic Plug track “DBC.”
Wagon Christ, a great moniker if ever one has been created, has been home to abstract hip hop and sometimes ambient efforts for the full length of Vibert’s career. On Toomorrow, the first WC full length in seven years, it sounds like Vibert could bust out with Plug-style drum ‘n’ bass at any second. This album veers back and forth between dancey and laid back, but is never confusing and flows unshockingly well.
Vibert is an evil genius, somewhere between Richard D. James and Tom Jenkinson for actually portraying evil, but all three are equally responsible with a few others, for creating the mind-bending and stupidly-named but none the less obsessive attraction of Intelligent Dance Music.
While recording Wagon Christ, Plug and a few other names, Vibert explored rhythms and sampling in ways that require the listener to want to be there, much like his contemporaries. Put on any of his albums and watch the room clear, leaving only those aurally adventurous enough to nod their heads and wonder how long that beat can continue for.
“Manalyze This,” the third track on Toomorrow, is almost a pure techno track, and wouldn’t sound out of place in the 90s. This new album deserves to sit comfortably on the shelf with Musipal and Tally Ho!. It’s refreshing. Now if only Vibert would really drive us nuts with a new album from Plug, it would really feel like 1996.
Buy Toomorrow from Shockhound.
Buy other Wagon Christ albums from Shockhound.
Blow your mind with the classic Plug track “DBC.”
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