Pleq - "My Life Begins Today"

Artist: Pleq
Album: My Life Begins Today
Year: 2010
Label: U-Cover
Genre: IDM, Ambient, Minimal, Glitch
Website: http://www.myspace.com/pleq












Basics:
"My Life Begins Today" is the new album from the highly prolific Polish IDM/minimal artist Pleq. After several releases that focus more on minimal ambient, Pleq sort of returns to form here with another IDM album full of sad songs about life and love.

Good stuff:
+ idm. Pleq has moved back to more rhythmic tracks here. His ambient works are a bit too minimal for me, but I have an easier time getting into this. I love the sad atmosphere; I like the minimal, yet varied, percussion; and I really dig the melodic elements (they're always so distant and haunting).
+ same pleq you love. I think Pleq has done a good job at finding his sound. With each release there are a number of elements you will hear that cue you in on "this is a Pleq song/record", and this is no exception. Everything you loved about albums like Intelligible or The Metamorphosis returns here. Even the minimal ambient stylings from Our Words Are Frozen are laced throughout. It's a solid blend of all of Pleq's styles and characteristics.
+ sadness. If you're not familiar with Pleq, his stuff typically has a sombre, grey, and highly melancholic feel to it. This one is very "heavy" with the same emotions and moods. If you like those types of feelings in music than you should definitely check this out. Personally, I love sad music and this fits the bill for me. His percussive elements are clicky, sharp, and more minimal than most IDM acts (however, it is similar to acts like DNN, Mnemonic, and Amorph) And, (again, like those acts) I feel the more minimal percussion adds to the atmosphere without overwhelming it.

Bad stuff:
- same pleq you love. On the other side of the "all the elements you recognize and love are here" coin, Pleq recycles a lot on this record. Often you hear sounds/parts that sound exactly like another track from his back catalog. In fact, on this record it sounds like he took parts from all his past releases and threw them all together. This has better production than his old works, which is nice, but if you're familiar with said old works there will be a lot of "hey, I've heard that before." If you own, like, 3-5 Pleq releases there isn't a whole lot here that you haven't heard. However, if you've played out The Metamorphosis and want more, this may be what you're looking for.

Summary:
An album full of soothing, melancholic atmospheres and subtle, glitchy beatwork. It sounds like you would feel while looking at flowers after a fall rainstorm, while the day is still overcast and the wind is brushing lightly on your skin. It's a very sad, yet beautiful sound. If you're a fan of Pleq, he's definitely not re-inventing the wheel or covering new ground, but it's still enjoyable. If you're new to Pleq than its not a bad place to start. It's not so much a step forward as a continuation or extension of his other work. Check out a couple of his free releases and if you dig them move on to this one. If you like sad and melodic IDM, Pleq isn't to be missed.

Overall Rating: 7-7.5/10