W (Planningtorock album)

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W
Studio album by
Released23 May 2011
Recorded2007–2010
Genre
Length50:21
Label
Producer
Planningtorock chronology
Tomorrow, In a Year
(2010)
W
(2011)
All Love's Legal
(2014)
Singles from Planningtorock
  1. "Doorway"
    Released: 21 February 2011
  2. "The Breaks"
    Released: 10 May 2011
  3. "Living It Out"
    Released: 7 November 2011

W is the second solo studio album by English recording artist Planningtorock, released on 23 May 2011 by Rostron Records and DFA Records.

Background and recording[edit]

Although Planningtorock had been working on the album's songs since 2007, eventually writing more than 27 songs,[4] they didn't sign with DFA Records until correspondence began with James Murphy in 2010 after he sent them a fan email that said "Really like the Planningtorock stuff – just saying".[5]

Reception[edit]

Critical reception[edit]

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.4/10[6]
Metacritic73/100[7]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[8]
The Daily Telegraph[9]
The Guardian[3]
NME[10]
The Observer[11]
Mojo[7]
Pitchfork6.7/10[12]
PopMatters[13]
Q[7]
Spin7/10[14]

W received generally positive reviews from music critics upon its release. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 73, based on 16 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".[7] Alex Denney of NME described the album as "a masterpiece of art-pop experimentalism that gleefully expands on [Planningtorock's] debut".[10] Heather Phares from AllMusic stated, "W isn’t as rousing as its predecessor, but it may be an even richer album; in its own way, it's just as audacious".[8] Kitty Empire, writing for The Guardian, commented that W "often takes a bit of dedication, but it's a challenging, lavish listen, too".[15] Summarized Consequence of Sound, "It might be tempting for some to initially dismiss Planningtorock as weird for the sake of being weird, but W exposes an artist who is experimenting with musical conventions, with bizarre and often captivating results".[16]

Accolades[edit]

Clash placed W at number 17 on its list of the top 40 albums of 2011.[17] NME placed the album at number 25 on its list of the 50 best albums of 2011.[18] Sentimentalist Magazine placed it at number two on its list of the top ten albums of 2011.[19]

Singles[edit]

"Doorway" was released as the album's lead single commercially in Europe on 21 February 2011.[20] Planningtorock directed and edited the music video for the song by themself.

"The Breaks" became the second single for W and was named the "Single of the Week" by Clash.[21] The single included a remix by Telepathe.[22] The song was later offered as the Free MP3 of the Day on 30 June 2011 on Spinner.[23]

"Living It Out" serves as the album's third single and included remixes by Jackson and Billy Lock (the alias of Felix Martin from Hot Chip).[24] Planningtorock directed two separate music videos: one for the original song and another for the remix by Laurel Halo.[25][26]

Track listing[edit]

All songs and lyrics written and composed by Planningtorock, except where noted.

No.TitleLength
1."Doorway"3:30
2."The One"4:42
3."Manifesto"3:23
4."Going Wrong"4:55
5."I'm Yr Man"4:06
6."The Breaks"4:36
7."Living It Out"4:30
8."Milky Blau"4:03
9."Jam"4:34
10."Black Thumber"5:22
11."Janine" (writer: Arthur Russell)2:06
12."#9"4:34
Bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
13."Doorway (Jamroll version)"3:56
14."Privates"4:54
15."My Valuable Hunting Knife" (writer: Robert Pollard)4:02
16."Summer Save Me"3:21

Personnel[edit]

Credits for W:[27]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Wallace, Wyndham. "BBC – Music – Review of Planningtorock – W".
  2. ^ Freeman, John (24 May 2011). "Rudely Visionary: Planningtorock Interviewed". The Quietus.
  3. ^ a b Petridis, Alex (12 October 2011). "Planningtorock – review". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
  4. ^ Mcfarlane, David (23 May 2011). "Planningtorock interview: "It's all I do. I love it."". Dummy. Retrieved 8 December 2011.
  5. ^ Freeman, John (24 May 2011). "Rudely Visionary: Planningtorock Interviewed". The Quietus. Retrieved 8 December 2011.
  6. ^ "W by Planningtorock review". AnyDecentMusic?.
  7. ^ a b c d "W Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic". Metacritic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
  8. ^ a b Phares, Heather (2011). "W – Planningtorock". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
  9. ^ McNulty, Bernadette (19 May 2011). "Planningtorock: W, CD review". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 24 September 2019. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  10. ^ a b Denney, Alex. "NME Album Reviews – Album Review: Planningtorock – 'W' – NME.COM". NME. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
  11. ^ Empire, Kitty (21 May 2011). "Planningtorock: W – review". The Observer. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  12. ^ Perpetua, Matthew (3 June 2011). "Planningtorock: W". Pitchfork. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
  13. ^ Roberts, Daniel Nils (28 June 2011). "Planningtorock: W < PopMatters". PopMatters. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
  14. ^ Suarez, Jessica. "Planningtorock, 'W' (DFA)". Spin. Archived from the original on 9 June 2011. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  15. ^ Empire, Kitty (22 May 2011). "Planningtorock: W – Review". The Guardian. London.
  16. ^ Mojica, Frank (16 May 2011). "Planningtorock – W". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  17. ^ "The Top 40 Albums of 2011: 20–11". Clash. 6 December 2011. Retrieved 9 December 2011.
  18. ^ "50 Best Albums of 2011". NME. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
  19. ^ Virbasius, Madeline (26 December 2011). "Sentimentalist Magazine Calls Out Top Twelve Releases of 2011". Sentimentalist Magazine. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
  20. ^ "PlanningToRock – Doorway (File) at Discogs". Discogs. Zinc Media, Inc. Retrieved 7 December 2011.
  21. ^ Murray, Robin (10 May 2011). "Singles Round Up – May 9th". Clash. Retrieved 9 December 2011.
  22. ^ "PlanningToRock – The Breaks (File, MP3) at Discogs". Discogs. Zinc Media, Inc. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  23. ^ Spinella, Mike (30 June 2011). "Planningtorock, 'The Breaks' – Free MP3 Download". Spinner. Retrieved 8 December 2011.
  24. ^ Worthy, Stephen (11 November 2011). "RA Reviews: Planningtorock – Living It Out (Single)". Resident Advisor. Retrieved 8 December 2011.
  25. ^ Hockley-Smith, Sam. "Video: Planningtorock, "Living It Out"". The Fader. Retrieved 8 December 2011.
  26. ^ "Video premiere: Planningtorock – 'Living It Out' (Laurel Halo remix)". Fact. Retrieved 8 December 2011.
  27. ^ "PlanningToRock – W (CD, Album) at Discogs". Discogs. Retrieved 10 December 2011.

External links[edit]