User:DoctorWho42/Dataplex

Dataplex is a 2005 album by Japanese sound artist Ryoji Ikeda. It was released on December 2005 by independent record label Raster-Noton on CD.

Background
Dataplex is Ryoji Ikeda's first full-length release since his 2002's orchestral Op. It is the first part in the Datamatics series, which "interrogates and interprets the mass of raw computer data surrounding us all." Over all, it is the musician's seventh solo album. The last track "data.adaplex" contains playback errors.

Reception
Sputnikmusic's Nick Butler was critical of Dataplex stating it was "[f]ascinating sonically, sure, but it feels almost 2-dimensional.  You do begin to wonder why the hell you're listening to what is, essentially, a load of bleeps." Exclaim!'s Eric Hill received the album favorably with "These pieces ["data.microhelix," "data.superhelix"] are unlikely to flood the dance floor or any human club, but wherever fax machines and modems rave is where youll hear these oddly hypnotic themes." BBC Music's Peter Marsh praised its composition stating the tracks are "arranged with surgical precision into short slices of minimalist art-techno; funky in a very cerebral, molecular sort of fashion, they're immersive (and by track 19) almost lush and strangely beautiful." Comparing it to Autechre, PopMatters's Tim O'Neil found "everything is once again falling apart in the most remarkable fashion. The computer is rebooting."

Reflecting on Datamatics as a series, Dusted Magazine's John Seelbach called Dataplex "a surprising and enthralling start." Allmusic's Rob Theakston also said it was "a promising to start to what could be one of the most ambitious projects of the post-glitch movement." Brainwashed's Jon Whitney revered the album with "rather rhythmic, challenging, and completely enjoyable: something most computer musician types have failed at."