W (Planningtorock album)

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

W
Studio album by
Planningtorock
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

Background and recording

Although Rostron 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

Critical reception
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 her 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

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

"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" for 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] Rostron directed two separate music videos: one for the original song and another for the remix by Laurel Halo.[25][26]

Track listing

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

Credits for W adapted from Discogs.[27]

gollark: Pagination isn't hard. Also, the scroll has it.
gollark: How is this stuff even permissible?
gollark: Because he didn't program them himself or something?
gollark: So how come the forums are fine?
gollark: Horribly. Broken. Mess.

References
  1. Wallace, Wyndham. "BBC - Music - Review of Planningtorock - W".
  2. Freeman, John (24 May 2011). "Rudely Visionary: Planningtorock Interviewed". The Quietus.
  3. 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. "W Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic". Metacritic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
  8. 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. 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 Media. 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". London: The Guardian.
  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.
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