The overall sound of Plastiq Phantom is not too distant from some Ennio Morricone material. It's somewhat emotional, not overly complex and able to create a fully functional world. You get your walls of lush textures, your hip-hoppety garden beats ("Transmodular Binary Influx") and your flushing toilets (sampled during a multi-purpose trip to the lavatory, in "Data Relapse") too. Departures from Morricone's sound are obvious too, as Plastiq Phantom's past is indelibly contained here; this is autobiographical electronica, in which the tone of the tracks makes it obvious that he once was in an indie pop band with a Yogi Bear crush (Family Size), or even that he once dug the first ten (and only first ten) seconds of a bizarre experimental piece (ascertained from the loop-crazy insanity of "Cultivated Oscillations").
While a few simpler song titles might work better in the overall meaning of his art -- I don't see any of this having much to do with technology, despite being electronic -- there's a great deal of humanity and warmth in these sound pieces. You don't play this disc while sitting down, admiring the cover art. Enjoy the Art of Lying Down is music best heard while on the move, be it in one's dreams or in one's daily movement from home to workplace, workplace to church, etc.
There's a wonderful bonus track here, too, and I think it should be judged in total separation from the other material. In this fun and funny piece, samples from Public Enemy and Chariots of Fire help set the foundation, while one Beaver-like kid tries to answer another one on the question, 'What's a penis?'"
- Theodore Defosse (Splendid)