Plaid

I saw them live recently and they were insanely good. There was a cyclical flow in which some bits were crap, then it started to sound like the sound system was bursting at the seams, then it'd sound like two tracks almost mixed together, then it would hit a sweet spot and it would be so beautiful. Then they'd stop and start off again. There were a lot of chinstrokers and some mentalist dancers, i was a bit in between. Glad I went out, I nearly didn't coz it was 20 quid but hey you only live once. PS I was surprised one of them was playing a guitar hahaha

OK, I change my mind. Recent Drowned Sea and remix on John Tejada's Moving 909s conquered me. Now I see that they can do beauty if they want. They just don't want to do it everytime.

By accident I found out about Plaid in 2010, next thing you know I got all their albums (Even Atypic, Balil and Black Dog tracks, everything) and listening to them almost everyday for 11 years at the moment I have more then 50 favorite songs. Their songs for me are scary but comforting, sad but happy, unknown but very familiar, their music to me pictures a life and life's components very well. Awesome

I mean seriously. Try to beat the sophistication, the complexity and yet musical quality of a track like "zeal", with its multiple layers, its roaring basses and the perfect yet humanized drum programming. It is full of thought and detail and I seriously think that each one of their tracks stands for something that is important to Ed and Andy. This is no "let's try and make something that sounds cool". No one nighter, this is the top end of IDM at its finest.

I can only agree. I have ssen them live three times and own pretty much everything by them. and i must say that their music, allbeit electronic, has so much sould, thought and life in it. the melancholy and depth is stunning. to me it is like they are painting their feelings with music in the weirdest possible colors. being a musicvideo artist and director i can only say that it is my biggest wish to shoot something for them.

The paradox of Plaid is that they at first 'sight' seize the attention of people who usually poorly perceive electronic sound. I think Ed and Andy discovered new horizon of IDM. Very deep insight into melody and sound makes Plaid so creative that I doubt they can ever write a mediocre release. And all the tricks they can make with original tracks... Try to get all their remixes on many releases and compare with the originals – you will definitely hear the difference. A 'must listen' for any devotee of Intelligent Dance Music.

Year after year we see music awards shows where the mainstream basks in glory- money, fame etc. A parade of mediocrity.

Why do I bring this up here? Because I think Ed Handley and Andy Turner are two of the most talented musicians on the planet. Very, very, very few musicians put you in a world you don't want to leave...make music that makes you feel like a better person for having listened to it, that inspires you, that appeals to any music lover.

You might notice as you read comments on individual Plaid releases that even Plaid's fans can't really make up their minds about what's good and what's not. This is because Plaid are artists of such sophistication that it usually takes months of listening before you know what they're up to with a given album; sometimes you never find out, but return, perplexed, over and over again. Their four albums are very different and at first each seems seriously flawed, though with enough gems among the rubble to redeem it. After a while you realise that in fact it's largely gems and very little rubble, and after that there's just no calling it between the albums. (How many other artists have no undisputed best album or best couple of albums?) You just don't find depth like this in much electronic music--Plaid can really do things with sound.

Just got the new album "Spokes" and it's got some of the freshest tunes I've heard all year. Really innovative ideas that work well. Lots of resonating bell noises and some fast, diving beats. The production quality is first class and you get the feeling the boys have put a lot of time and thought into this. Full of soul. Bloody excellent.