PLAID
Trainer
WARP74
Warp Records 2000
26 Tracks. 146mins36secs

Ed Handley and Andy Turner are Plaid. They’ve been making music together for over ten years, and, as two third of Black Dog Productions, released Bytes, in 1993. It would become one of the seminal electronic records of the nineties. In 1995, they regained their freedom, and kept on recording here and there under numerous monikers including Balil or Atypic. 1997 saw the release of their second album, Not For Threes, on Warp. And two years later, they brought out Rest Proof Clockwork, third sibling of the Plaid family. 
It is now time to step back in time, and discover or rediscover these rare early tracks, including part of their first vinyl only album Mbuki Mvuki. From the hardcore of Uneasy Listening to the drill and bass of Angry Dolphin, there is like a theory of electronica evolution here. And it is not difficult to see why these guys are so influential to this day. But the real Plaid sound doesn’t really have anything to do with the aforementioned styles. Their electronica is a lot cleverer than that. Beats are intricate, melodies are simple and efficient, and samples are used with discretion… In a word, their music is more emotional than artificial. This compilation constitutes the missing link between late eighties dance music and today’s electronic inventions. Intrinsically part of the Warp family, Plaid have paved the way for musicians of today.

5/5

Uneasy Listening
Anything
Slice Of Cheese
Link
Perplex
Summit
Bouncing Cheeks
Yak
Scoobs In Columbia
Chirpy
Prig
Eshish
Blah
Norte Route

Fly Wings
Whirling Of Spirits
Choke And Fly
Small Energies
Jolly
Letter
Soft Key
Reishi
Uland
Tan Sau
Android
Angry Dolphin