Plaid (band)

Plaid
Plaid at the bfi London IMAX Cinema at Optronica Festival on 20 July 2005
Plaid at the bfi London IMAX Cinema at Optronica Festival on 20 July 2005
Background information
OriginLondon, England
GenresIDM, techno
Years active1991–present
LabelsWarp
Nothing
Black Dog Productions
General Production Recordings
MembersAndy Turner
Ed Handley
Websiteplaidmusic.co.uk

Plaid (/plaɪd/) are an English electronic music duo composed of Andy Turner and Ed Handley. They were founding members of The Black Dog[1] and used many other names, such as Atypic (Andy Turner) and Balil (Ed Handley),[2] before settling on Plaid. They have collaborated with singers Mara Carlyle,[3] Nicolette[3] and Björk,[4] and have released records on the labels Clear, Peacefrog, Black Dog Productions, and Warp (along with Trent Reznor's label Nothing Records).[3]

Aside from their own material, Plaid have done extensive remix work for many other artists, including Red Snapper, Björk, Goldfrapp, and The Irresistible Force. Parts in the Post (2003) and Stem Sell (2021) contains a lot of Plaid's remix work to date.

Plaid collaborated with video artist Bob Jaroc for their live performances and on the 5.1 audio/visual project entitled Greedy Baby.[5] The project was completed on 20 July 2005, and was first shown at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in the South Bank Centre, and subsequently at the BFI Imax cinema in Waterloo, London. Greedy Baby was released on DVD from Warp on 26 June 2006.

In 2006, Plaid composed and performed the original score to Michael Arias' anime film Tekkonkinkreet, and then went on to rejoin Arias for his second feature, Heaven's Door, as well as two of his subsequent short films.[6]

In 2009, they contributed a cover of a Plone song to the Warp20 (Recreated) compilation.[citation needed]

Plaid's music has been used in the LittleBigPlanet series. In 2014, they helped produce some of the soundtrack for LittleBigPlanet 3.

Musical style

Plaid's style crosses a number of genres - electronica, dance, ambient, experimental - and is sometimes to referred to by some critics as "post-techno." They are known to employ a variety of time-signatures in their music and often create syncopated beats and melodies using a variety of real instruments and samples.[7][8]

Discography

Albums

EPs

  • Scoobs in Columbia (1992)
  • Android (1995)
  • Undoneson (1997)
  • Peel Session (1999)
  • Booc (2000)
  • P-Brane (2002)
  • On Other Hands (2016)
  • Peel Session 2 TX 08/05/99 (2019)

Soundtrack albums

Compilations

  • Bytes (1993; A Black Dog Productions album that includes two Plaid songs, Object Orient and Yamemm)
  • Trainer (2000; a collection of early material, including all of the Mbuki Mvuki album)
  • Plaid Remixes – Parts in the Post (2003; remix collection)
  • Dial P (2003; mix album inserted in deliveries of pre-ordered copies of Spokes)
  • Tekkonkinkreet Remix Tekkinkonkreet (2007; remixes of the songs from Tekkonkinkreet by Derrick May, Prefuse 73, Atom, Vex'd and others)
  • Induction (2011; an exclusive to Warp, download-only compilation, chosen by Plaid ahead of the new album Scintilli)
  • Stem Sell (2021; remix collection)

Audiovisual project

References

  1. ^ Laurence, Alexander (May 2002). "Plaid Interview". Online magazine. Free Williamsburg. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
  2. ^ "Trainer". NME. 10 July 2000. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
  3. ^ a b c "Plaid – biography". NME. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
  4. ^ "Plaid Predict the Future of Electronic Music". Online magazine. Spinner. 30 September 2011. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
  5. ^ Burgess, John (26 October 2006). "Plaid and Bob Jaroc, Greedy Baby". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
  6. ^ "HEAVEN'S DOOR Review". Twitch. 7 August 2009. Archived from the original on 10 August 2009. Retrieved 19 August 2009.
  7. ^ Spacelab Research Staff (4 August 2011). "Plaid Return with Cool New 3D Album Scintilli, Gorgeous New Video for "35 Summers"". Online magazine. Spacelab. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
  8. ^ Cooper, Sean. "Plaid – biography". Online magazine. Allmusic by Rovi. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
  9. ^ "CHART LOG UK: NEW ENTRIES UPDATE". Zobbel.de. Retrieved 4 July 2013.