If you were trying to explain IDM to someone who had heard neither the term nor the music categorized as such (i.e. 99% of the populace), you could do worse than to put on a Plaid record. With a history stretching back to the formative days of post-techno, including a contribution Warp Records' seminal Artificial Intelligence compilation (the duo was then working with Ken Downie as Black Dog Productions, but their track was released under the name I.A.O.), Plaid strikes me as the prototypical IDM act. Aphex Twin and Autechre, both of whom were also featured on AI, have developed too unpredictably; their records can go anywhere. Plaid, on the other hand, continue to refine and develop their early sound.
But back to the hapless no-IDM-knowin' subject of our experiment: What would he call Plaid if we were to throw on a record? My guess is "techno." "Techno" is in its widespread usage among casual music fans is a catchall term for any danceable electronic music. Depeche Mode were called techno when I was in college, back before anyone had heard of Derrick May, and when Eminem dismissed Moby because "nobody listens to techno" only serious music heads questioned the accuracy of his label. That someone without an interest in electronic music subgenres (which, again, is almost everybody) might describe Plaid as such is ironic because, in fact, they are much closer to the ideal of sleek Detroit techno of the Belleville Three than most of their Warp roster brethren. Unlike Aphex or Ae, Plaid have never been particularly interested in texture in the micro sense; they're quite content to let their synths sound the way "futuristic" synths sounded in the late 80s and early 90s. Plaid has always been more about the rhythmic and arrangement possibilities of digital music, which puts them closer to where the music started.
In the past Plaid sprinkled their sober post-techno with playful experiments and excursions into the rhythms and sonic signifiers of cultures not usually associated with their kind of music (Latin America, the Far East); with Spokes, Plaid offers their most focused vision yet. A consistent mood is carried through most of these ten tracks, and it can be characterized with words familiar to people who listen to a lot of IDM: reflective and mysterious, with an occasional tension verging on paranoia. Beats are everywhere, but they're never danceable nor do they seem to be the focus of any specific track. Instead, percussion here mostly serves the traditional function of marking time while the swirl of synths builds and develops.
The interplay of the sounds on Spokes is occasionally striking. The rapid, overlapping sequences of "Crumax Rins" lock together to form a constantly shifting tapestry of sound, the sonic equivalent to a vibrating field of colors that transforms completely every time you blink. The acid arpeggios that mark the lead-in to "Upona" have a similar effect, introducing the world of the track as a place of speed and random twitches, where the vibrations just beneath the surface of awareness are disorienting. The opening bass throbs of "Marry" suggest a celestial scene-- some sort of deep space docking station, perhaps. But then the peppy (if malnourished) drums kick in, and the focus turns to the swirl of synths that lag behind the beat and coagulate into a bland but pretty melody that, unfortunately, doesn't seem a galaxy away from Mannheim Steamroller.
Indeed, there are some dull moments on Spokes, but plucking tracks from the record and turning them around under the magnifying glass probably misses what Plaid intended (this one seems meant to be listened to in succession). For my money, the highlights on the album come during the tracks that depart from the album's script. "Get What You Gave" has pads that sound like an electronic steel drum carrying the melody, and that combined with the polyrhythmic stop/start beat evoke a light, airy Latin feel. And then "B Born Droid" is like a cyborg waltz, with a patient, shuffling gait and a minor key synth lead. These standouts are open and full of possibility amid tracks that seem content to work within narrowly defined parameters established years ago. Plaid do both very well, mind you, but I find myself wishing the ratios were reversed.
