Plaid, Spokes
Plaid have always recognised the importance of melody, making their music either more accessible or less worthy in its genre depending on your point of view. Either way, there’s no denying that they’ve come out with some superb material over the years. The duo started their career with Warp as The Black Dog and went on to figure amongst the label’s most reliable composers as they evolved into Plaid.
Trainer documented their progress between 1989 and 2000, demonstrating their creativity and importance, but whilst they may have covered much – with Trainer covering anything from glitchy techno and beautiful electronica to house and rave-era breakbeat – Spokes sounds comfortably Plaid. That is, it’s the trademark organic techno of their three albums since Mbuki Mvuki.
Opening the album with a childlike music-box melody just asking to be perverted by Richard D. James, the first track, ‘Even Spring’ gets the Warp treatment just in time, but is not particularly convincing. Indeed, the album doesn’t really come alive until the fourth track, ‘Zeal’ which finally presents something of Plaid at their classic best. It’s a darkly melodic piece, sliding across moods with compacted contrasts and a dramatic eloquence. ‘B Born Droid’ is equally strong, a grandly musical centrepiece to the album, taking the ascending melodies uncovered in ‘Zeal’ even more to the forefront. Tracks such as ‘Spokes’ doesn’t really do anything new, being obviously Plaid, but that’s no bad thing when the precedent they’ve set is so high. This is still great electronic music: inventive and complex without ignoring that melodic core essential to its weight of feeling and accessibility.
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