Plaid - P Brane (EP)

There's not much Plaid does that I don't like, but that's probably because there's not much they will release that isn't great. Their new EP, P Brane, is no exception to the rule; it's an absolutely amazing and vivid look at things to come. The opening track, "Coat", drops in with a thickly-chorused keyboard intro which gives way to more of a deep reverberation than a drum beat. A beat that is more likely to get your ass moving than leave you wondering what time signature it's in. Various synth fragments and, what sounds like, an answering machine message that is chopped up, rearranged and severely altered accent the rest of the track. "Diddymousedid" is playful romp through a bouncy, circular melody and oddly arranged beat. The bouncy, high-pitched tones that live throughout most of the track, as well as the dream-like triads that work there way through the middle ground further the colorful track. Towards the end, the drums take center stage, throwing in fills and breaks here and there. The beat in "Stills" is a bit more prominent, with more accentuated snare hits. Around the minute and a half mark the track takes an ethereal turn, with a more sporadic beat and the introduction of several tiers of more heavenly tones. The song then builds and builds until all that remains is the drumbeat, which quickly decays into silence. "Mfaus", the final track, is definitely the most abstract and abrasive of the four. The song begins with a wash of electronic noise and then gives way to driving bass, snare and hi-hat beat accompanied by deep, blunt tones. While each set of tones builds harmonies atop another, the song progressively gets more and more distorted, until the track caves in on the close. Overall, P Brane shows a variety of roads down which Ed Handley and Andy Turner can take us, and challenges the listener to choose which one it will be. Critics tend to dismiss Plaid because they are more palatable than their peers and tend to get labeled as being somewhat pop …as pop as you can get in the IDM world, I suppose. On the other hand, I've heard tons of people talk about how the more demanding, difficult side of IDM is the future of the genre and tends to be more interesting. Frankly, I hope the future sounds more like Plaid; at least it would be as much out thinking as it is about feeling. [www.warprecords.com]