 "Photo: Courtesy of Plaid")
With electronic music likable to the last blip, the innovative duo known as Plaid have been matching beats for well over twelve years.
"The late-'80s acid house scene and parties of that time kind of turned our ears onto the music," said Andy Turner, half of Plaid. "Within our crew at the time, hip hop was the only music, but the parties helped me to appreciate and want to create this music which is really just an extension of hip hop."
Plaid's latest Warp Records release, "Spokes," continues on the band's progressive path into the abstract and minimal. What many have labeled as IDM - intelligent dance music - Plaid see as a concoction that defies genre as it represents its own take on music production.
"IDM is mostly just a media construct. It came after the fact and after the music had been produced. We knew other people making music that was in this vein, but we did not consciously make a decision to go in this direction. We just fed off the resonance of the world," Turner said.
Confusing to many is the separation between what is dance music and what is "intelligent dance music." Many label the latter's overall complexity as making it more "intelligent" compared to the club thump of normal dance tracks.
"The term just belittles dance music. Clever music is great, but I'm more interested if the music actually sounds good," Turner said.
Turner and Plaid partner Ed Handley's approach to an album - they don't have one - and their views about their design as a band - they're not one - sets them apart from electronic acts who consider their digital craft an extension of the music crafting methods that preceded them.
"We're not a one guy, one instrument type group. With the computer, music composition is more isolated. We play live and that's a bit more akin to a live act because we're mixing elements as we go, blending the multiple tracks that come through the source," Turner said. "In terms of coming up with ideas though, it's a pretty solitary act."
The group's show, tonight at the Mershon Auditorium, brings along fellow labelmates Luke Vibert and Chris Clark. N.E.D. will open the night with a DJ set beginning at 9 p.m.
Turner acknowledges that observing a set by a pair of electronic artists doesn't convey the excitement of a rock band throwing down.
"It's just not as interesting to watch. You can't see what the artist is doing so we engage our audience with video as well. It allows people to stand and watch without getting bored visually," Turner said.
In the future, Turner said Plaid hopes to craft a concept-driven, minimalism within its music; stripping down the music to its roots, Turner said.
"I'd like to create music that contains only the necessary parts that make a track work, the pure elements, which is closer to what we were doing when we first started."
Tickets for the appearence are still available at the Wexner Center's box office at $14 for students and Wexner Center members, and $16 for the general public.
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