[post something controversial about you]

I like Plaid more than Autechre

[Rank Plaid's discography from best to worst]

As you can probably tell, Plaid is my favorite IDM act currently in a genre filled with many amazing musicians. I've been obsessed with their music since last December, and I think I know how I feel about all of their albums to rank them from best to worst. All of my ratings for their discography are all pretty positive so even my least favorite record is still cool. I'm going to include the compilations I heard (Trainer) and their film soundtracks. Feel free to do it however you please, it doesn't have to be all their albums. You can also do EPs by themselves or include them with the albums.

Alright, here's my ratings for the LPs!:

Rest Proof Clockwork: I've always loved the hip hop style a lot of this album brings. I also feel this to be Plaid's happiest-sounding record. Buddy is absolutely catchy and I love the downtempo vibe it brings. Little People's melodies is some of my favorite Plaid melodies ever, Pino Pomo is incredible with its wild west sound and Face Me is such a pretty hidden tracks. Lots of amazing tunes in this album, not sure how long it will stay #1 as other albums are growing on me, but it's been my favorite for a while now. Super cool album artwork too, looks like a Nintendo/PlayStation rhythm game.

Spokes: I've seen some posts here before joining praising this album, and I'm happy I'm not alone. This album is probably their most consistent album for me. The opener, Ever Spring, has amazing vocals before a phenomenal beat comes in to blow you away. Zeal has so much wonder put into the production with it's dark sound sprinkled everywhere in the track, apparently the video version (is it even official? feels fanmade like its from some movie but I'm not sure) shown on the Warp site has an alternate ending for the track that's different than the album, personally I prefer the album version's ending but if they kept this ending it would probably be their darkest song ever. Still sounds cool either way!

#3: Polymer: This album really showed they still got it with this album being my favorite work this decade (though later on after Polymer's release their 2010s work really grew on me). Maru is an absolute banger, reminds me of Plaid going full-on Orbital with that melody. Los is one of my favorites by them currently, I love the way it progresses. Ops is like a sequel in Zeal with the female robot breathing. The Pale Moth brings us back to a Spanish western like Pino Pomo and features dazzling classical instrumentation to it. Dancers is fuckin amazing as well as it's video, kind of like a Sincetta sequel to me, another song I really love how it progresses. Recall is very mixed with a lot of people but I love it a lot even if it goes no where. That banging is catchy. And finally, All To Get Her has the usual awesome melodic Plaid and even features a few of those strange sounds in the beginning that I feel a lot of newer Plaid material lacks a bit (I loved hearing of all those alien-like sounds with the samples like they did in Rest Proof and Double Figure). All in all, my album of the year still.

#4: Scintilli: I actually never knew this album was announced all the way back to 2008 until a few months ago on here. Now I can see why some people on here and Rateyourmusic were underwhelmed by the final product. It's a shame tracks like Trail didn't make it to the album. But I really love how varied the sound is in this album. Somnl and Thank were my intro to Plaid way back in 2012 when I used to play Sleeping Dogs (I cannot believe I never tried Warp/Ninja Tune artists until 2017... wtf), with Somnl having cool bass womps in it, kinda like dubstep. It fits beautifully with the track. I also love all the tracks with the robotic female vocals, such as Missing, Founded and the finale, At Last (which now I wonder if the track was name that because of how long it took for Scintilli to come out). Talk to Us has a manic sound to it I love, and 35 Summers is a neat ambient track. African Woods was the first track to really push my buttons on first listen before everything else grew on me later on, I always love hearing tropical Plaid. Only skip-able track for me is Upgrade. Its not bad, but probably one of Plaid's most underwhelming track imo. Definitely rated too low on Rateyourmusic.

#5: Reachy Prints: This one took me a while to really love. It feels stripped back compared to any other Plaid album, but the tunes in this one work so well for me. Hawkmoth is pretty catchy, I love the production on that one. Nafovanny is a strange track but also works very well, I always love hearing how it ends. Slam is absolutely perfect althroughout. Very bouncy beats on that one, and beautiful haunting ambient behind it. Wallet gives me Tomorrow's Harvest vibes. Matin Lunaire reminds me of some old 80's synth music, an awesome track for sure!  Tether takes me back to Spokes honestly, and Liverpool St was an unexpected way to end the album on first listen, but absolutely magical. Super close to beating Scintilli for my second favorite of theirs from this decade.

#6: Trainer: A very awesome compilation to see what Ed and Andy were doing with solo projects and Plaid while in The Black Dog. Early IDM was pretty interesting to hear, from the breakbeat influences in Mbuki Mvuki to the more atmospheric sounds on Tura, Atypic (both from Andy) and Balil (Ed's solo alias), it's not my favorite era, but still very good stuff! I get kick out of tracks like Uland, Reishi, Prig, Summit, Fly Wings, Whirling of Spirits and a few more. I hope to see another Plaid comp one day. I still need to check out Parts in the Post, I've barely scratched the surface of their awesome remix work.

#7: Greedy Baby: This album was such a cool project, and probably features Plaid's most experimental songs yet. I love all the music by itself AND with the awesome videos. War Dialler isn't even a song but is a pretty creepy sound collage and a cool way to start the album, I Citizen The Loathesome is so fuckin neat, The Launching of Big Face's video is my favorite of the project and is an aesthetic of mine, Super Barrio is an awesome track and the animated video feels like a fever dream. So bizarre but also very cool. E.M.R. grew on me since first listen, I love how it progresses. There's this dropping sound around the end of it that makes me think of Autechre's Drane. Super Positions is also such a banging track! All in all, a great project that would be cool see done again!

#8: Not For Threes: A great start after their departure from The Black Dog. If Abla Eedio was from 1995, then was that the year they got newer equipment, because it sounds so different from their songs from the early to mid 90s on Trainer. It's crazy, I love that track. Headspin was also one of my favorite tracks on first listen. Extork has a cool industrial feel to it, and while Lilith isn't my favorite track, it still has a cool beat to it. I want to check out Bjork eventually. Fer and Ol are new favorites. Plaid did a great job doin a 4/4 track on Ol.

#9: Double Figure: Yes, yes, I know this one is a fan favorite. I appreciate it a lot, it's album art is so ancient-looking too. It's probably my favorite album artwork of all time! Anyway, lots of cool ideas and sounds goin on in here, but I feel the execution ALMOST hits. A lot of the tracks sadly hit an 8/10 for me sadly, but I will give credit still. Eyen is a legendary track, Silversum is another one of those weird tracks but its great, Light Rain is spectacular, Tak interludes are neat, Sincetta has a hypnotizing drum beat and progression. One of their top tracks for me. And Ti Bom gives me noir vibes. I would love to see longer Plaid albums like this again, I can see the appeal for it even if its not my favorite album from them.

#10: Tekkonkinkreet: My favorite film soundtrack compared to Heaven's Door. There's a lot to enjoy in here and it shows Plaid needs to make more film scores, because they do a great job on it. I need to relisten to this again soon, my favorite tracks are Brothers Chase, Where? and the beautiful symphonic White's Dream. This film looks interesting too, I hope this can get a digital release like Heaven's Door.

#11: The Digging Remedy: This album feels like Plaid's most chill album, probably because of Benet Walsh appearing in a lot of tracks.  Do Matter is a grower opener, I love it a lot. Dilatone fuckin bangs and reminds me a bit of Autechre. I always love it when Plaid makes these tracks with stranger rhythms. Me lifer is a beaut, same with Reeling Spiders and Yu Mountain. A great album, but currently I feel is my least favorite of the 10.

#12: Heaven's Door: Nowhere near a bad soundtrack, I quite enjoy it, but a lot of it is more good than relistenable. I think I need to go back to it. I love Tokyo Drive and Durban Pain a lot, same with the opener Masato Shuffle.

I will make a separate post for EPs later. I'm tired writing lmao, may do it once Peel Session 2 comes out.

[Warp Tapes WAV]

For me, the more-so "complex" albums like Draft 7.30 and Untitled takes relistens to have some tracks grow on ya. I enjoyed them the first time around, but now I love tracks like P.:NTIL and Sublimit. Even though my favorite era of Autechre was around 1994-2001, I still get a kick out of their music and how they've grown as artists. Every album has something I enjoy from it (especially Exai. Such a cool record).

[Clark - Branding Problem [Ltd 12", Throttle Recordings]]

Clark is an interesting artist for me. I enjoy plenty of tracks off of all of his albums (excluding Kiri and The Last Panthers, it was just fine but nothing worthy of going back to), yet all of his albums structures feel so frontloaded, its hard to choose what my favorite album of his would be, since I enjoy all of them (though Body Riddle did not click with me to have a replayable track, perhaps a relisten could help me think more than "this sounds cool"?).

Either way I am looking forward to this since I admire Clark's work. Time to take a peak at his Warp30 mix since I never have somehow  

[Favourite YouTube Videos]

this one a friend showed me

 

[Societas x Tape]

The Other Stranger and Associations are amazing track discoveries for me. I need to listen to this mix again since hearing this live and commentating about it on Twoism was an awesome memory. So much goodies sprinkled in here