Plaid - Trainer

Label: Warp
Year: 2000
Styles: Ambient Techno, IDM, Detroit Techno


Review: (Allmusic.com)

After negotations broke down between former Black Doggers Ken Downie, Ed Handley, and Andy Turner, what was projected to be a three-disc set with nearly all the existing Black Dog Productions rarities became instead a two-disc set of Handley/Turner productions recorded during the first half of the '90s. Trainer is still a near-essential document of early British techno, including a raft of rarely heard classics like "Scoobs in Columbia," "Norte Route," and "Angry Dolphin," plus the entirety of their ultra-rare Mbuki Mvuki mini-LP. The Handley/Turner production aesthetic balanced sublime, Detroit-inspired synth with hyper-kinetic drum programs and breakbeat madness years before England's love affair with jungle. Grabbing tracks from far-flung but like-minded labels like ART, Planet E, A13, and Clear, Trainer includes over two hours of warped acid house from a B-boy perspective -- it's hardly a coincidence that Black Dog Productions shared initials with South Bronx's finest.
- John Bush (Allmusic Guide)


Link:

Part One: http://rapidshare.com/files/128266674/Plaid_-_Trainer.part1.rar
Part Two: http://rapidshare.com/files/128278544/Plaid_-_Trainer.part2.rar
Part Three: http://rapidshare.com/files/128288703/Plaid_-_Trainer.part3.rar

Plaid - Not For Threes

Label: Warp
Year: 1997
Styles: Ambient Techno, IDM

Review: (Allmusic.com)

Plaid's second full-length release, Not for Threes, is separated from its predecessor by one of the most celebrated side trips in electronic listening music's brief but broad history. As members of the Black Dog, Ed Handley and Andy Turner (together with Ken Downie) helped set the standard for experimental techno, bringing a daring range of influences together in a space consistently characterized by quality and innovation. As such, great things were expected of Threes, and with a couple exceptions, the pair delivers. Although treading far closer than any Black Dog material ever did to the sort of pop electronica of Plaid's interim work with Björk (who appears here on the gorgeous "Lilith"), Threes is ambitious on different terms, moving from the abused and distorted breaks of "Extork" and "Prague Radio" to a balanced radio-friendliness that never sacrifices ingenuity for ease. A handful of tracks feature vocals throughout, and while the results had the predictable effect of irritating BD purists, they actually work remarkably well (partly because the tracks contain absolutely no trace of compositional compromise). A few of the tracks ("Headspin," "Abla Eedio," the too-brief "Seph") sit easily beside the very best Black Dog.
- Sean Cooper (Allmusic Guide)


Link:

Part One: http://rapidshare.com/files/115691994/Plaid_-_Not_For_Threes.part1.rar
Part Two: http://rapidshare.com/files/115695536/Plaid_-_Not_For_Threes.part2.rar