Plaid

Experimental electro duo Andy Turner and Ed Handley started creating disconcerting, post-techno, angular soundscapes for cult dance label Warp Records in 1991 and remixed for Goldfrapp, UNKLE and Bjork. Alongside the likes of Aphex Twin, Squarepusher and Autechre, the pair were at the forefront of a new generation of DJs in the 1990s, who moved on from the death of rave culture by producing darker, stranger, ambient beats in their bedrooms (or in Plaid's case, their shed) and were occasionally dubbed "Intelligent Techno". The Suffolk schoolfriends grew up listening to 1980s hip hop and originally worked with Ken Downie as The Black Dog, before self-releasing debut album Mbuki Mvuki (1991) and a series of EPs. They collaborated with Bjork on their classic track Lillith and made their names with the cult favourites Not For Threes (1997) and Rest Proof Clockwork (1999), both released in the US through Trent Reznor's Nothing Records label. Their stuttering rhythms and chaotic bleeps had a big influence on Radiohead's album Kid A, and they went on to work with video artist Bob Jaroc on the project Greedy Baby and composed the soundtrack to Michael Arias's animated films Tekkonkinkreet (2006) and Heaven's Door (2008). They released their tenth studio album Reachy Prints in 2014 and remain hugely influential underground heroes of the darker, more challenging reaches of electro music.