Andy: We've always said we're not experimental musicians but we've been lumped into that category because we started when it was an experimental form: everyone was hearing these electronic sounds for the first time. Now people expect revolutionary sounds every couple of years, based on what happened back then, but that's just not possible....because if there's one message that you want to get from artists, of all people, it's "that's just not possible"
We're about the craft of what we do more than about artistic manifestos, I think. We're definitely not about reinventing ourselves for every project - it's more about understanding our tools and the processes of composition, and refining the processes every time. We definitely have an affinity to the Japanese approach, where artists are proud to repeat and refine their processes. We're very happy to make "another Plaid record", and if we're about anything it's about that refinement of the craft. If we've done something that satisfies us, it may or may not work in the world, but we can feel happy that it's honest.a good way to justify this approach might be to look at what the best albums in Plaid's area of music are. if a lot of these albums were made by older artists who spent decades polishing their craft rather than reinventing themselves, then I'd say this is a solid defense. evidence that lifelong repetition and refinement pays off with this kind of thing. except--
https://www.dummymag.com/10-best/10-best-warp-albums-plaid/
notice how all but 2 of these albums were made by people in their twenties. (also, all were younger than plaid currently are, and many were in their very early twenties.) and warp itself has been around for 30 years now--it's not like there's a shortage of warp material from more "refined" to choose from. I'm not sure why Plaid think "the Japanese approach" is such a good idea for them when they evidently don't think it's worked for anyone around them.
underlying my (not real) annoyance with their answers is the fact that 100% of the time I see someone whinging about newer autechre, they are a diehard plaid fan. "um, it's very 'experimental' and technically impressive and all but it's unlistenable, there's no melody. it's the emperor's new clothes. you're just listening to it to look smart." even the band themselves do the exact same thing in the 10 best albums link above.
what I'm getting at is that maybe you could invert the usual accusations thrown at autechre at plaid. maybe plaid and their fans don't actually enjoy their newer music. they just hear it and think, "ah, this is proper music with real melodies, not like that awful racket autechre are making these days."