Plaid (Live A/V) + Ultramarine

The Seventh Wave presents... as part of The Seventh Wave Festival of Electronic Music: Number 16

Plaid (Live A/V) + Ultramarine

Friday 03 October 2025

Doors 7.00 pm.

Curfew 11.00 pm.

The Castle & Falcon, 402 Moseley Road, Birmingham B12 9AT.

The innovative duo Ed Handley and Andy Turner have been expanding the realm of electronic music as Plaid since they diverged from trio The Black Dog in the early 90s. 

Ultramarine is the UK electronic duo of Ian Cooper and Paul Hammond. 

Formed in 1989, they released their debut 'Folk' in 1990 on seminal Belgian label Les Disques du Crépuscule. The duo's much-loved second album 'Every Man and Woman is a Star' (Rough Trade, 1992) is considered a classic of its era, neatly described by Simon Reynolds in his book Energy Flash as:

“Perhaps the first and best stab at that seeming contradiction-in-terms, pastoral techno... all sun-ripened, meandering lassitude and undulant dub-sway tempos... like acid-house suffused with the folky-jazzy ambience of the Canterbury scene.”

The group's collaborative work has included songwriting and recording partnerships with Robert Wyatt, Kevin Ayers and Anna Domino. They toured extensively in the 1990s, including in the US with Meat Beat Manifesto and Orbital, and supporting Bjork on US & European tours.

'Every Man and Woman is a Star' was followed by the albums 'United Kingdoms' (1993), which features Robert Wyatt, 'Bel Air' (1995) and 'A User's Guide' (1998). After a sabbatical, Ultramarine re-emerged with 'This Time Last Year' (2013); 'Signals Into Space' (Les Disques du Crépuscule, 2019), their critically acclaimed seventh album featuring songs written with Anna Domino; and 'Send and Return' (2023).

The Swiss label WRWTFWW reissued 'A User's Guide' in February 2025. An album of previously unreleased material from the late '90s, 'Routine', is due for release by Scottish label Blackford Hill on 18th July 2025.