Plaid is not a pattern most often associated with modern electronic music -- or with anything modern, for that matter. When someone mentions that gaudy fabric to me, I think of a dozen wrinkly old men in striped shirts, visors and Sansabelt pants, golf clubs in hand, getting ready to tee off (and subsequently get drunk). And as any sane person would attest, there is nothing farther from the sweaty, thumping swell of the dance floor than a bunch of inebriated, graphite-stick-wielding geezers.

On second thought, maybe they aren’t so different after all.

Of course, the Plaid I'm speaking of is the British electronic duo of Ed Handley and Andy Turner, who also happen to be two-thirds of perennial dance favorites Black Dog. Now that we’ve straightened all that out, we’ll get to the matter at hand. Trainer is, in the group’s own words, a 2xCD set consisting of "selections of the duo’s early releases with a few previously unreleased tracks thrown in for good measure". It all adds up to an amazing collection, charting Plaid'ss progression through the years leading up to their stellar Not For Threes and Rust Proof Clockwork full-lengths.

Throughout the collection’s marathon duration (each disc clocks in at over 70 minutes), the duo explores every nook and cranny of the electronic jungle. No matter what you're looking for -- be it skewed, Latin-influenced breakbeats ("Fly Wings") mutant bossa nova grooves ("Choke and Fly") or backwards-looping ambient chillouts ("Anything"), it's all in the Plaid mix. Other mood enhancers include the perma-druggy flow of "Link" and the whiplash beats and hypnotic ambience of "Prig". Overall, listening to Trainer is like hearing a mix tape of Pierre Henry, Aphex Twin, Louis Prima and Schooly D at hyper speed, without breaks between songs. There is literally something for everyone on this wildly eclectic and über-hip collection.

All of you wannabe electronic artists out there might want to take some notes; these boys will show you how to do it right.