Autechre - classic or dud

There was a big unofficial comp of their remixes that was doing the rounds online a few years ago - ‘Laxir’ or similar..

Ah someone’s been so good as to bung it on SoundCloud

…hmm maybe ignore that link, not the entire thing - but the Laxir comp covered up to about the last 5-10 years…

those nav katze comps with all those big 90s names rule. love the global communication one.

did sean talk about it on that twitch chat? kinda curious how the producer got in with all of those heavy hitters.

this record is a favorite as well

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKqUQ9srNGk

frustratingly, the other records seem to be, uh, like alt rock? which makes this all even weirder

also frustratingly, the laxir fan comp, while absolutely filled with gems, is not everything. it actually leaves out a decent chunk of stuff, despite being long as hell. i think some completionists have compiled even longer ones…

Have they done any in the last 15 or so years?

yeah, tho they’ve slowed it down.

stuff like russell haswell one sounds like modern autechre.

the sophie one isn’t as far out as you might think (want?), kinda like the earth remix.

the earth remix is masterful and amazing

they took a near-perfect song, probably decided not to fuck with it too much because it's already near perfect, then tweaked the production just enough that i can't really listen to the original now if i have a choice because theirs sounds so much better. and i don't really know if i could put into words what they did to it, besides edit a bit to add a refrain, tweak the eq, and add a weird drum sample (brushed cymbal or hi hat played backward?)

actually i'm not even sure if they reversed the drum sample

oh yeah, it’s great! but the first time i put it on, i was def like “wait, huh? this is an autechre remix??”

my fave is the Neu! remix on the splitrmx promo - speed isn't marked so I prefer it at 45, but 33 is good too:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Xr1OT6u7oI

(that title should be "Autechre play Weissensee against Im Glück" btw)

oh and frogbs they did release a remic of SOPHIE's "bipp" last year

Would love to make a list of "surely this is mislabeled, can't be" Autechre remixes

Earth is on there
so is Anodyne

anything else?

https://autechre.mixlr.com/recordings/1977679

xp probably the Tortoise remixes too

xp was that streamed live today? how did you hear about it?

^^ mixlr link is "a dj set of some old stuff for a bit of streaming" said sean_ae on Mastodon

https://www.reddit.com/r/autechre/comments/zz2ub6/anybody_here_excited_about_this_link_below/

Well, that’s tonight’s listening sorted.

5pm GMT tomorrow, https://t.co/UW6sG0bGqg pic.twitter.com/F9YgsDq7lU

— NTS Radio (@NTSlive) February 4, 2023

I remember the shock of the first one … “I think this might be an unreleased track!” “wait this is another unreleased track!” ”oh my god”

Lol yeah and “surely the next 3 will be DJ sets”

I looked at the NTS schedule and it's programmed as "17:00 - 22:36 AUTECHRE - ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE - 1992 CONTEXTUAL MIX"

those pals need to add more vocals on their composition to reach a new sonic dimension

I don't necessarily disagree. In my headcanon "Bryan Ferry Sings LP5" is an actual thing. It's never going to happen outside of remixes though. I 100% feel that Plaid ought to go back to doing more vocal collabs

autechre must follow the mouse on mars path: getting an mc like mark e smith

The NTS set is the same set as the Mixlr one from December, for anyone interested.

the description did seem familiar

aw

If someone you knew was curious about Autechre, but had never heard Autechre, what track or album would you play them in 2024?

PLUS and SIGN followed by LP5 and EP7.

Is there something from 2000-2010 we’d add?

d sho qub!!!

plus and sign otm. then maybe exai. the hard thing with finding a good ae track to play someone is the length ime. for pretty ae there's gr4. for 'goes hard' ae i think spl9 is relatively economical in terms of length.

I wonder what the ultimate AE playlist would contain

1 hour? 2 hours? 4 hours? 8 hours? 16 hours?

4.640147 hours

The band has such a huge catalog and evolution of their sound in some ways over the years that it's a complicated answer.

I think I would need more context to better suggest something. Are you recommending them to someone with the intent of them listening to or getting into the full catalog? Or are their tastes configured in such a way that they'd be more amenable to pre or post 90's Ae? Do you want them to experience an "album" or a general "vibe"?

I almost think putting together a playlist might make more sense. If you had to pick an "album" I feel Sign/Plus, Oversteps and Draft 7:30 do a decent job of straddling the accessibility of their 90's output with the textural experimentalism they've explored since, but LP5, EP7, Chiastic and Tri Rep are straight up classics too, with the latter influencing a significant number of artists in the late 90's.

I think you could concisely express the high points and diversity of their output in a 2 hour compilation, honestly. You don't need to play them all end or gonk steady one or anything long form to convey what they're about.

yeah the question is how much stuff like Garbage/Eutow/Arch Carrier do you include

you could get long-winded and sound like a sports journalist about it, consider referring to them as 'booth and brown' at least once.

my attempt was with a 24 year old who likes yung lean. it didn't work. but getting him into neil young did, so that's nice.

Autechre are probably my favorite band I've never actually tried to get anyone into, just seems like a big ask, sure they have some kickass tracks that'll pique their interest but they're just one small piece of a catalogue that by and large is very inaccessible, for me personally it took quite a few tries to get into it. idk if i wanna put anyone through that. its kinda like On Cinema in that regard.

yeah i agree with that. i doubt i'll ever try to 'introduce' them to anyone. probably no one is going to be like 'oh i've heard of them i've been meaning to check them out.' i feel like either you're already a fan or you're not interested.

the guy at the record store said that to me after I ordered the Confield/Draft reissues, he asked where he should start and I was like "man idk I've never even said their name out loud"

i doubt i'll ever try to 'introduce' them to anyone. probably no one is going to be like 'oh i've heard of them i've been meaning to check them out.' i feel like either you're already a fan or you're not interested.

I think you absolutely could get a regular person into Autechre, but your pitch has to be basically "You wanna hear the wildest shit ever?" And then play them a track that almost sounds like music made by humans. Dip their toes in the shallow end of the pool and then let them go further out on their own if they want to.

For a two hour mix I'd probably make sure at least 1 song per album was on the mix, with a couple EP/single only tracks here and there when necessary. That alone, if chosen wisely would give a good progression of their stylistic diversity and sound evolution. Obviously you're leaving a ton on the cutting room floor. But that's for the person to then explore on their own.

Here's a sample:

1. Incunabula - Eggshell
2. Amber - Glitch
3. Tri Rep - Clipper
4. Chiastic - Cipater
5. LP5 - Acroyear2
6. EP7 - Ccec
7. Gantz Graf
8. Confield - Eidetic Casein
9. Draft 7:30 - Surripere
10. Untilted - Pro Radii
11. Quaristice - 90101-5I-I
12. Oversteps - see on see
13. Exai - spl9
14. Elseq - foldfree casual
15. NTS - six of eight (midst)
16. SIGN/PLUS - Metaz form8

This is about 2 hours, showcases nearly every aspect of their style, including the insane experimentalism. I didn't pick my favorites from each, but tracks that seemingly expressed the core aesthetic intent and vibe of each record from my view. Exai and NTS were a bit tough though since both really expresses that diversity on their own.

I mean people get into Aphex Twin still all the time, prob not that much of a stretch, though they maybe don't have anything that grabs your attention immediately like Aphex does. when I play their wilder shit for people the reaction I usually get is "do people enjoy this?"

but yeah I like octo's approach, I did that when trying to make a P-Model/Hirasawa mix CD for someone, which is also one of those things where each release builds off the previous one in some way, so just going steadily chronological is pretty fun. though I will say I'd choose an entirely different set of tracks lol

Now that I look over that list - if I had to POO with a gun to my head as an intro to the band - it would be Surripere. It starts quite accessibly with an electro beat and droning series of delayed chords. It expresses the dark melancholy vibe of their 90's work, and then dissolves into a chaotic deconstruction that feels definitively post 90's Ae, ending with an only vaguely repetitive beat/bassline that feels distinctly alien.