POLL4, Wrap5 -- Autechre :: LP5 :: LP5

Hard. Voting "Drane2".

Is it washable, etc.

Seeing how the vote for Chiastic was a lot closer than I thought, I won't venture a guess -- though I'd have said that this poll is "Rae"'s to lose. (And why did Autechre split "Rae" and "Fold4, Wrap5" into two tracks? Always wondered about that.)

Actually, though, I have a lot of affection for "Drane2" (weirdly enough, one of my yoga teachers has a track on his iPhone that has almost exactly the same weird horn melody, except when I asked him what song it was, it turned out to be a Taiwanese folk song, or something).

xpost nice Noodle!

Listening to this again recently, I'm kind of let down by LP5. Not sure why.

When I was listening to this album a lot, and the tracks had taken on a kind of 3D picture-scape in my head, "Drane2" was the sound of waves washing down a shingle beach at sunset, shutting the album up proper, like.

It's still the most visual or colourful of their albums for me, but I've got more into the dryer, denser stuff that comes after.

Oho, this is my favourite, with EP7 a close runner up.

The only tracks I'm not so keen on are the first two, which seem to be more about frenetic pinball-machine rhythms than the prettier melodies on things like Rae.

As you may have guessed, this was the first Ae I ever heard and it took me a while to "get" it. I'd been a big Aphex fan, and thought I'd check out more of Warp's catalogue, but I really didn't know what to think of this. At first I thought things like Fold4,Wrap5 were almost too smirkingly clever for their own good. Only after listening a few times did the gorgeous chord changes shine through.

I think I'm going to be boring in my choice here and go for the obvious - Arch Carrier - if only because it was my companion on so many train journeys to-and-from my sixth form college in Cambridge that now I can't help but think of majestic rolling countryside when I hear those strings. I also thought it was amazing that Ae could make what sounded exactly like a string quartet, probably using entirely synthetic sound. It's a shame they drop out for the last third though.

Plenty of other highlights on LP5 though. I love the way Rae ends, very beautiful. The sort of rhythmic knob-twiddle, like someone moving a cross-fader between two records very quickly on Vose In. The aforementioned time-borbing on Fold4,Wrap5. "Is it washable?" - and also the sound of enormous steel springs being pulled taut on Under BOAC. And yes, Drane2 is utterly gorgeous, and I've used it in countless DJ mixes to either build up or breakdown from certain tracks.

Are Rae and Fold4, Wrap5 supposed to be played back-to-back? They both pull off a similar trick.

There seems to be a lot of hidden mythos around this album. Little things like "Is it washable?", and the fact the secret track on the end builds up to the first track. The plain black artwork. Some of the songtitles.

It's also a much cleaner-sounding album than anything they've done before or since. Each track is like a part of a huge well-oiled mechanism, and you can see each cog and spring perfectly.

never liked the first track, but this album is so good otherwise

Can't remember shit about this album but at some point I gave Under BOAC four stars in iTunes so Under BOAC it is.

this is the first autechre album I've heard. Gotta go with arch carrier. I still remember the first time I heard that song.

arch carrier

even though it's the most 'traditional' sounding track here, it's still the most striking

I fucking love Acroyear2. The beats sound insane but there's obviously some ineffable harmony and logic behind them, and the needling melody is just enough to hang on to amidst the chaos.

There is an a cappella version of Rae floating round, worth seeking out.

Under BOAC, when it all drops out and then comes back with a new percussion hit added in every bar until it is a bewildering swirl of clonks and thuds and clangs... an OMG moment right there.

Arch Carrier: alternate universe Knightrider theme.

No sequencing problems here (or with EP7). Melve is like whatever, Caliper Remote and even Corc are a bit meh, but there's no fatal loss of momentum half way through, and there are standout tracks from beginning to end.

Melve is quite a nice little bit of filler - makes me think of Christmas, particularly going downstairs at night as a kid and seeing the lights on the tree glowing.

not sure which one to pick, but my fav record of theirs by some distance

Did I also mention, this is a top ten, or possibly top five favourite album for me out of all albums ever. Would like more discussion to balance out my whimsy.

I listened to this album twice today, and I can't say that I've changed my opinion on it one bit. It's clearly the worst of the first five Autechre albums, mostly because it sounds less like Autechre than it does like [insert any number of then-contemporary Warp/Skam artists and/or Aphex Twin songs]. Only "Acroyear", "Arch Carrier" and "Drane2" really sound distinctive, and I had a tough time choosing between them (went with "Arch Carrier").

no hesitation. "rae".

xp Would kinda like to know what other warpskam artists sounded like this at the time! it sounds no less ae to me than any of their others; of course they switched their style around yet again and perhaps it does have a 'poppier' vibe, even though it has its fair share of fucked up beats, weird noises, and tempo tricks. Especially curious that you pick Arch Carrier as a standout, grebt though it is it's surely one of their most conventional tracks to date - an arpeggiated melody, some basic string sounds, and a very simple beat.

This was the album that got me into Autechre, and 'twas 'Rae' and 'Vose In' that blew me away at first --- not so odd, since they're the prettiest and until then I'd been listening to more structured, melodic Warp-y music. Rae is borderline too pretty. Perhaps the steady, imposing climb of 'Arch Carrier' is better, but I gotta respect my origins. Vose In gets my vote.

I listened to this album twice today, and I can't say that I've changed my opinion on it one bit. It's clearly the worst of the first five Autechre albums, mostly because it sounds less like Autechre than it does like [insert any number of then-contemporary Warp/Skam artists and/or Aphex Twin songs]. Only "Acroyear", "Arch Carrier" and "Drane2" really sound distinctive, and I had a tough time choosing between them (went with "Arch Carrier").

― NoTimeBeforeTime, Tuesday, 16 November 2010 21:08 (Yesterday)

Piffle, no one sounded like this at the time. Sure, Aphex and Wagon Christ were doing their drill'n'bass thing, which was fun, but no where near as complex; and after this you had a whole bunch of people ripping off this album's steez, but no one sounded like this.

Yeah, to me this is the first album where they really took a step away from what other Skam artists were doing! I find this album quite impressive, having fallen in love with a couple of tracks on first listen and worked hard at liking the others, but their releases past this point leave me cold, I'm afraid. I've tried to like Confield onwards, I really have...

(Will still be looking at the polls, hoping to find a way in to later albums from people's comments. This series has been fun so far.)

spacecadet, have you tried out Oversteps yet? That, and Quaristice seem a lot more accessible (in a good way) than Draft, Confield and Untilted.

Yes, I liked Oversteps a lot. Listened to it a lot when it was new and haven't dug it out since then, but I really did appreciate its Amberishness. The big Autechre fans I know were a bit divided about it. I don't remember finding Quaristice any more accessible than the previous few, but I didn't give it much of a chance, to be honest.

Would still be happy if nu-Autechre and all the 00s glitch-IDMers who want to sound like them (if any of the others are left) would ditch those clangy FM/physically modelled string sounds, though. They make me itchy. I'll probably come to love them eventually, like how 80s synth orch hits horrified me once and now bring me nostalgic pleasure.

and after this you had a whole bunch of people ripping off this album's steez

any rip-offs worth hearing?

Maybe... They'll have aged considerably by now though, but the ones that spring to mind include Funkstorung and Richard Devine, plus millions of bedroom artists putting stuff out on tiny labels. I always rated a guy called Cell (aka Sell, Cel, Sel etc).

I'd like to hear more about Gescom tbh, as I hardly checked out any of their stuff at the time, save a couple of EPs. Just started acquiring some stuff, and it's good. Like Autechre, but maybe slightly more scratch-influenced...

Funkstorung's Appetite for Disctruction was the one I rated most. Prob more Tri Repetae than LP5, but with a much more obvious hip-hop sensibility.

As for Gescom, start with Keynell - I more or less consider it to be an Autechre release in all but name.

that was a good album, yep, and wore its Autechre influence very clearly on its sleeve, but included more sample-scratching and even vocal performances.

xpost

i think i used to have Keynell. I really like the track Iss Sa

thanks for the recommendations! I've always meant to check out the funkstorung lp but never got around to it. I guess now's as good a time as any.

and yeah, aside from keynell, the ISS-SA gescom ep is definitely worth hearing. "slow acid" is another good one on that release.

the a1-d1 and the this and that remix eps are also solid. I've liked most of the gescom material I've heard, really.

Under BOAC, when it all drops out and then comes back with a new percussion hit added in every bar until it is a bewildering swirl of clonks and thuds and clangs... an OMG moment right there.

yeah, this is spot on.

years back when I still lived with my parents, there was one afternoon when I was just BLASTING this album at unreasonable levels. thought nobody was home but then my sister walks over during precisely this moment and says, "this music is terrifying" or something to that effect. and at that volume and at that particular break in the song, I couldn't really disagree.

their best album, easily. Arch carrier is the winning cut but it has tough competition here.

I remember hearing their first one when it came out, didn't do the trick, next one I heard was tri repetae and I liked the sounds more but the structures were too repetitive, fair enough, so I'd kind of decided they were not my thing. then I walked into aquarius sometime in 1999 and 'fold4,wrap5' was on and that was it, this album's where I get on the train.

this is the album where they moved largely away from hardware to software, and it really did seem like a gauntlet being thrown down, from here through to 2004 all their releases are effortless high water marks, going to the bank with the sounds of the previous 30-40 years of abstract electronic music like Subotnick / Dockstader / Parmegiani and pouring them into these bizarre Hip Hop / Electropop structures, in hindsight it seems like someone had to do it but these two guys really stepped up

Which kinda ties into what I mentioned upthread about this album feeling like it has an unwritten mythos... As if this kind of music and these structures have always existed in some kind of dormant quasi-religious electronic hive-linguistic, with references to things that are way way beyond mine or anyone else's comprehension and can only be truly deciphered by some sort of machine with a program that only conforms to a b-boy logic of generative mathematical parameters and impossible abstract architecture. I still feel like there's something to discover and one day I'll reach some new catharsis with this and every album after it, like suddenly being able to understand a new language...

Would kinda like to know what other warpskam artists sounded like this at the time! it sounds no less ae to me than any of their others; of course they switched their style around yet again and perhaps it does have a 'poppier' vibe, even though it has its fair share of fucked up beats, weird noises, and tempo tricks.

"Rae" sounds like fairly standard fare for Skam at the time. The melodies on "Melve" and "Fold4, Wrap5" could have come straight off an Aphex record (DUHHHH, dog latin, obv I'm not referring to his drill'n'bass stuff here), and "Caliper Remote" is kinda Aphex-y too.

"Arch Carrier" is fairly simple, yes, but I love how it's so smooth and streamlined and how the ending could basically continue forever. It's very much in the style of "Chiastic Slide", IOW, and you know how I feel about that album from the other thread :)

Re: "Keynell", it is AWESOME, probably better than any of their EP's as Autechre.

so, this one's been on heavy rotation lately. (prompted by this thread.)

if you scan above, you'll see that I originally voted "rae" with "no hesitation." and it's a great track, no question. it's the one that made me a fan.

I already owned tri repetae prior to hearing this album, but aside from "eutow," much of it left me cold. I've grown to appreciate tri repetae more over the years but it still isn't one of my favorites. (the ++ bonus disc is top tier stuff, however.)

anyway, I cautiously gave ae another shot and picked up lp5. "rae" clicked instantly and the rest soon followed. something about the juxtaposition between the chaotic, shifting breakbeat and the pretty melody riding on top still really works for me after all these years.

but damn, "under boac" and "drane2" are major highlights as well. would be tempted to go for one if I hadn't voted already.

also love how I'm still finding new things to appreciate on this album after countless plays. this is a great record.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

end of under boac is fukkin mental'

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

forgot to vote

think i might have gone for 'corc'

3. "Rae" 7:13 2

o_O

Autechre LP5 POLL

^^is a link to the other time the record was polled 3 years ago with almost the same results but a different winner.

Wow, all the votes for "Fold4, Wrap5" disappeared.

POLLhelic Triangle -- Autechre :: Confield :: LP6

Just bought this on cd today. It's pretty good. Not nearly as good as Incunabula but it's a fun listen.

been having kind of an obsession with this album lately; this is one of those very special albums that seems to change depending on what kind of stereo you've got it on. I love the way it sounds in my car but not until now (when I finally gave it a listen on a good set of headphones) am I starting to realize all the melodic stuff hidden beneath the surface. hard to believe it's an hour long...just breezes by if you ask me.

Indeed, I used to have a gimmicky 3D QSurround setting on my stereo that made Arch Carrier sound tear-inducingly brilliant.

I kinda feel like the "Is it washable?" line is a nod to the fact that "Under BOAC" sounds like a series of metal objects getting thrown into a washing machine

this is such a drummy record

'Vose In' was robbed!

that's a great track but maybe my fourth or fifth fave on an unimpeachable record

That ending tho.

Surprised at the winner here, tbh... it's like the pop track of the LP.

"Rae" wins this album so hard, it's not even funny. "fold4,wrap5" honourable mention though, I've a thing for auditory illusions.

xp if it's the pop track then why are you surprised? I think Arch Carrier is almost perfect apart from maybe the last third peters out a little bit. Those strings though.

I'm surprised because one wouldn't think that Autechre fans would gravitate towards the obvious. You'd expect 'em to be a bit more discerning.

"Arch Carrier" is amazing though

plus these polls don't exactly get a lot of votes

Corc's dope too!

Is Acroyear2 the most whistleable ae track?

what? no...

i can't even remember if that one's got much of a melody

listening now - hey, it does. the first two tracks are the ones i tend to skip on lp5 for some reason

LP5 flows so well. I like the way it sounds like it was made in a kitchen. Lots of clunking and clicking noises like kettles being turned on

I've tried not saying it but I'm sorry - Arch Carrier always seemed like a not very interesting plinky-plonky trudge. Which is fine, it's just slightly odd that it's apparently such a fave. 777 is better and got no votes.

it's all about the strings. people loved strings in the 90s

I wouldn't say 'Acroyear2' was the most whistleable Autechre track, but I've always thought it had quite a memorable melody.

listening to this again just now and i swear that's the first time i've heard the phrase 'is it washable?'

lol that is probably their most famous 'lyric'. there's also something about 'the maroon'.

I played fkn Arch Carrier at my pub gig last night

There's no context to this. I played to people sitting down but I played it and no one noticed. They just drank beers

represent

👍🏽