Autechre: Classic or Dud?

Lmao imagine sending that tweet five years back in time

as someone who checked out around quaristice i'm totally baffled by all the praise for all this nu autechre

i tried listening to elseq last night and it just sounded like ... more confield

how much max/msp do you need in your life, really

I consider them to be two different bands at this stage. And tbf a lot of stuff on Untilted is all hardware no software according to some of their interviews at the time. I feel like they scratch an analytic, hypnotic musical itch no other band really scratches outside of certain types of jazz.

Their music is like looking at a beautiful, yet desolate landscape - tons of randomness constrained into ordered patterns.

Quaristice is a weird time to check out I reckon. they kind of seemed to rein themselves back in on that one after the more impenetrable Confield/Draft/Untitled era which I've only really got stuck into properly in more recent years. Quaristice is like a little buffet of different ideas, or like a prog record that tells all these vignettey little stories rather than extended break jams

xp there's def. a jazz 'listening mode' that their stuff lately seems to be asking for

i think "13 ctrl" might be my favorite on nts 1, out of all good-to-great stuff. the tightness of the beat and the expansiveness of the pads start interacting in this way where the craziest shit gets churned out. totally wild + straight fire.

"9 chr0" is sweetly modulated / blunted (impeded), a definite highlight of Session 2. The latter 4-5 tracks of session 2 flow well--i keep returning to it for its more chill vibe. also, love the guttural bass sounds that occur throughout "shimripl casual" (NTS 4). haven't yet warmed up to "all end", i'm guessing it might be better on headphones, or a proper hi fi setup.

gonk tuf hi, fuck. taking me back to chenc9, slightly more hopped up, twisted. "chenc9" and "90101-5l-l" are prime tracks (imo), re Quaristice (album versions)

honestly not so into "all end"! i like it and think it's good but there are definitely other hour-long ambient things i'd rather listen to

xflood just came on dear god that's nuts.

that "impeded" sound that happens, all over elseq too, is that a sidechain thing? like for the tiniest second everything drops out because of some inaudible bass frequency or something.. almost too quick to be sidechain though. i like the effect a lot.

a ton of moments on this that make me say "ufff" out loud.

i was running to nts 1 earlier, on a really rocky trail, and just making all these stupid "uff" sounds out loud because of the music lol

one other random thing, i think "mirrage" might be one of my favorite ambient things they've ever done? just haunted as hell. i've put on zeit by tangerine dream a few times lately and it has that similarly alien vibe to it imo. great segway into column thirteen.

I'm working on my personal pared-down version of this (for walks, drives, gym, etc) but have resolved to hear the whole thing three times first. I expect I will leave "all end" off my final playlist, but AE in ambient mode is not my favorite (though I agree "mirrage" is cool, it also benefits from being relatively short)

I really love "xflood." Those amazing ominous choral samples that increase in volume are currently wigging me out, man

never really got into pure-ambient Autechre. The love for Vletrmx confounds me. That said, things like Overand and Uviol (and lots of nice things on Amber), which are quasi-ambient are very very enjoyable

currently loving the massive low end growls in the second half of violvoic, and the super evocative late night in the jungle atmosphere of turbile epic casual, stpl idle (lol)

great segway into column thirteen.

http://gifon007.eu/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Segway-Fails-Gifs-Gif-Ramps.gif

(sorry)

I'm now watching that gif while "clustro casual" plays in my iTunes and I highly recommend doing this

Also, weird thing to say about 8 hours of music, but I don't think I dislike a single track on this. Obviously, I prefer some tracks to others, but it's remarkable how few skippers there are.

This really is a treasure trove and something I will be listening to / unpacking for years. My favorite AE since Confield (yes I am "one of those")

If I stick around here too long today Whiney may have to do a follow-up poll

I whacked Exai on earlier and it's comparatively basic, dare I say flimsy compared to even this stuff. incredible

Ha! I did the same yesterday and had the exact opposite reaction ...

xpost I was just telling a friend last night that it’s my favorite of theirs since Confield, so I may be one of those too!

Even as they were released I sort of lopped their albums into eras. There were the first few, up to and including Tri Repatae, which were sort of more familiar EDM/industrial/whatever. Then things started to get crazy and abstract with LP5 and Confield, then things turned more accessible ("accessible") with "Oversteps" and (iirc) "Exai" before going into its current epic post-CD phase with Live. At least that's how my brain divides them up. Been a while since I listened to the whole discography, which may have become impossible, given that 8 hour albums alone require a bit of effort to listen to and digest.

Lots of great surprises on the new ones. "g 1 e 1" (from NTS Session 3) has a Boards of Canada vibe.

There are some variations on that guitar-sounding bit that appeared in the latter half of the AE_LIVE sets. I believe there's a really similar (unaccompanied) version at the end of the Krakow set.

https://soundcloud.com/leheron_idletones/ae-dublin

man how great would it be if they'd do some sort of archived live series, like what King Crimson does. I mean chances are pretty slim since Ae pretty much never look back and who knows what sort of soundboard recordings they've got...but still. a man can dream

...because the other Autechre thread dealing with NTS Sessions has taken a predictably ugly turn. Hope no one minds.

maybe I should check back in with Autechre

you should! these NTS sets are what everyone's raving about right now. the 4th (and final) set is streaming now, at least for the next 512,580 seconds.

― Karl Malone, Friday, April 27, 2018 12:36 PM (five days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I wrote three of those yessssssss. I'll go to the mat all day, every day for my favourite artist and I'm proud to sound ridiculous when words fail.

― startled macropod (MatthewK), Friday, April 27, 2018 5:27 PM (five days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

You know you're too jaded when enthusiasm sounds ridiculous. I say, fly that enthusiasm flag high! When a really awesome group known for putting out these alien, enigmatic soundscapes puts out a great collection that 99.999% of the world, and perhaps some certain percentage of fans as well, will never know even exists, shout it to the rooftops.

― Josh in Chicago, Friday, April 27, 2018 5:45 PM (five days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Okay, lol @ 'bleepstores'

Bleep opened three years before Spotify and less than a year after iTunes

― chilis=lyrics...hypocrits (sic), Friday, April 27, 2018 6:04 PM (five days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

50 for 8 discs is pretty good, i might buy this

― brimstead, Friday, April 27, 2018 6:08 PM (five days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i like a lot of descriptions on that thread and will absolutely cop to being a bit rate snob AND i wholeheartedly support this poll. i'm voting for software upgrades just because they're really unpleasant and this is pleasant music.

― you bet, nancy (map), Friday, April 27, 2018 6:19 PM (five days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

isn't a lot of autechre's music really physical? seems like you'd want lossless for the headroom etc... FEEL THE BASS

― brimstead, Friday, April 27, 2018 6:20 PM (five days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

if you don't hear this ________________
or this __^__^__^__^
you will not feel it

― brimstead, Friday, April 27, 2018 6:21 PM (five days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

The pipes one was a funny anecdote so it got my vote
But yeah I’m finding it increasingly difficult to understand what lens Whiney sees the world through. Maybe the ilm regulars have a better handle on it than me, idk

― You're all losing so many points on your progress bars (Champiness), Friday, April 27, 2018 6:21 PM (five days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

whiney otm

― the late great, Friday, April 27, 2018 6:24 PM (five days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

first one is obviously best

― the late great, Friday, April 27, 2018 6:28 PM (five days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

software upgrades just because they're really unpleasant

Things getting better = unpleasant? OK.

― Gonk Steady Crew (Noel Emits), Friday, April 27, 2018 7:28 PM (five days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Can "this is pleasant music" be added to the poll? Autechre is always my first port of call when I want some pleasant music.

― Gonk Steady Crew (Noel Emits), Friday, April 27, 2018 7:38 PM (five days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

show me someone who believes software upgrades are "things getting better" in 2018 and i'll show you a fool. p.s. don't be a bitch

― you bet, nancy (map), Friday, April 27, 2018 7:46 PM (five days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Upgrade by definition means things getting better. If it isn't better it's not an upgrade.

If you want to wilfully misconstrue that I think it's only fair to return the favour and mention that "this is pleasant music" is more nauseating than anything in the poll.

― Gonk Steady Crew (Noel Emits), Friday, April 27, 2018 8:06 PM (five days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

There's no band I wish I liked more than Autechre. On paper, they seem like exactly what I want in a band, but everything I've listened to has been impenetrable. Might try again with this new release

― Vinnie, Friday, April 27, 2018 9:38 PM (five days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

autechre counts as a band? now i’ve seen it all!

― the late great, Friday, April 27, 2018 9:41 PM (five days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

though i agree strongly w the reading that confield was a post rock album

― the late great, Friday, April 27, 2018 9:42 PM (five days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

lentic catachresis is a post-rock jam for sure

― imago, Friday, April 27, 2018 9:43 PM (five days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Skipping 101 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

every time someone makes a grand proclamation about which half or third of autechre’s discography is superior i scoff

― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Wednesday, May 2, 2018 4:22 PM (three hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

never been able to get into anything before EP7

― imago, Wednesday, May 2, 2018 12:37 PM (forty-five minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post

wait sometimes i scoff and then realize how in character the post is

― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Wednesday, May 2, 2018 4:24 PM (three hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I don't know what that means but I agree with imago fwiw, though it isn't so much that I can't get into anything before EP7 as when I listen back now to those older albums they don't reset my brain chemistry like latter day AE (though some of those earlier albums did at one time). The career demarcations may not be clear cut (see above), but there's clearly a narrative / progression at work over the course of the discography and I feel like they're peaking right now

― Paul Ponzi, Wednesday, May 2, 2018 4:50 PM (three hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

btw not to go all Central Casting Autechre Fan but the concurrent Autechre threads are wreaking havoc on my OCD right about now

― Paul Ponzi, Wednesday, May 2, 2018 4:56 PM (two hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Hmmmm...intrigued. Please explain!

― Paul Ponzi, Wednesday, May 2, 2018 8:16 PM (fifty-nine minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

elseq redux

DISC 1

elyc6 onset
mesh cinereal

DISC 2

latentcall
eastre

^^^has a claim to be their best album, and certainly if it'd been released like this I'd still be raving about it now

― imago, Wednesday, May 2, 2018 5:17 PM (two hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Dunno I think the foregrounding of melody in Tri and cichlisuite is dope. Garbage has one of the best melodies in the catalog and vietrmix or whatever it’s called is an ambient portal to pure bliss. Sure there’s lovely parts on later work but I think preference of what yer favourite autechre periods are is fine

― done and dusted (Ross), Wednesday, May 2, 2018 5:25 PM (two hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Every time they come out with a new one I go through all the old records and it's amazing how great some of those early ones still sound, even if they feel a bit obsoleted or whatever. I mean Incunabula still sounds great, even though it's arguably their worst LP. As much as I love that era of IDM, I never really liked that woozy tape feel that a lot of the classics have. IMO it's tough to break them into eras, each album + accompanying EPs is sort of like an era of its own, though to me the big shifts were on Confield and Quaristice.

― frogbs, Wednesday, May 2, 2018 5:26 PM (two hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I can't really fault any of their albums. the one that's aged the most is Amber, which I really liked for a long time but doesn't quite hit the sweet spot as much any more. While my love for that one has faded, I've only got to love Incunabula more. I used to think Draft and Untilted were not so hot but now I love them, while the Quaristice/Oversteps stuff has taken a backseat (much as I was impressed with them at the time). I guess with this stuff it's never entirely clear when a certain sound or track will hit you. I still find Confield the most challenging tbh

― brand new universal harvester (dog latin), Wednesday, May 2, 2018 6:10 PM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

elseq redux

DISC 1

elyc6 onset
mesh cinereal

DISC 2

latentcall
eastre

^^^has a claim to be their best album, and certainly if it'd been released like this I'd still be raving about it now

― imago, Wednesday, May 2, 2018 5:17 PM (eighteen minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Predictably, I cannot associate any of these titles with their songs. Like I think I said upthread (or maybe it was on the other thread), I never made the time necessary for elseq to sink in. Part of it was the timing, part of it was the sheer volume of material (though I should mention I'm having no such trouble with the even longer NTS), but I really do need to revisit, and may start with these four. Thanks!

― Paul Ponzi, Wednesday, May 2, 2018 6:16 PM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

man if amber doesn’t reset your brain chemistry idk

― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Wednesday, May 2, 2018 6:18 PM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

It's a journey. I love how Autechre's past isn't set in stone. Their enormous evolution continues to put their previous albums into a new light. Amber has def aged the most, but how gracefully it ages. Incunabula can feel so fresh playing it right after, say, NTS 4. Confield is the most challenging, but for me also the biggest sign-post of what was to come, in hind-sight. It's an album that predicted Ae's future, while at the same time sounds 'dated' now, because they caught it out and outdone it times thousand.

xp to DL

― lbi's life of limitless european glamour (Le Bateau Ivre), Wednesday, May 2, 2018 6:18 PM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

also - is Move of Ten the most slept on (as distinct from least loved) Autechre release? No one ever seems to talk about it and I will admit the replay value on that one for me wasn't too high

― Paul Ponzi, Wednesday, May 2, 2018 6:19 PM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

that is not how ilm works, please don't

you gotta split them up into poll options if you want to copy and paste them, those are the rules

is this some... scheme.. where we perpetually upgrade threads by passing the contributions on to other threads

surely at this point someone could develop an msp patch to create better and more intricate threads

I'm gonna answer your last question, Move of 10 is extremely good. I wonder what the reaction to it would've been if they'd released it after Draft instead of years after they'd shaken off everyone holding out for a more "normal" Ae release.

v proc from draft is classic. from their 7th release - new one is what their 3.1475.666 release

classic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J60pepCNkV4

V-Proc is their funkiest tune

Move of 10 is one of the most immaculately produced (recorded, mixed, mastered) albums (ep?) i've ever 'eared. It's crisp, crystalline and massive. Etchogon-S doesn't appear in many 'top ___' lists, but it's a banger - in a sense where all of its components have been dismantled, reassembled poorly, then sent hurtling down the motorway, top speed, barely maintaining proximity (strewn apart), objects trying to function, f(l)ailing etc. - but it's still going (strong inertia), in a decrepit state, parts still moving (out of order), attempting to reset / connect.. just a fuckin mess. it's ace

y7 is a funny bone (ear) tickler, a bristled brain massage.

it took four or five plays but i'm finally realising the imperial majesty of gonk steady one. still haven't warmed to the first three off nts 1 but the rest is (at worst) solid, making inroads into 2, 3 is resisting my efforts but 4 is mellow gold.

four of seven is seriously old skool, reminiscent of 808 state's flow coma which iirc they repped hard for in a v early interview.

"shits on every other track on this list. from a great height." iirc

I love all of it and hope everyone is still hot to talk about this release in a week after I've listened to them all a few more times. Still culling the eight hours down for a personal 'best of NTS' mix but the quality here is high, it's gonna be tough.

Tell you what though: a three day Autechre binge can certainly disrupt one's life. I've been indoors more this week than I have all year.

i havent heard any AE since exai

"shits on every other track on this list. from a great height." iirc

that was it :) was trying to track it down but it seems to have gone off the net.

xp this is a great time to become reacquainted!

https://web.archive.org/web/20060721021323/http://www.steady-j.ukdeejays.com/ae-top10.html

Can someone help me ease back into their new stuff?

I know 8 hours is a lot, but I feel like NTS Sessions 1-4 works really well as a latter-day Autechre primer. It's kinda all here

That said, if you can wait a week or so I'll post my C90 or C60 (or whatever) playlist version. I'm sure others here will eventually have some thoughts about hits and misses, too. There's just so much to digest!

if i could only pick one NTS session, i guess it would be 4. so if you haven't listened to those yet and you're not sure if you'll make it to hours 7-8, maybe try skipping to 4 and getting a taste!

Ross - why not check out the ILM poll which is a great way to delve back in and rediscover the Old stuff in the process?

Put all the Elseq mp3s on one CDr, and play it on the stereo.

NTS 4 is the least representative of the rest of the sessions.. maybe just listen to them in order?

Alright Lowell I can do that

Thanks everyone just gotta figure out how to listen to nts
I don’t stream

NTS 4 is the least representative of the rest of the sessions

I was gonna say.

I'd start with 1 or (my current favorite) 3. The former provides a good comprehensive overview of most of the various styles at play, the latter imo represents the weirdest, most experimental, and most lol (in a good way)

If you love Amber, though, or the final chord of "bladelores," start with 4.

NTS 4 may be the least representative, but it's also the most zen-like, supreme redefinition and rebirth of Autechre.

uh ok i’m listening to 4 immediately

Brad <3

It's the long sought after string theory finally proved beyond any doubt. It connects the everything and the nothing and throws a new dimension you didn't think possible straight in your face. It's the 2001 monolith of music. Whiney can quote me on that in a new poll.

NTS is streaming from their website so you don't need Spotify or w/e - sessions 1-4 are streaming here - https://www.nts.live/projects/autechre-nts-residency/
Maybe a track ripper like youtube-dl?
Unfortunately it starts you off at the beginning of session 1 - come back 6 hours later for the start of 4 if that's what you want to hear. In general, most of the tracks are slowly evolving, long pieces, so if you're not liking something you might have to wait 10-20 minutes for a change of weather.
I think it's quite a lot more accessible than elseq, and maybe Exai.