Autechre: Classic or Dud?

i should shut up though, i promised not to be an electronic music gadfly

i can’t account for the ubiquity of the (admittedly nice) disintegration loops

a concept (slowly disintegrating tapes) and origin story (9/11) that everyone can understand + they sound really good

the context (the first part of what you said) is really crucial to its enduring popularity though imo

are concepts and origin stories rockist?

nope!

sol lewitt...rockist?

xp Probably, but if I told you this Magnog record from 1995 was recorded in a studio under the sea while the band was being attacked by sharks and underwater vampires, it'll always make for a better story than "stoned dudes channel their inner Pärson Sound" or whatever

norse sagas...rockist?

I'm 100% on board with all of the Disintegration Loops criticism

the “concept” of disintegration loops seems a bit straightforward to me compared to the work done by conceptual artists (of the visual sort)

not sure though

"Disintegration Loops is a beautiful piece of music" vs "Disintegration Loops is sui generis and exists in a vacuum of its own amazingness and also I have never heard Brian Eno or anything on Kranky or Kompakt or V/Vm or or or"

full disclosure: I love DL, I just agree with what late great said

I mean, it raised WB's profile in a huge way but still seems genuine. Not going to proclaim he's the Giuliani of drone music or anything.

what is the criticism of DL again? that it doesn't deserve its ubiquity (relative ubiquity - almost no one knows who the fuck william basinski is irl)?

my criticism of DL, within the context of this thread, is that it's not really in the "Eastre" zone

haha yeah that’s what i’m getting at

i have been kranky about this sort of thing for a long time though (see also kompakt vs other house music)

are concepts and origin stories rockist?

― the late great, Wednesday, May 9, 2018 12:37 PM (nine minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

what you think pop stars don't have press releases

well i think lots of marketing of pop music is rockist

but i’m mostly kidding, i think the lens of rockism vs popism is not so useful anymore in 2018

this Basinski / rockism derail is fun but seriously people, NTS Session 4

i guess i just don't think anyone or anything is to blame for DL's status as the Kind of Blue of very long conceptual ambient music. before DL, was there another piece of music exploring similar themes that the buy 12 albums a year crowd knew about? Alvin Lucier's I Am Sitting in a Room, maybe? dunno, just makes sense to me that DL would assume that position, and the world is better for it imo

xpost

some of the Quaristice "EP" tracks that are super long

i will give these a listen today, though - i remember being a bit stymied by the initial Quaristice release, but i never dove into the remix/EP stuff accompanying it

xp The Sinking of the Titanic maybe?

i think the basinski discussion is sort of topical - autechre doing drone seems like part of their new thing

fuck whatever this EASTRE shit is, ZOVIET FRANCE 4 LIFE!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JDkdJNqo1M

can't think of many Ae tracks like eastre, besides "Outpt" (ep7) - similarly repetitive / slight variations on each pass. "pt2ph8" (Oversteps) is another sort of meditative zone, although it's markedly different in its tone and mood - def more brief/ambient and pleasant.

The Sinking of the Titanic is a good suggestion.

brimstead otm

Harmonia - Ohrwurm

Is right in that somewhat purgatorial zone.

the “concept” of disintegration loops seems a bit straightforward to me compared to the work done by conceptual artists (of the visual sort)

maybe i'm not moving in the right circles but conceptual visual art has always seemed like the thinnest gruel to me.

Strangely, the conversation has reminded me that they used to play* this, in the full long version, on their short-lived late night radio show:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EuSi4BMlVQ

(*may have played once)

this is more of a steady build than the ebb and flow of eastre but otherwise it's one of the closest things i could think of:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpkMGABX7Os

(mogwai fear satan surgeon remix)

there were a bunch of drone type artists at their atp iirc

basinski’s elevation to the default drone music reference point is completely beyond me

i had no idea how alone in the wilderness i felt on this until reading yr comment

but anyway yeah, same

ledge i refer only to conceptual art pre-90s

tho maybe you hate that too?

well there is a lot of bad conceptual art, it’s true

if i understand it correctly the concept is “these tapes are disintegrating the twin towers disintegrated too do u see?” which seems a bit on the nose

like karl says though basinski probably looms larger in my consciousness than in that of music fans in general

as a longform conceptual drone album, Coil's Time Machines from a few years earlier is a lot more interesting sounding to me than The Disintegration Loops

"eastre" reminds me a bit of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xffyKESNBMs

nice one

ledge i refer only to conceptual art pre-90s

tho maybe you hate that too?

nah was thinking more of e.g. the modern trend of writing shit slogans in neon.

if i understand it correctly the concept is “these tapes are disintegrating the twin towers disintegrated too do u see?” which seems a bit on the nose

the twin towers happening at the same time was just a coincidence, though maybe it's doubtful whether the loops would be as well known without that ahem "fortunate" marketing tie in.

in a very real sense aren't we all disintegrating loops?

eternal return + entropy

> modern trend of writing shit slogans in neon

http://oneandj.com/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2017/09/Jung-Lee-Why3-From-the-Series-%E2%80%98Aporia%E2%80%99-C-type-Print-144%C3%97180cm-2016-1.jpg

the ish around conceptual art is it only happened because critics consistently conceptualize art but in the spirit of Against Interpretation there's no problem there except with Banky. Banky is bad and people who like his work should feel bad.

as soon as you start to critique anything in extra-material terms you are doing conceptual art how d'you like them bananas?

oh shit i've been missing the eastre discussion

imo it's the best thing on elseq OR NTS

and the ending is up there with the ending of 'soon' or w/e

For NTS4, I think some Steve Roach stuff might be in the ballpark: Etheric Imprints, Possible Planet, Future Flows, Mystic Chords & Sacred Spaces, Magnificent Void.

roach was my immediate thought

"turbile epic casual, stpl idle" is very Roach-y too

omg I'm finally getting to Session 4, the hype is so so so real

get a nice tasty icy beverage before you settle in

gotta stay hydrated. i might dip back into the NTS4 pool myself, here in a sec