Autechre: Classic or Dud?

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Great inventive IDM or geeky mindless crap?

I say the former, but i'm a Warp-head...

dog latin, Monday, 23 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link

I got one of their CD's because they were critically acclaimed, but only listened to it once. I guess I just don't like their style.

james e l, Monday, 23 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link

Bleep bloop, blip blip, bloop bloop. I borrowed an Autechre CD and I too found that the hype didn't live up to the bleeps. On the other hand, I heard Autechre being used as background music for a film at an art installation, and it seemed to work there. By itself, though? Can't see it. Maybe I'll grow into it.

Sean Carruthers, Monday, 23 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link

Er, rather, bleeps didn't live up to the hype. Time for me to go home, I think.

Sean Carruthers, Monday, 23 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link

mindless crap is what my dad said after listening to a bit of LP5 but for me it's great background music and also when your fucked up...

Kevin Enas, Monday, 23 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link

well, it's not the kind of stuff one likes after one play

search: LP5

dog latin, Monday, 23 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link

Actually, I really like the idea of hype not living up to bleeps.

Ned Raggett, Monday, 23 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link

personally, subjectively, they were brilliant on _tri repetae_. almost a perfect piece of work, i think, with all of the more traditionalist melodic bits of their first two albums clashing with the beginnings of the DSP shitstorm that was to come on later releases. everything since has been hit and miss, with even the better releases (lp5, ep7, envane) having tracks that just sound like 'generic autechre.'

as for "inventive," well, the IDM list be damned, they pretty much defined how IDM has sounded for the past 4 years or so by dint of every semi-talented derivative jacking their style (phoenicia, entire schematics roster, everything i've heard on musik aus strom, especially the horribly derivative but not even close to the mark flagship duo funkstorung, etc, etc). their fault or their misfortune, you be the judge.

your null fame, Monday, 23 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link

I quite like Autechre. Chiastic Slide and Tri Repetae are great. And the earlier more ambient stuff from Amber and Incunabula is quite nice too. I haven't been that into the shift toward more digital, more abstract, less beat oriented music in their last few releases. I like that they're evolving, I'm just not too keen on the result.

bnw, Monday, 23 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link

I've always found them strangely dissapointing. I do like most of Tri Repeate, but I find Amber dull (hard for me to imagine how so many consider that classic) and the post-Tri stuff I've heard generally just slides by me. I ADMIRE what they're doing with the thick sounds on EP7 -- it sounds very complicated and new -- but it's just not enjoyable listening for me. I keep it around, though, because I figure some day it just might click. But for now I'm calling Ae a dude.

Mark, Monday, 23 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link

I would say Classic based on Tri Repetae and Chiastic Slide, but I think they make more of a Search and Destroy kind of band than a Classic Or Dud. They have some fantastic material and a chunk of not so fantastic. To my mind, the problem with them is that when you first hear their sound, it blows your ass to the back wall, but a monrh later it doesn't sound nearly as good, especially after you hear all the shameless imitators mentioned above? But then, is it their fault that it's easy to do a third rate imitation of their sound? And does that irrevocably alter how we hear the songs themselves?

Dave M., Tuesday, 24 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link

Classic for the first four albums. 'Amber' is my favorite (not dull at all, it's perfect twilight music). Again a band who release too much stuff and you start to lose interest (and I won't start on all the 2nd rate copycats). But the first four are just perfect and all have a different atmosphere. Also have become victim to what someone on the Hips,head,heart-thread called the Kraftwerk-don't-have-a-soul fallacy. Autechre always struck me as one of the great soul bands, they always try to home in on a very peculiar sense of melancholy (fading of a beautiful day, the sadness of machines) or nostalgia (a lot of times the music shimmers with the feeling of being a child again). Any band that does that is Classic in my book.

Omar, Tuesday, 24 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link

Listening to the last strains of Cichli on Chiastic Slide as the sun comes up is awesome...

dog latin, Tuesday, 24 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link

If you look up Autechre in the dictionary you'll find the answer

K-reg, Tuesday, 24 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link

always admired what autechre were doing (the sheer bloody-mindedness reminded me of the fall) but could never love it. just too dry.

but in the last 6 months i've begun to change my mind, and i'm beginning to really love some of what they do (most of LP5, a lot of Chiastic Slide, and Clichi Suite are beautiful records i think).

it seems strange that it too such a long time for me to really like them, but then i did that with piano magic, happy mondays and tom waits too, and i love 90% of all their stuff too.

got tri repetae recently, but having difficulty getting into that one so far.

saw them at Brixton Fridge the other week, and they were excellent. every track seems to start off so uninviting, but gradually becomes wonderful

so, i think i'd head towards classic really

gareth, Tuesday, 24 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link

nah, i don't like tri repetae too much.

dog latin, Tuesday, 24 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link

autecism-the development of the entire life cycle of a parasitic fungus on a single host

Kevin Enas, Wednesday, 25 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link

Hm, then who is the host? Mr. Aphex Twin? Or just idm geeks in general?

bnw, Thursday, 26 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link

that's what the dictonary said..i'd go with idm geeks

Kevin Enas, Thursday, 26 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link

I'd like to amend my previous comment. Based on the other comments here, I went out and picked up Tri-Repetae and I have to admit that I'm liking it quite a bit. I don't know what the other album I heard was, now. I'll probably check out the new one too. Thanks for changing my mind on this one.

Sean Carruthers, Wednesday, 9 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link

Heh, you're doing lots of amending lately... excellent. :)

Josh, Wednesday, 9 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link

Clasik They laid down their basic schematic a decade ago, which was duely appropriated by a whole generation of Electronica outfits as a viable escape route from the ambient ghettos of the early nineties. But somehow, they both manage to avoid sounding anything like their legion of imitators, and remain undeniably Autechre. Geniuses in their own petri dish - remote, but perfect

K-reg, Thursday, 10 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link

So anyone heard the new one? I was going to skip on this one, but it's getting really good reviews. Is it a departure or can it be compared with an oldie? Oh and most important: does it have some humanity (I always dread a full Autechre move into pure abstraction).

Omar, Monday, 14 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link

i think the new one is the business. it is kind of a departure. its unmistakably them but less electro-ish. in a strange taxidermy way it reminds me of piano magic. very decayed sounding. busted cd type feel as well.

difficult to compare to other releases. perhaps the closest is chiastic slide (particularly hub)

i'd definitely recommend it. is rivalling Discovery for favourite album of moment.

gareth, Monday, 14 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link

three weeks pass...
Someone explain the appeal please? Much as I love the Warp-label, Autechre's brand of IDM just leaves me cold. Too ornate, too wrapped up in its own 'cleverness', too much fidgeting about playing around with FX. This music has no flow. Listening to Confield gives me a headache, as has every other release of theirs I've heard. Occasionally they hit on a groove, a sound, a pattern and everything momentarily clicks, but 5 seconds later and it abruptly changes direction. Is it like Geometry, or computer programming? I'm bemused, confused, and fail to connect with this music.

Stevo, Sunday, 10 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link

I still haven't listened to the new album much - I haven't found myself in the right mood - but it might be fair to say the music indeed "has no flow", the way you're probably thinking. Unless this sort of willful difficulty is your thing, I think it would help to start with their earlier CDs and work your way forward. (That might make the current stuff more palatable, but then it might not for you.) Incunabula and probably Tri Repetae (and "Garbage", dammit I wish my Trie Repetae disc 2 hadn't snapped in half) have lots of songs that unfold more nicely, without so much focus on subverting rhythmic expectations (and sonic ones too).

Josh, Thursday, 14 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link

i come from the opposite perspective on this one josh. i only picked yp incunabula recently and found it rather uneventful, and i find tri repetae is too harsh. chiastic slide is like tri repetae but somehow more personable. i think the ideal starting point is probably LP5. this seems very accessible (although again, on initial hearing it just gave me a headache!), it eventually seeped in and i love that album now.

the new one is simultaneously a continuity of LP5 in terms of denseness and a complete break in that there seems to be no flow or groove whatsoever. the flow may have been convoluted before, now it just sounds broken and rusted. its a wonderful record (particularly the middle section) but probably not the best place to start. LP5 i think remains their highlight.

gareth, Friday, 15 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link

Sean of Autechre in recent De:Bug declare: "we make the ultimate folk music". I like that idea a lot. No flow/broken sounds like another chinese puzzle, going to get it anyway. Another thing: I skipped on LP5, since i was suffering from autechritis at the time (I mean really, a record every year is too much), still worth checking out?

Omar, Friday, 15 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link

yeh, lp5 is the best one!

as for autechre writing folk music, i wrote a confused piece on this, which you can find here

gareth, Friday, 15 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link

Dude! Confused? Not all. It's true isn't it? It such a nice framework for this sort of music.

So there you have it: we're the new folkies! :) Let's all grow beards.

Omar, Friday, 15 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link

'Incunabula' is impressing me Josh, making more immediate sense than 'Confield'. 'Tri-Repetae' has moments of fractured beauty that long to be dwelt on, but frequently aren't. I find Autechre cold, abstract, and introverted, but I can't quite dismiss them. There is a dark clinical beauty that does attract. Like being drawn to an alluring, handsome stranger only to discover she/he is suffering from schizophrenia.

Stevo, Friday, 15 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link

1 listen into Confield and all i can say: it's doing my head in! Very, very good. 1st track esp. is amazing (sort of gamelan-on-ice planet stuff, beautiful melody harking back to 1st album...nice, nice). Bit of a surprise because it sounds more direct in a way than mid-period Autechre. And they came up with some new cool sounds too.

Omar, Monday, 18 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link

nine years pass...

Just got sent this:

Autechre - 'EPS 1991-2002' WARPCD211
5 X Deluxe CD - 47 Tracks - 5hr 39min 59sec
47 track digital bundle available now
CD shipped & released 11th April 2011

Order CD with instant WAV/MP3 download at Bleep
Download MP3/WAV at Bleep (includes videos)
Download digital at iTunes

Visit Autechre.ws

(Made in The Designers Republic™)
CAVITY JOB, BASSCADEP, ANTI EP
(Disc 1)

Cavity Job
Accelera 1 & 2
Basscadet (Bcdtmx)
Basscadet (Basscadoublemx)
Basscadet (Tazmx)
Basscadet (Basscadubmx)
Lost
Djarum
Flutter

Tracks 1 – 2 originally released as Cavity Job (p)1991 Autechre.
Tracks 3 – 6 originally released as Basscad EP (p) 1994 Warp Records Limited.
Tracks 7 – 9 originally released as Anti EP (p) 1994 Warp Records Limited.
GARBAGE, ANVIL VAPRE
(Disc 2)

Garbagemx
PIOBmx
Bronchusevenmx
VLetrmx
Second Bad Vilbel
Second Scepe
Second Scout
Second Peng

Tracks 1 – 4 originally released as Garbage (p)1995 Warp Records Limited.
Tracks 5 – 8 originally released as Anvil Vapre (p) 1995 Warp Records Limited.
PEEL SESSION, ENVANE
(Disc 3)

Milk DX
Inhake 2
Drane
Goz Quarter
Latent Quarter
Laughing Quarter
Draun Quarter

Tracks 1 – 3 originally released as Peel Session (p)1995 BBC.
Tracks 4 – 7 originally released as Envane (p)1997 Warp Records Limited.
CHICHLISUITE, EP7
(Disc 4)

Yeesland
Pencha
Characi
Krib
Tilapia
Rpeg
Ccec
Squeller
Left Blank
Outpt
Dropp
Liccflii

Tracks 1 – 5 originally released as Cichlisuite (p)1997 Warp Records Limited.
Tracks 6 – 12 originally released on EP7 (p)1999 Warp Records Limited.
EP7, PEEL SESSION 2, GANTZ GRAF
(Disc 5)

Maphive6.1
Zeiss Contarex
Netlon Sentinel
Pir
Gelk
Blifil
Gaekwad
19 Headaches
Gantz Graf
Dial.
Cap.IV

Tracks 1 – 4 originally released on EP7 (p)1999 Warp Records Limited.
Tracks 5 – 8 originally released as Peel Session 2 (p)1999 BBC.
Tracks 9 – 11 originally released as Gantz Graf (p)2002 Warp Records Limited.

dentarthurdent (dog latin), Tuesday, 15 February 2011 14:13 (twelve years ago) link

ooh, they've split the EP7s across two discs. Bad show.

dentarthurdent (dog latin), Tuesday, 15 February 2011 14:14 (twelve years ago) link

(closes eyes, mutters 'i do not need or want expensive box-sets, i do not need or want expensive box sets...')

ledge, Tuesday, 15 February 2011 14:33 (twelve years ago) link

('I have all these tracks already, i have all these tracks already')

dentarthurdent (dog latin), Tuesday, 15 February 2011 14:41 (twelve years ago) link

Seems a little odd not to include the Seefeel or Beaumont Hannant mixes of Basscadet, but maybe that can be justified. Putting "Anvil Vapre" before "Garbage" seems like flat-out bad sequencing.

with hidden noise, Tuesday, 15 February 2011 14:47 (twelve years ago) link

?

Tracks 1 – 4 originally released as Garbage (p)1995 Warp Records Limited.
Tracks 5 – 8 originally released as Anvil Vapre (p) 1995 Warp Records Limited.

ledge, Tuesday, 15 February 2011 14:48 (twelve years ago) link

ah, my mistake!

with hidden noise, Tuesday, 15 February 2011 15:20 (twelve years ago) link

This is disappointing. At least include all vinyl-only tracks, not only Cavity Job.

I don't feel this is worth the double-dip.

Sebastian (Royal Mermaid Mover), Tuesday, 15 February 2011 15:45 (twelve years ago) link

Sorry boothbrown, I already have all the original releases.

StanM, Tuesday, 15 February 2011 16:01 (twelve years ago) link

only own the Anti EP but not sure what I would do with this package - EP collections on several CDs just seem so impractical

licorice oratorio (baaderonixx), Wednesday, 16 February 2011 08:49 (twelve years ago) link

This is disappointing. At least include all vinyl-only tracks, not only Cavity Job.

I don't feel this is worth the double-dip.

OTM.

Better to have the original Anti and break the seal on it to show what bollicks the Criminal Justice Thingy is.

Asparagus Peee (Leee), Friday, 18 February 2011 02:40 (twelve years ago) link

one year passes...

I couldn't decide which C or D thread to pick so I made a new one

Autechre Exai

ledge, Thursday, 13 December 2012 17:00 (ten years ago) link

ten months pass...

http://youtu.be/lC7LGzCZ-q0

classic

braunld (Lowell N. Behold'n), Monday, 14 October 2013 17:51 (nine years ago) link

track at 18:00 is pretty sick

eris bueller (lukas), Monday, 14 October 2013 18:35 (nine years ago) link

that whole video is rad, oh man that brings back memories, esp. the whistles and the whole dudes-with-long-fringe-swept-back-w-headbands thing, damn haven't seen that look in a minute

the tune was space, Monday, 14 October 2013 20:11 (nine years ago) link

two weeks pass...

http://ge.tt/9ZkPRWw/v/0

more ore

braunld (Lowell N. Behold'n), Tuesday, 29 October 2013 07:14 (nine years ago) link

one year passes...

possibly discussed elsewhere, but Autechre put out a 5.5hr mix of 1992-ish stuff that contextualises the newly-reissued Artificial Intelligence compilation. It's akin to that marathon electro mix they did a while back and is great:
https://autechre.mixlr.com/recordings/1977679

Critique of the Goth Programme (Neil S), Monday, 9 January 2023 15:41 (two months ago) link

it was mentioned on a thread called "autechre - classic or dud"

:-)

what we didn't mention was the tracklist, which is this work in progress (not my work)

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Fy1mZkeMTI1CvLWmPy7NOAwFkFu-a6FHrx2EMgt4_3w/edit#gid=0

StanM, Monday, 9 January 2023 18:07 (two months ago) link

ah the perils of two C or D threads! thanks for the tracklisting sheet...

Critique of the Goth Programme (Neil S), Tuesday, 10 January 2023 09:24 (two months ago) link

two weeks pass...

nice, hope they keep going. I'll get these but Untilted/Quaristice/Oversteps/Exai are the ones I really want

https://www.treblezine.com/autechre-announces-vinyl-reissues-of-confield-draft-7-30/

frogbs, Friday, 27 January 2023 15:42 (two months ago) link

Will definitely be picking up the Confield reissue. I want both, but I'm trying to buy fewer records this year. It's not going well so far.

Paul Ponzi, Friday, 27 January 2023 16:22 (two months ago) link

Very happy about this. Wish I could get my hands on the rest of the EPs on wax though. Would love Envane, Cichlisuite and EP 7.1 (I have 7.2).

octobeard, Friday, 27 January 2023 20:54 (two months ago) link

They seem to have forgotten the CD editions.

The Triumphant Return of Bernard & Stubbs (Raymond Cummings), Friday, 27 January 2023 21:19 (two months ago) link

They seem to have forgotten the CD editions.

The idea of listening to Autechre on vinyl is completely baffling to me. "You know what this ultra-pristine collection of 100% digital crunches and pings needs? Some hiss and crackle! You know, to add 'warmth'! Oh, and less bass!"

but also fuck you (unperson), Friday, 27 January 2023 22:52 (two months ago) link

What is life without Plumtree's potted meat? incomplete

death generator (lukas), Friday, 27 January 2023 22:54 (two months ago) link

unperson I assume you know they put this sticker on the Tri Rep CD:
https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7TCF8SlZcMQ/W-LlsMHTAAI/AAAAAAAABlg/ATiFT3Ry4PAHM1889JNer2WR9_D4ggJqACLcBGAs/s640/autechre1.jpg

assert (matttkkkk), Saturday, 28 January 2023 00:11 (two months ago) link

tri rep is the only one I felt like I should own on vinyl. Got it as birthday gift to myself last year. For all the rest I'm fine with CDs or digital.

silverfish, Saturday, 28 January 2023 02:37 (two months ago) link

LP5 has so much bass it causes the needle to jump around if your turntable’s cheap

frogbs, Saturday, 28 January 2023 08:12 (two months ago) link

I have to remember that I’m no longer part of whatever “the demo” is now, and what the demo wants is vinyl reissues.

The Triumphant Return of Bernard & Stubbs (Raymond Cummings), Saturday, 28 January 2023 14:38 (two months ago) link

To hell with "listen to this on vinyl" pointers on CDs

you can see me from westbury white horse, Saturday, 28 January 2023 15:35 (two months ago) link

CDs will come back, bring on retro-futurism

not too strange just bad audio (brimstead), Saturday, 28 January 2023 16:19 (two months ago) link

FFS Autechre. I can't afford this to happen to me this year

Man, Ae change attitudes towards formats a fair bit. I love these albums. I want them on a plastic slab

LP5 has so much bass it causes the needle to jump around if your turntable’s cheap

lp5 is also so crisp and clear that it feels like it should be listened to on CD

silverfish, Sunday, 29 January 2023 18:18 (two months ago) link

xp but would you like the plastic to be vinyl or polycarbonate?

assert (matttkkkk), Sunday, 29 January 2023 18:37 (two months ago) link

two weeks pass...

I tried listening to Gonkcast, and it's decent enough (I certainly can't imagine trying to talk about Autechre out loud for this long), but I kinda feel like they're not nerdy *enough* about music and production for the task? Like, I want to listen to someone who really has hands-on experience with Max/MSP and can dig into what's going on in some of the tracks (like I think they were saying Cichli is in 4/4, I WOULD NEVER).

Anyway it's just making me want to go back and listen to the records, which is good. Confirmed once again that I don't get as much out of Tri Repetae as others seem to, and that Chiastic Slide is a big time classic for me.

Also listening to the recent NTS influences mix in chunks, so much good ahead-of-its-time stuff.

change display name (Jordan), Tuesday, 14 February 2023 19:36 (one month ago) link

"I want to listen to someone who really has hands-on experience with Max/MSP and can dig into what's going on in some of the tracks (like I think they were saying Cichli is in 4/4, I WOULD NEVER)."

If you are looking for detailed commentary on Autechre, I recommend the description of "Gantz Graf" at the 5:4 blog:

https://5against4.com/2022/08/05/20-years-on-autechre-gantz-graf/

Melomane, Tuesday, 14 February 2023 20:00 (one month ago) link

Now that's what I'm talking about, thanks!

change display name (Jordan), Tuesday, 14 February 2023 20:13 (one month ago) link

the "embarrassing" review linked in the NME is a lot more entertaining than that blog post, even though the cliches in it about intellectual european idm listeners were already 10 years old 20 years ago

that blog post is funny because it tries to pass itself off as a very technical explanation of the track, but when you really get down to it, the writer is just saying "this part is noisy" / "this part is less noisy" / "this part sounds more like beats", with a lot of around those ideas

the late great, Tuesday, 14 February 2023 20:34 (one month ago) link

a lot of *padding around those ideas

the late great, Tuesday, 14 February 2023 20:34 (one month ago) link

yeah, honestly i just want to see a screenshot of their max/msp patch

President of Destiny Encounters International (Karl Malone), Tuesday, 14 February 2023 20:36 (one month ago) link

there's a useful and simple test i like to apply to bullshit music criticism like this, and it's to replace any of the meaningless details with a different meaningless detail and then ask myself whether the meaning would be altered in any way. if not, then bingo, i was right, it really IS meaningless detail

example: when author says "the way that the five pitches are used throws emphasis onto the intervals, strengthening their connectivity." imagine the author had said FOUR pitches, or THREE pitches, or SIX or NINETEEN. would it make any difference?

here's another: "Throughout this sequence, the underlying beats, though complex, don’t meaningfully change at all, working to support this melody. Though low in the mix, Autechre tease it out slightly by putting just a touch of reverb onto each note"

what if the author had said ECHO or COMPRESSION or PHASER or DISTORTION instead of "reverb"? would we care?

the late great, Tuesday, 14 February 2023 20:40 (one month ago) link

haha, good points tlg.

change display name (Jordan), Tuesday, 14 February 2023 20:41 (one month ago) link

i mean okay, if autechre use reverb and not delay it would be silly to say "putting a small delay onto each note". but assuming they did use delay, would it now "undermine the melody" instead of "support" it?

or would that depend less on the production technique and more on whether the listener chooses to hear autechre as intellectual wank or high grade experimental art?

the late great, Tuesday, 14 February 2023 20:42 (one month ago) link

i make this point with confidence only because i also "danced about architecture" in my youth as a detroit techno blogger.

eventually i realized it was better just to post yt links and that it's more fun to criticize dj's living rooms and haircuts than it is do music criticism

the late great, Tuesday, 14 February 2023 20:46 (one month ago) link

You might not have got much out of the linked blog post, tlg, but it is certainly not bullshit or meaningless detail. It's also not an exercise in music criticism but analysis. When Mr. Cummings speaks about the way those five pitches are used, emphasizing those particular intervals, yes, writing “four” or “three” would completely change the point (because the resulting track would have been completely different in terms of tonal centre).

Melomane, Tuesday, 14 February 2023 20:54 (one month ago) link

so would three or four vs five have weakened the connectivity between the intervals? strengthened it to a lesser degree? strengthened it to a greater degree?

the late great, Tuesday, 14 February 2023 21:16 (one month ago) link

Close listening is cool. Reading other people's musical analysis can help. Yeah there were details I glossed over, but I enjoyed reading + listening along. Not every track would benefit from that, but this one is so dense that a map is useful.

what have I done to deserve you (lukas), Tuesday, 14 February 2023 21:21 (one month ago) link

yes, i definitely can see how one might have missed the Development (1:39) and Transition (3:11) without a helpful explainer!

the late great, Tuesday, 14 February 2023 21:23 (one month ago) link

Have you tried reading the blog post and connecting the words in it to the sounds you hear in the track? Just a thought.

what have I done to deserve you (lukas), Tuesday, 14 February 2023 21:30 (one month ago) link

I get what you're saying but I think if you're compelled to listen to podcasts or read articles like this when the band already has 100 hours of material out then maybe those details really do matter to you. Personally it gave me a few things to think about, given the track itself is total chaos. Now when sites run reviews of their albums that sound like this then yeah I think it's a bit wanky. But I guess that's the point of "gonkcast"

frogbs, Tuesday, 14 February 2023 21:41 (one month ago) link

Someone on twitter pointed out this sick unofficial video that someone made in '08:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsNbUlyERV0

change display name (Jordan), Tuesday, 14 February 2023 21:43 (one month ago) link

Have you tried reading the blog post and connecting the words in it to the sounds you hear in the track? Just a thought.

― what have I done to deserve you (lukas)

the problem is not that this is impossible, or even challenging, but that 75% of the adjectives and technical terms in that article could be arbitrarily replaced with other words and it would be just as easy to connect the words to the music

the parts that make the most sense to me are the parts where he goes "oh wow this part is chaotic!" or "oh wow this part is building tension!" or "oh wow i hear a pattern coming out of the chaos!" but you can do that just as easily without pointing out that the pattern is A – C – A – Bb – Eb – C – Bb – Bb – Gb – C – Bb – A – C – Bb – Eb – C – Bb – Bb – Gb – C – Bb and in fact i wonder whether it even matters that it's A – C – A – Bb – Eb – C – Bb – Bb – Gb – C – Bb – A – C – Bb – Eb – C – Bb – Bb – Gb – C – Bb and not some other sequence of notes

the late great, Tuesday, 14 February 2023 22:05 (one month ago) link

tlg, I'm led to wonder if you you any training in music. The reason it matters that it is that particular pattern of notes is, again, that pattern of notes (though the specific intervals between them) determines the overall harmony of the track. Which is a very different use of harmony from pop music, and different even from most of the Warp scene with which Autechre was first associated.

And this sort of analysis does capture why this era of Autechre’s work might appeal to those (like Mr. Cummings or myself) who were already fans of twentieth-century avant-garde composers like Boulez or Ferneyhough.

Melomane, Tuesday, 14 February 2023 22:14 (one month ago) link

i did weekly classical piano theory lessons including annual exams for about 10 years (age 7-17), so yeah i’m familiar with all these terms

the late great, Tuesday, 14 February 2023 22:44 (one month ago) link

on the other hand i don’t have formal training in rhetoric, though i can spot when someone is questioning my ability to understand the text while also dodging my specific questions about the text

the late great, Tuesday, 14 February 2023 22:56 (one month ago) link

Like I said, there are details in that I don't care about, but it's so nice to read something that isn't just "it's like listening to robot bees!" on the one hand or "Autechre's music limns the lacunae of modernity" on the other.

what have I done to deserve you (lukas), Tuesday, 14 February 2023 23:08 (one month ago) link

It would be interesting to see something like that in video form where the writer tries to recreate the track (or get as close to it as they can)

saer, Tuesday, 14 February 2023 23:18 (one month ago) link

Hey now what's wrong with robot bees already

the forces of darkness making making us laugh ourselves into DEATH?? (dog latin), Wednesday, 15 February 2023 01:42 (one month ago) link

the last music analysis / "deep dive" thing i actually enjoyed was this drukqs review. i think she does a good job of both formal analysis and gesturing at the affects of the music. it helps that the sound sources and track styles in druqks are so varied and electro-acoustic. someone doing this for autechre would probably have to share their screen a lot lol.

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

ꙮ (map), Wednesday, 15 February 2023 01:56 (one month ago) link

that's a great video, one of the best i've seen of the "musician reacts!" genre, thanks!

about 13:30 in, she says something that sums up most of what i could say: "that Richard is thinking of things like scales and chords...I doubt it, I think a lot of us aren't, actually, this is just one way to name what i'm hearing, he's just doing what sounds good, or sounds weird, or whatever he likes, whatever he's trying to do"

i don't, personally, get anything at all out of music "analysis". i think it is very helpful for people who are making or thinking of music in formal ways. i don't. there's a comparison to be made to painting analysis. i didn't care at all, before i started painting. now that i do, it greatly interests me HOW painters made what they did. for god's sake, please tell me that they used a rag to smear some paint, or that they applied some glossy medium at the very beginning, or that they let the whole thing dry for a month and then scraped back down to what was underneath. i need to know that stuff and want to know it. but none of that was interesting or useful to me before i started trying to do it myself. at that time, i only cared about what i was seeing, not about the how. now i care about both the what and the how.

i understand that's not how everyone listens to music or approaches more analytic pieces. some people who have never touched an instrument have a deeply felt need to understand how it happened, mechanically. but i think, for a lot of people, the analysis is aimed at people in the field

President of Destiny Encounters International (Karl Malone), Wednesday, 15 February 2023 02:29 (one month ago) link

also, no joke about wanting to see the max/msp patch - i think doing the musical analysis of, oh, those notes are A – C – A – Bb – Eb – C – Bb – Bb – Gb – C – Bb – A – C – Bb – Eb – C – Bb – Bb – Gb – C – Bb is kind of completely missing the point with autechre. i really do think the art is in the patch

President of Destiny Encounters International (Karl Malone), Wednesday, 15 February 2023 02:37 (one month ago) link

*giant "IMO" and "we all enjoy music and enjoy reading about it in different ways, i get that" sign behind a plane flying over a beach*

President of Destiny Encounters International (Karl Malone), Wednesday, 15 February 2023 02:38 (one month ago) link

one month passes...

there are times where I feel like autechre has ruined all other music for me

silverfish, Friday, 17 March 2023 17:45 (one week ago) link

it's certainly difficult to find other music with this much depth

silverfish, Friday, 17 March 2023 17:47 (one week ago) link

yeah, honestly i just want to see a screenshot of their max/msp patch

― President of Destiny Encounters International (Karl Malone), Tuesday, 14 February 2023 20:36 (one month ago) link

you're in luck: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgMArRJswIQ

maelin, Friday, 17 March 2023 18:16 (one week ago) link


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