Autechre Exai

tess xi has the worst beat, ever. amybe worse than "akunk"

This album is a joyful listen.

some of their best work imo

i like "akunk" xps

I could imagine Momus singing over the first 29 seconds of T ess xi.

Does this work better on headphones or speakers? I really wish I could listen to this just a bit louder.

speakers is best IMO. Better sense of space.

Odd question, but are you guys finding this album, uh... challenging compared to previous albums?

no

not at all

why have I still not heard this? oh it's because I own a fucking Chromebook

but then I'm so used to late period autechre that I know how to read it xp

that's how i felt. usually i have to spend a few weeks retuning my ears and getting to grips with a new autechre album. this feels relatively easy to listen to and i don't know if it's because i'm used to their style now, or if it's because they've settled into a groove, or if it's because right now there's a lot of music around now that riffs on similar things as Ae - slipped beats, nucleic breaks, stuff like Zomby, Actress, Oneohtrix Point Never, DJ Rashad... I don't know whether this familiarity is a bad thing either. It's actually quite nice enjoying Autechre like a favourite meal rather than an acquired taste.

agreed on several points - this goes down pretty smooth, there aren't too surprises, and I don't really think that's a bad thing. still forming my impressions but I certainly like this and time will tell if I love it.

the closer could easily slot into lp5

their sound palette kind of sets them apart, terminally. they're sounding bigger, shinier, and more spacious than ever, but the quality of their late-period tunes is questionable. that said, the first twelve minutes of exai is top-notch shit, the horns on irlite recall the tuss (shiz ko e), kinda. irlite's got a good swagger to it, for lack of a better word. the dry, grainy synthesizer sounds throughout disc 2 are great. i get a strong move of ten (production) vibe from the second half, and a sort of hodge podge, odds-n-ends (ep7 textures, etc.) feeling from the latter part of disc 1. with the exception of bladelores.

this feels relatively easy to listen to and i don't know if it's because i'm used to their style now, or if it's because they've settled into a groove, or if it's because right now there's a lot of music around now that riffs on similar things as Ae

As someone who's pretty much gotten off the bus circa Confield, I'd say that Exai is qualitatively different from the recent vintage, even Oversteps and Quaristice. Which makes ledge's warning, e.g.

pre-confield autechre aka pop autechre is dead. they're not coming back. get over it.

... a bit misleading! Not a complaint, because I like the idea of enjoying a new Ae release.

Wow the beginning of "vekoS" sounds exactly like the average between Confield and LP5.

Gotta agree with the consensus that this is "standard" late period ae - and the only sense in which I'm used to this period is that I don't fully digest or appreciate their albums for a long time, if ever. Still don't have a decent settled memory of Oversteps tbh (haven't listened to it for an age though). There are a definitely a few immediate standout tracks, maybe a couple of shouts from beyond the grave of pop autechre, but on the whole I'm still finding it difficult to get a purchase on this.

the quality of their late-period tunes is questionable

Gotta co-sign this - it's what I mean by pop ae being dead, really. When did we last get something as basically catchy as acroyear 2, rae, arch carrier - to cherry pick off just one album?

Depends on what you mean by catchy. Post-Confield Autechre is catnip for me- instantly accessible and enjoyable, a dependable easy listen. Understand not getting a full grip on the albums as the three last one have lacked a very clear identity, although this one sticks out because the tunes are a lot stronger than on Quaristice and Oversteps.

Untilted was an album's album, though.

Yeah that definitely has a really solid identity and character.

Agree that Untilted was the last album that felt like an album rather than a chocolate box of material you can just sift through at random. The idea of listening to Exai for any extended period of time in a strict order feels like an exercise in exhaustion.

gave this a proper listen late saturday night, thought we'd got to the end and we were only about half way through(!) haven't properly listened to ae since draft 7.30 (i think, the one that came with a dvd and a big thick blue cd case).

really like the restraint in the sound palette, really like the length. really like the mood. this seems to fit in quite nicely with a lot techno/electronic music i've been enjoying lately. should probably give oversteps a go, but i think i'll be happy with this for quite a while, there are already a bunch of 'bits' that i'm looking forward to hearing again. it's quite, um, easy listening, compared to how i remember autechre, not sure if that's my ears or if they've just got better at organising their sounds.

as basically catchy as acroyear 2, rae, arch carrier

d-sho qub? not on the same level, i'll admit.

That was always my fave off oversteps, but yeah, it's not like Arch Carrier where there's a central 'gimmick' going on. Much more free form.

Man, what a great band.

as much as I like the tracks like arch carrier and acroyear 2, I think the direction they went after that with Confield and the following albums is much more interesting. This new one seems like it's about halfway between those two styles. I've only listened to it once all the way through so far though.

http://youtu.be/j_JCt0jv86I

extra track (keyosc) on the japan release

doesn't sound too autechre-like to me, but i LIKE its relaxed vibes. kinda similar, tonally to "pt2ph8," from oversteps, but simpler.

there's a WATMM inside joke about an autechre album called KIOSK, and this track title somehow references it?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=Bs6W3vL8Gwc&NR=1

1 1 is sounded great on the train home this evening. Second half espec.

Wonder if t ess xi has any relation to ts1a off the japan benefit album. some similar sounds, the later track is the simpler one but evolution doesn't always increase complexity.

the closer could easily slot into lp5

Fantastic track.

http://www.factmag.com/2013/02/18/autechre-exai-fact-review/

interesting - a lot of reviews go "hey, we all know that the first three albums were the best, but..." I don't have a problem with Ae resting on their laurels a bit at this point! They've certainly earned that right.

like there are just so many Autechre tracks that make me wish they did more along those lines

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/17691-autechre-exai/

Fucking wow. Burn at the stake.

havent gotten in very far but wtf @ this

In the last decade, the Manchester duo rewrote their own rules, leaning on the risks of their early works until, by their eighth LP Untilted, it was clear that their intention was no longer simply making bodies move

because why? that intention was clear by confield? chiastic slide? amber? doesn't strike me as an overly unfair review tbh.

hopefully gonna get to finish my review tonight. no point in rushing these things as there's so much to take in.

i dont think "simply making bodies move" is even accurate about Incunabula

That review sells the album really well, which wasn't its intention (or, was it?)

Still dying to hear it, not a question of cost but of format

that PF review seems to make some very strange assumptions about Ae. The guy seems to know enough about them, but it's like he got the wrong end of the stick all along.

I've never tried dancing to "Kalpol Introl." Should try that out tonight.

their debut is as much of a 'dance' album as SAW 85-92 is. you can only dance to Autechre if you're willing to get really freaky with it.

c'mon you square, just get on the floor and shake those hips

I guess Basscadet is kind of danceable...

i know traditionally autechre gigs contain one guy thrashing around like he's on pcp and another hundred just standing there stroking their chins, but it's not like a great deal of their tracks don't have some kind of regular rhythm at a reasonable tempo.

that review is a little strange but I can def see how this might be too much ae for someone that isn't totally on board

that's exactly right, the thing with Autechre is you really have to be 100% on board to really enjoy them, they don't meet you halfway sometimes the way someone like Aphex will. not judging if this is good or bad but Autechre are really 100% up their own asses in that regard.

5.8 is a pretty brutal score taking that into consideration.