Reniform POLLs -- Autechre :: Draft 7.30 :: LP7

hmmm not sure i agree. inasmuch as confield, draft, and untilted should be def grouped together, sure. but the beats on untilted are considerably more linear (as much as you can say that about anything autechre produced in this period), whereas for the first half of draft it's mostly morphing aquatic lifeforms

Untitled really threw me at first in that it's so beat driven and there was very little in the way of tonal sounds. it's grown on me loads since of course. B-boy breaks for impossible robots in a gigantic stadium

But then something like V-Proc is very breaksy. you're right that the start of Draft is all about implacable ebb and flow though

I listened to this again after Brad said he had trouble with it. I think I do prefer it slightly over Untilted, but they make a nice pair:

Untilted's beats are hard, bouncy and metallic. It makes me think of that old Amiga game Speedball in that it sounds like a futuristic spectator sport set in an enormous stadium. By comparison the beats on Draft7.30 are crunchy, wooden and brackish. I've always felt like there's a slight maritime theme on this one - especially the first few tracks which make me feel like I'm in the hold of an old wooden ship, the textures propelled by the ebbing of waves, the creaking of floorboards and ropes being pulled tight, the wind blowing everything along in gusts. There's something really interesting about the quality of the beats they've used on this one comapred to the gigantic pinball machine of Untilted.

This is the Autechre album that has risen the furthest (and slowest) in my estimation. It's taken 20 years but I unequivocally love it

please don't tell me this record is TWENTY YEARS old, it's part of the "new Ae" for me.
noting for the record that "xylin room" as a title is a nod to the wooden sources they used for a lot of the sounds on the album.