> I think Brad is on to something
Nah, that's just the plot of Planet of the Apes.
― koogs, Wednesday, 14 October 2020 02:49 (three years ago) link
This quote from the NYT article seems to be a common theme with some here:
How do you feel about the album when you listen to it now?SEAN BOOTH It’s strangely jarring. It’s sort of too real. All this Covid stuff has put me in a really different place from where I was when we were just compiling it. Back then we were saying, “This is totally right.” But now I’m wondering if it’s too right. And I’m really feeling a bit self-conscious if I’m being totally honest. It’s difficult to listen to because it’s too emotionally resonant. I was going for making something pure and new and sort of surprising, and now I’ve ended up with something that’s almost predictable. So I’m reluctant to play it too much because I feel like that place it puts me in is perhaps a little bit too cathartic.
SEAN BOOTH It’s strangely jarring. It’s sort of too real. All this Covid stuff has put me in a really different place from where I was when we were just compiling it. Back then we were saying, “This is totally right.” But now I’m wondering if it’s too right. And I’m really feeling a bit self-conscious if I’m being totally honest. It’s difficult to listen to because it’s too emotionally resonant. I was going for making something pure and new and sort of surprising, and now I’ve ended up with something that’s almost predictable. So I’m reluctant to play it too much because I feel like that place it puts me in is perhaps a little bit too cathartic.
― octobeard, Wednesday, 14 October 2020 03:33 (three years ago) link
― koogs, Tuesday, October 13, 2020 7:49 PM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink
i hate every ape i see
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Wednesday, 14 October 2020 04:40 (three years ago) link
^^^ I'm reading that as sung by Justin Timberlake
― Tim F, Wednesday, 14 October 2020 05:13 (three years ago) link
The capitalized album title, Brown said, is “an initialization, but we don’t want to tell anybody what it stands for.”
― assert (MatthewK), Wednesday, 14 October 2020 07:01 (three years ago) link
I think Brad is on to something
Def! And the quote octobeard pasted really resonates. It will find its place and be 'totally right', maybe just not now, or not as fast, as previous releases.
I held out on listening to this too much, with the vinyl on the way.
― Ilxor in the streets, Scampo in the sheets (Le Bateau Ivre), Wednesday, 14 October 2020 07:31 (three years ago) link
These are edited excerpts from a far-ranging two-hour conversation with Autechre.
edited from two hours down to five minutes!
― neith moon (ledge), Wednesday, 14 October 2020 07:43 (three years ago) link
yeah srsly
― Give me a Chad Smith-type feel (map), Wednesday, 14 October 2020 15:00 (three years ago) link
I've felt a vague irritation with myself for not buying the NTS sessions. It wasn't even hideously expensive, was it? I was probably in a bad mood.
Are there links to tracks from the new album? I'm still in a bad mood so only want to buy if there's a chance I will play.
― djh, Wednesday, 14 October 2020 19:50 (three years ago) link
It's streamable on https://autechre.warp.net/ now
― J. Sam, Wednesday, 14 October 2020 19:55 (three years ago) link
Oh, cool, ta.
― djh, Wednesday, 14 October 2020 20:42 (three years ago) link
Here's what I think anyway: https://thequietus.com/articles/29078-autechre-sign-review
― Specific Ocean Blue (dog latin), Thursday, 15 October 2020 12:16 (three years ago) link
That was good! It's ironic that Autechre is ultimately one of the easier and more fun acts to write about, imo. (Not that writing about them doesn't take work, as I'm sure your review did!)
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 15 October 2020 12:41 (three years ago) link
Thanks Josh. I deliberately tried to keep as much 'sounds like a mechanical Jonah tapping out rhythms on the inside of a whale made of silly putty' descriptions to a minimum, as it's way too easy and obvious to do that. Plus much as it's fun to describe these things, everyone seems to hear these things quite differently. Am I the only one who immediately thought 'motorcycle' when 'M4 Lema' came on?
― Specific Ocean Blue (dog latin), Thursday, 15 October 2020 12:48 (three years ago) link
(not that the piece doesn't fall into this trap - it's almost impossible not to project strange imagery into these things)
― Specific Ocean Blue (dog latin), Thursday, 15 October 2020 12:49 (three years ago) link
Am I the only one who immediately thought 'motorcycle' when 'M4 Lema' came on?
― Specific Ocean Blue (dog latin), Thursday, October 15, 2020 8:48 AM (ten minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink
Nope!
Great review btw
― Paul Ponzi, Thursday, 15 October 2020 12:59 (three years ago) link
imo elseq and nts are them rocketing through alien spaces, and this record feels like the return to earth, but earth has changed dramatically in the intervening years. it feels like there is an awful lot of longing and yearning in these tracks
I reviewed this for Stereogum, and came to a lot of the same conclusions as Brad.
― but also fuck you (unperson), Thursday, 15 October 2020 16:46 (three years ago) link
Great piece!
― Tim F, Thursday, 15 October 2020 19:44 (three years ago) link
cheers Paul and Tim. it means a lot that you guys liked it
― Specific Ocean Blue (dog latin), Thursday, 15 October 2020 19:51 (three years ago) link
Yes, both of these reviews were great. I like that Phil mentions both Klaus Schulze and Tangerine Dream, because I absolutely hear this now. I'm sure those people influenced Ae from the jump, but on this record those influences seem just as explicit as the electro, hip hop, and musique concrete influences have been on Ae albums past
― Paul Ponzi, Thursday, 15 October 2020 20:00 (three years ago) link
Nice piece, dl. I'm interested that what you heard as a motorcycle I heard as them trying repeatedly to boot up their machines - so, basically a hard drive grinding.
― but also fuck you (unperson), Thursday, 15 October 2020 20:05 (three years ago) link
Tangerine Dream
It's funny, the first time I listened to the album I absolutely thought it sounded like a soundtrack, or at least more than the group usually does.
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 15 October 2020 20:21 (three years ago) link
alright this made me laugh
https://i.redd.it/hyiiw4b597t51.jpg
― frogbs, Thursday, 15 October 2020 20:38 (three years ago) link
they do look a bit like grizzled mobsters in their recent photos
― octobeard, Friday, 16 October 2020 01:15 (three years ago) link
Xps enjoyed your take too unperson, and as I think I mentioned elsewhere, it’s uncanny that so many reviews address the “human” element of their music on this one.
Looking forward to the vinyl hitting my doormat so I can enjoy this with less critical ears
― Specific Ocean Blue (dog latin), Friday, 16 October 2020 08:15 (three years ago) link
Good review DL! And unperson's too, I think Schulze is a good call.
I've a feeling SIGN won't end up being a lot of people's fave AE album. It is a sort of return to the basics, but it's extremely good and lush to ease into right now.
― Ilxor in the streets, Scampo in the sheets (Le Bateau Ivre), Friday, 16 October 2020 08:24 (three years ago) link
Yeah good reviews - better than this short & ambivalent one: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/oct/16/autechre-sign-review-warp
It's on spotify now so i can stream it around the house \o/
― neith moon (ledge), Friday, 16 October 2020 09:04 (three years ago) link
Typically excellent Philip Sherburne review on Pitchfork today
― Paul Ponzi, Friday, 16 October 2020 11:46 (three years ago) link
Here's an excerpt of the Japanese bonus track n Cur. Sounds a lot like Gas Königsforst 5 to me:https://diskunion.net/DU-X1_audio_player.html?id=1008189907&disc=1&track=12
― J. Sam, Friday, 16 October 2020 12:08 (three years ago) link
that Sherburne review is so good. he's summarised Ae so well in those opening paragraphs
― Specific Ocean Blue (dog latin), Friday, 16 October 2020 12:43 (three years ago) link
Also for posterity:
https://i.imgur.com/8F5J1vd.jpg
― pomenitul, Friday, 16 October 2020 14:34 (three years ago) link
This really seems to be hitting a critical mass, good for them. I do feel like a poser though, they've long been on my list to check out and I'd feel weird starting now because of all of this attention. I watched all the NTS Sessions discourse from afar but that seemed like a lot to start with.
― soaring skrrrtpeggios (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Friday, 16 October 2020 14:38 (three years ago) link
Physical copy arrived in this morning's mail, as promised. I like when preorders actually work as designed. (I remember preordering the last Mastodon album and it came something like 10 days after street date.)
― but also fuck you (unperson), Friday, 16 October 2020 14:48 (three years ago) link
Another excellent piece on SIGN, from a slightly more musicological perspective:
http://5against4.com/2020/10/16/autechre-sign/
― pomenitul, Friday, 16 October 2020 15:05 (three years ago) link
Start with Tri Repetae.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 16 October 2020 15:10 (three years ago) link
start with LP5! ;-)
― Specific Ocean Blue (dog latin), Friday, 16 October 2020 15:25 (three years ago) link
i got my physical copy today too and it's so nice to listen to on vinyl without a screen and a tracklisting in front of me, and without having to use my critical listening brain
― Specific Ocean Blue (dog latin), Friday, 16 October 2020 15:26 (three years ago) link
I started with LP5 and that worked perfectly--to me it's their most even balance of futuristic experimentation and melodic accessibility. But I don't think you can go wrong starting with any of their 90s stuff
― J. Sam, Friday, 16 October 2020 15:33 (three years ago) link
I agree.
― but also fuck you (unperson), Friday, 16 October 2020 15:33 (three years ago) link
Start with Tri Repetae, then go LP5, and if you like what you hear, move about at will.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 16 October 2020 15:36 (three years ago) link
really agree with starting with lp5
tri repetae is the apotheosis of their early sound but it def took me a while to figure that out, lp5 was way more immediate and one of their most beautiful tracks ever is in the opening run
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Friday, 16 October 2020 16:09 (three years ago) link
My boss was intrigued by Autechre and asked for some select tracks. I put together a playlist, but it was really difficult. How does one put together a short sample of a 30 year+ career like theirs? Those LP5 tracks which once sounded so cold and clinical to me are more like chill hip hop rhythms. What would an uninitiated person think of Cichli? And how do I contextualise the post-Confield material? Have to admit, it wasn't easy at all to come up with anything comprehensive.
― Specific Ocean Blue (dog latin), Friday, 16 October 2020 16:11 (three years ago) link
I’d really like to see the tracklist you put together!
― Ilxor in the streets, Scampo in the sheets (Le Bateau Ivre), Friday, 16 October 2020 16:12 (three years ago) link
FWIW this is what I ended up with: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5zFEsaK4t8cbDNM7VrEdWX?si=omrSJr6jSe6NSPyvvBqnRg
Arch CarrierCichliEutowPirGarbagemxd-sho qubFold4, Wrap5Maphive6.1Raegr46IE.CRKribSlipM4 Lemaviolvoic
― Specific Ocean Blue (dog latin), Friday, 16 October 2020 16:13 (three years ago) link
went for the more pretty/melodic stuff with a few curveballs thrown in.
Perfect opener imo, good set!
― Ilxor in the streets, Scampo in the sheets (Le Bateau Ivre), Friday, 16 October 2020 16:13 (three years ago) link
I started with Tri Repeatae, didn't really like it. felt it was way cold and the super high-pitched tones on "Stud" annoyed the hell out of me. it's still probably my least favorite album of theirs. which I think speaks to how great their catalogue is.
― frogbs, Friday, 16 October 2020 16:17 (three years ago) link
Fwiw, one reason I always lean to Tri Repetae as a recommendation is, no surprise, strictly personal, in that after the first two albums and especially them being clumped in with the IDM scene (specifically on those two Artificial Intelligence comps), "Clipper" specifically was something that clicked with me as totally new and mysterious. Made me a fan for life, tbh.
Which is the first Autechre album/track to really embrace that "ball bearings spilling out onto the floor" sound? I can't remember the chronology offhand. Is that LP5?
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 16 October 2020 16:18 (three years ago) link
Chiastic Slide is where they fully formed into the Autechre we know today imo
― Specific Ocean Blue (dog latin), Friday, 16 October 2020 16:19 (three years ago) link
Hmm, just googling around and found this dude, who ... seems to do a pretty good job summing things up?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ea3FP5NqUqM
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 16 October 2020 16:21 (three years ago) link