A journey through Autechre's discography.

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Fast-and-Bulbous




France

  • #11
  • Posted: 10/27/2020 14:10
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Day 5. Basscadet Mixes



I somehow skipped over Basscadet (is it mixes or EP, or Basscadetmxs or Basscad EP ? who knows !) before reviewing Anti, but it may be a good thing since Garbage is next and i will be able to see the two "mixes" albums side by side. Originally i was planning on doing a double review like i did with Lego Feet/Cavity Job but i ended up writing a lot about this one so i will spare you a wall of text.

I am glad i didn't end up forgetting this EP entirely because i liked it way more than i anticipated. I might even like it more than Amber now. I never was a fan of the original Incunabula version, but every track on here is an improvement. It was originally released as three 10'' vinyl, and latter reissued with Basscadubmx added, but missing Basscadoublemx and 12/4cadetmx. As per usual i will be reviewing the original pressing. Overall all of the mixes are much slower, lower and darker than the original, and now it feels that it is what was missing from the Incunabula version. An entire EP of mixes of the same song may seems tiring, but it really is not. All of the track feels very different while maintening some elements of the original. It is very early on the discography of Autechre but it feels like it was done latter on their career.

____Bcdtmx is, more than the original, the model on which all the other tracks builds. It is like i said slower, lower and darker. It feels even more club-oriented than the original. This is the one that feels the closest to the Incunabula version, and therefore the one i liked the least. Still there is some nice textures here and there, like the big liquid bass sound that goes through much of the track.
____Beaumonthannanttwomx (isn't this a mouthful ?) is the first remix, done by a guy named Beaumont Hannant. It expand on the high-pitched melodies of the original and adds a lot more beats to create a quite interesting polyrythm, something that Autechre will latter do a lot. It feels like a different take by someone else, all the while staying coherent within an Autechre album. It is more tribal and percussive, but at the same time feels desolate without the bass to anchor it. It is the only one that is actually higher than the original. The beats latter dies down to let the harmonies take place and reinforce the feeling of solitude. It is an interesting take on Basscadet, very clean althougth it kind of grows old toward the end.
____Seefeelmx, the second remix now by Seefeel is where the EP really takes off. It is a very cool, unsettling and original take and i should check what else does this Seefeel person has done. It takes the slower and darker route, but what gives it its identity is the continous drone thats sounds like a firetruck siren. This sound gives the track a sort of looming unease. Imagine you are in a club and something feels off. You can hear the sirens at the gates and you know something must have happened but you don't know what. For some reason the DJ is still playing a continous and heady loop but there is something missing. You have lost your friends and the club feels more and more empty but you don't get where everyone is going and why none seems to care.
____Basscadetdoublemx is even more slower, darker and lower than the others. By now every track seems to go deeper into desolation. The slow-downed harmonies paints a very lonely landscape, before a huge harowing sound drops the beat. Following Seefeelmx, this one is downright scary and apocalyptic. The club feels completely abandonned now, except for gosthly figures in the shadows, that semms at once both threatening and uncaring. Some of the lights are off and the music is still playing but you don't know from where since the DJ has disappeared. You are lost, scared and alone.
____On Tazmx, basscadet is almost unrecognisable. Autechre uses a very different palette of sounds, that feels both alien and liquid. More and more elements are added until it becomes quite complex. It is very cool and somehow still head-bobbing. To continue the metaphor, the club has somehow been transported to an alternate reality and is now full of gosthly aliens. You don't understand what you are doing here and no one seems to care about you and dances to a music that feels so foreign to you. You see that this music must sound joyous to the aliens but to you it just feels weird and scary.
Quote:
BONUS ROUND : I liked the Basscadet Mixes so much that i decided to review the latter added Basscadubmx. It is as slow as Basscadoublemx but now more deconstructed. There are various sounds added that feels like some kind of alien langage. To keep up with the metaphor, i would add it right there it between Tazmx and 12/4cadetmx. As you roam through the alien club, the alien overlord tries to communicate to you inside your mind using various beeps and sounds. Althought you don't understand them, the words of the alien hipnotizes you. He commands you to dance, and you gladly execute yourself.

____12/4cadetmx is a straight banger. It is faster than the previous tracks, but also very bassy and intense. There is this huge pulsating sound in the front that is so in-your face that you can't help but enjoy it. You have joined the aliens and haunts the dancefloor. This your life now. This was always been your life. You were always here in the club, dancing with your tentacles in the air. Once in a while another creature with two limbs comes around, but they never stays that way. This is your life and you like it.

Okay, arguably i want on a bit of a tangent here Very Happy, but the thing is i really love the Basscadet Mixes now. It could have been just a collection of loosely-connected remixes but there is so much more of a progression here. I would consider taking it for a spin on Halloween to see what kind of film you make for yourself, if any.




PS. I am missing my identation so i am trying a new layout here what do you guys think ?
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Fast-and-Bulbous




France

  • #12
  • Posted: 10/28/2020 14:10
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Day 6. Garbage



Garbage may be the first that i liked a little less than i used to. It may lacks a bit of identity, as it feels in a way like a mix of Amber and Incunnabula, as well as a preface to the colder part of Autechre's discography. It isn't bad by any mean, but by now it must be clear that Autechre couldn't do anything bad even they tried. The cover art is a digitally altered version of the Amber cover, and it does sound like that. All the tracks seems to follow a formula of adding more and more elements, which gives it a certain intensity as well as a very cool hypnotizing feel. The tracks feels longer that they really are, but in a good way somehow. The repetition puts you in a sort of trance and it's a very immersive experience.

____Garbage has a harsh and metallic sound, which prefigure the latter era. The beats are percussive, and as more and more is added, very complex. At first it is kind of forgettable, but it grows on you during his 14 minutes runtime, specially as the harmonies sets in. It feels stretched and disparate, some sounds doesn't exactly sticks to one another but it somehow plays in favor of the track as it paints a sort of multifaceted collage. Before the end, the beat disappear completely to let the harmonies take over in a very emotionnal orchestral moment.
____PIOBmx makes a heavy use of the stereo with its liquid beat that keeps shifting from left to right. It makes for a very hypnotizing experience, and you can't help from moving your head sideways. The rhythms are once again quite complex and entrancing. It is percussive and subdued at the same time. It is probably my favorite on here.
____Brunchusevenmx has a very distinctive underwater feel to it. It is like listening to someone playing drums with corals on the great australian reef. It revolves around the percussions, that plays an interesting polyrythm, but everything is muffled. It is quite unique while maintening a familiar structure. It very slowly dies down to complete silence, and that made me realise another thing i love about Autechre: every song has a very distinctive end. Nowadays a lot of people talk about the flow of an album, and how each song must transition seemlessly from one to another, but i personnaly like to be able to clearly distinguish between each track. If done well, it does not hurt the cohesion of the album and gives each song more of an identity.
____VLetrmx is a barren landscape of rocks and mud under a faint rain and a dim light. Like taking a trip to Tchernobyl. Everything around you is dead and nothing grows anymore. You are utterly alone. You may have noticed that so far in my listen of Autechre, i do think that loneliness, more than anything is the more common emotion conveyed by Autechre. VLetrmx certainly does, and with no beats it is the outlier of this EP. It could have been taken from Amber, as it is composed only of harmonies and feels very orchestral. A crushing melancholy falls onto you.

I feel a litlle bit divided about Garbage. There are some good track on here, but it feels a little bit middle of the road. Now for any other this would be a great album, but by now it seems a little bit like Autechre doing Autechre.
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Luigii



Gender: Male
Age: 28
United States

  • #13
  • Posted: 10/29/2020 02:53
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They basically released another album today. Great.
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Fast-and-Bulbous




France

  • #14
  • Posted: 10/29/2020 07:12
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Luigii wrote:


They basically released another album today. Great.


Oh my god they did ? Will i ever end this diary or am i never gonna catch up to them ? Those guys pumps out more albums than Zappa on mescaline Very Happy
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Fast-and-Bulbous




France

  • #15
  • Posted: 10/29/2020 10:12
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Day 7. Anvil Vapre



This one is the first that i actually never listened to before. So i have the difficult task of reviewing an Autechre release on a first listen. It is all the more difficult, given that Anvil Vapre is a weird album. Sprung from the Tri Repetae session, this could be a clear case of the EP to dump the rejects of an album, but if it is so, it is weird that it actually came out before. Would you eat the leftovers lasagna before the actual meal ?
As an actual EP, it is definetly more beat-oriented. It is more abrasive than the previous, and you can tell that we are entering the colder and harder part of Autechre's discography.

____Second Bad Vilbel hits you right in the face with a harsh white noise and an agressive beat. Fun's over, kids. It takes you back to the rave period of the duo, but even more hard. It has a very clear three-part structure. Around the 3 minute-mark, an actual single note appear, sliding from high to low. Then around 6''10, the beat changes, become slower while maintening the same tempo, like a robot limping. Not my favorite, there is not much to feel here.
____Second Stout has a fast-tempo percussive beat and chopped-up voices that forms a nice polyrythm. Then a melody, complete with harmonies comes in. You sit alone on the subway. People around you come and go, discuss, hurry, but you have not so much as changed seats.
____Second Scepe is so weird. It has this continous snare throughout the whole track that i can only describe as having a lisp. The track is not actually beat-oriented but centered around a synth that feels, weirdly enough, house. It is Daft-Punkesque, but glitching. Like if someone was telling you about Human After All, but he has a piece of lettuce in between his teeth and you can't help but stare at it.
____Second Peng has a continous clicking hi-hat under dark and apocalyptic synths. 10''53 might feel a bit long, but at the same time there is a lot of elements added over time and by the end, it paint a really dense picture. I know that i will find new things to uncover everytime i will listen to it, but at the same time i am not sure i will want to.

Overall, Anvil Vapre feels a little disappointing to me. There are some interesting ideas here and there, but not much feels to it.

BONUS: The great Chris Cunningham did a video for Second Bad Vilbel, and it is very Chris Cunningham, and very on point.

Link
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Fast-and-Bulbous




France

  • #16
  • Posted: 10/30/2020 17:21
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Day 8. Tri Repetae

I have struggled for so long to show this fricking brown square, does someone have a tip on finding working url's for the img fonction ?

Tri Repetae is another one that a lot of people love, but i don't really care for. But then again, one thing that is cool with Autechre is that nobody has the same favorite album. it is a part of what makes it an intersting band, and an intersting community (If you haven't, check r/autechre, it is one of the best fans subreddits there is). Arguably, Tri Repetae is where Autechre leaves humanity forever. I would say it's the beginning of the second part of the discography, the more cold and inhuman part. As an album, it feels somewhat torned. A lot of the tracks clashes harsh industrial tones and beat with soft melodies. Some does this well, some not really. It can feel in the same minimal and maximal. This is a more abstract album than ever before, and conveys not much clear emotions, which like i said, does not mean that they are not there, but that the duo does not guides you easily to them.

____Dael, the openig track is formulaic for the rest of the album. It is built around this industrial and metallic beat, like a sentient factory. It reminds me of Anvil Vapre, which means i don't like it a lot. There is a gentle piano added toward the middle of the track, and it is a case where the two universes does not quite collides. The two following tracks follows this mechanical tone, with more success. Leterel's intro is industrial as fuck. It is extremely harsh, but somewhat entrancing. Latter, two melancholic notes played on a soft synth are added, and a very nice and round ambient sound clashes and mixes with the beats. This time, it shouldn't work, but it does. A digital mermaid tries to lure you into it's claws.
____Rotar and Stud showcases the more ethereal side of the album. For the case of Rotar, alongside a metallic and glitching polyrythm, before it finally stutters and the white noise takes over. Stud is more minimalistic, and feels both organic and cosmic, slow and muffled.
____Eutow is probably my favorite track of the album. It is extremely cool. The tracks feels weirldly like an 80's vaporwave thing. I would call it the soundtrack of a lost and decaying racing videogame, set in a dreamy and colorful Miami. A percussive beat and a sliding synth sound are played throughout the track, before it dies down like a car drifting in slow-motion.
____C/Pach sounds like the original cover art, wich had a grainy texture imprinted on it. Muddy and texturous. Gnit is obscurity and light. A hard hitting beat and a soft obsessive synth. Everything is echoing endlessly, and feels somewhat playful.
____Overand is on the ambient and minimal side of thing. An heavily delayed deep pulsation fills all the spectre. Underneath that, a continous faint drum gives the track it's meditative quality. There is a sleepliness, as well as a spaciousness to it. You meditate, alone in an enormous abandonned warehouse. A droplet endlessly echoes on the cement walls.
____Rsdio, the closing track feels also spacious. A tribal beat that sounds like a digeridoo reverbrates under computer beeps and bops. The dark tribes has awoken the ancient robots. At dawn, they will use their power to destroy their ennemies.

After this new listen, i find some new qualities to Tri Repetae, but like Garbage, i think it lacks a clear identity. There are some nice tracks on here, but none that blew my mind like it did on the previous albums.



PS. I feel we have not finished the early phase of Autechre's discography. I am becoming a bit obsessed, so i will follow Autechre's lead and take a few days break, and come back to 1997 for Envane.
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Luigii



Gender: Male
Age: 28
United States

  • #17
  • Posted: 10/30/2020 17:35
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Maybe it is because I started there discography with Tri Repetae, but I end up having this as one of my absolute favorites. Though I can somewhat understand the "lack of cohesion" compared to a later album like Confield or Sign. Though I do argue that Tri to me at least sounded like a take of the future where robots live there own lives and how it somewhat reflects how we are as of now. Now you make me kind of concern for Chiastic Slide. Especially since that album feels like a short story book where it goes wherever the album wants to go. Though I love that even more. Have fun with your break.
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Fast-and-Bulbous




France

  • #18
  • Posted: 10/30/2020 19:54
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Luigii wrote:
Maybe it is because I started there discography with Tri Repetae, but I end up having this as one of my absolute favorites. Though I can somewhat understand the "lack of cohesion" compared to a later album like Confield or Sign. Though I do argue that Tri to me at least sounded like a take of the future where robots live there own lives and how it somewhat reflects how we are as of now. Now you make me kind of concern for Chiastic Slide. Especially since that album feels like a short story book where it goes wherever the album wants to go. Though I love that even more. Have fun with your break.


I do like chiastic slide, weirdly enough. As for quarististice, the varied nature feels more like a choice. Tri Repetae is far from bad, mind you and like i said Autechre can be very subjective to each individual. Like your take on it, i will try to picture it like that next time i play it. Wink


Last edited by Fast-and-Bulbous on 10/30/2020 20:37; edited 1 time in total
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Luigii



Gender: Male
Age: 28
United States

  • #19
  • Posted: 10/30/2020 20:06
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Fast-and-Bulbous wrote:
I do like chiastic solide, weirdly enough. As for quatistice, the varied nature feels more like a choice. Tri Repetae is far from bad, mind you and like i said Autechre can be very subjective to each individual. Like your take on it, i will try to picture it like that next time i play it. Wink


Yeah, that is quite understandable. Though now you got me a bit excited. Though I could see how Quarstitce had a grab bag approach. Especially the ride from Confield to Untilted.
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Fast-and-Bulbous




France

  • #20
  • Posted: 11/02/2020 18:03
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Day 9 : We R Are Why / Envane




We R are why was a promotional 12'' vinyl available by mail-in order only. It's two tracks were entirely composed, appart from a few FX, on the yamaha ry30, a beat machine that will greatly inspire Autechre in the coming years. It is understandable that it is not part of the official Autechre discography since it is mostly just the duo experimenting with the machine and findinfg their new sound. It feels a little bit thin, but was never meant to be a real release, more like a little bonus for the Autechre fans to have something to bite in the year 1996. Autechre didn't specify a speed for the record to be played, as any speed would be acceptable for them.

____We R Are Why is beat only, and a hard-hitting dance track. It is in 4/4 time, but nonetheless rythmically complex. Around the two-third of the track, a melody finaly comes in, distorded and sounding off, and making things a little better.
____Are Y Are We ? is in the same vein as the previous, same off-tune melody, and equally off-tune vibrating bass. A metallic beat and a few crinkling and scratching sounds, like cleaning an old and rough carpet. A little better than the previous, but still a minor track in the grand scheme of things.

I have not much else to say about We R Are Why, it is there for the completionists only really.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --------------

On Envane, Autechre continues to play with their new toy, but on a more polished maneer. I feel like Envane is kind of the menu of what's to come on this new era of Autechre. A little tour through the sounds and rythm who can expect from Chiastic Slide, Confield or Gantz Graf.

____Goz Quarter starts off with a continous click and a deconstucted melody, and therefore announce the abstraction to come. This feels like Autechre tooks you on a road-trip through the little world of sound they created. It keeps shifting, as the melody is taken over by beeps and bops, before a surprise hip-hop scratch. The track keeps you on your toes, but it can feel a little bit all over the place. It is full and empty at the same time, without a discernable bass to anchor it. This role is assured by the beat, that keeps it mostly simple. The next stop on your trip is the typical Autechre synth melody, but this time chopped-up and limping without the reverb. Then harmonies comes in and sweetens the whole plate. More reverb gradually comes in, as everything dissolves into beat.
____Latent Quarter starts off with boucing metallic notes, over a crinkling and deconstructed beat. The beat feels extremely lo-fi, like if it was played on the shittiest speakers imaginable that you have hit with a hammer for good measure. Everything blends and glitches. A synth over the rest softens it, but glitches nonetheless. The beat gradually becomes even more dirty, and desolves into nothing but noise. The tour continues through Confield.
____Laughing Quarter welcomes you with a very ear-shattering high-pitched noise, before a huge beat punches you right in the face. It is extremely agressive and abrasive, but still weirdly enjoyable, if you like to have your head dragged across a plaster wall. As i do, i quite like this one. . The little Autechre choo-choo train stops at Gantz Graf and its pavement welcomes you warmly as you fall teeth first on it.
____Draun Quarter shows a percussive beat under a sweet but disjonted synth. This one is more pleasing than the other, and i like to play it at parties (except i always get mixed-up between the title and end up putting Laughing Quarter and everybody hates me). Still, the beat is again crickling and cracking. Autechre seems to play once again at colliding harsh beat and soft harmonies, and it has worked better. Yet, it grows on you during its 11 minutes runtime, and becomes more and more melancholic as the beat fades out in your head. When it fully stops, the harmonies reveal how beautiful they were the all time. The whole thing becomes the orchestral soundtrack to a movie about loss.

Envane is one i always liked, but like Garbage i liked it a little less there (although i might have been harsh on Garbage, maybe it just wasn't agreeing with me that day, as Envane maybe does today.). There are interesting moments on here still, and feels like a good transition to the more refined Chiastic Slide.
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