Autechre Exai

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.

*even taking.

I agree with that reviewer that a 2+ hour autechre album is a bit too much. I like this album, but I don't listen to it from beginning to end (mostly because of time constraints, but I think it would be the case even if I had plenty of free time). There's only so much new autechre one can take in at once. I think I prefer the album + EP approach they took with their last couple of releases.

although for all I know, they are going to release a 4 hour EP in a couple of months

who gives a shit about a pitchfork review

A bit off topic but I got bought the 100 track Bleep100 comp for Xmas and didn't quite know how to listen to it. eg burn it onto CDs, play in alphabetical order, jump to the artists whose names I liked etc. Should probably start a thread and review everything on there.

although for all I know, they are going to release a 4 hour EP in a couple of months

they kinda did that for quadrange

http://mappedbywhatsurroundedthem.blogspot.de/2013/02/album-review-autechre-exai.html

a positive review, features a few tracks. "bladelores" on soundcloud.

either way, this review is way better than the one they did for Untilted. That one made me tear up a bit.

my review http://thequietus.com/articles/11482-autechre-exai-review

an impressive career straddling four decades

shut up!

hahah, quite a lot of people found that perturbing, but 1987-2013 technically straddles four decades so it's not wrong.

dog latin otm, stfu ledge u pleb

i'm just not used to record reviews making me feel old & question my mortality.

80s autechre is my favourite

early quaristice demo from 1984:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmD0dd3NV38

LOL Has there been any 80s Autechre released? When was Lego Feet? That was '91 IIRC but I'm sure something must have been released in 1990... Christ, I was 10 years old in 1991.

sprog latin

20 years ago I didn't know what an Autechre was, and now I Ae one.