techre it up

Autechre recently released an anthology collection type thing of all of their EPs from 1991 through to 2002 and so I have been working through those and also visiting OL' FAVOURITES.

For those of y'all unfamiliar with Autechre (apparently pronounced however you like, I go for "or-tekker") they are a couple of dudes who make music that basically sounds like a spaceship. Foreals. This is one of the highlights of the bajillion tracks on the anthology so far, listen to it and you will understand what I mean with my spaceship comment:

THAT'S FROM 1997. This piece of high-tech song was made when Hanson' Mmm-bop was in the charts. Basically since then Autechre have abandoned melody/earth/rhythm at all and started making stuff that sounds like this:

I kind of imagine that "Fol3" is what a semi-underwater transformer battle would sound like. Bad. Ass. The warpy noise introduced at about 33 seconds is incredible. SWOON.

However, I understand that random electronic/robot noises aren't really everyone's anyone's cup of tea so for you who have the Noise Fear, stick to the earlier albums. Incunabula, Amber and especially Tri Repetae have amazing sounds without losing the concept of beat. In my opinion the least friendly albums are Confield and Draft 7.30... It's good to note that with their last couple of albums they are 'bringing it back' to some straightforward roots. Check out latest album Oversteps compared to recent Untilted for example.

ALSO WORTH NOTING are Autechre's album covers. THEY ARE AMAZING.:





SO ANYWAY. If you have patience and a know when to pay attention when something is Important I recommend checking out Autechre's EP anthology. If you're completely new however, start with the album Tri Repetae. Eventually you, like me, will enjoy Autechre, and potentially become a robot. Or at least a person who is appreciative of random noises.

Autechre's EP Anthology 1991-2002 gets 7 Lukes out of 10!