ripped from XLT:
http://newsflash.bigshotmag.com/?p=7302
In anticipation of Autechre’s forthcoming tenth album, Oversteps, Sean Booth spoke to Big Shot about touring, favorite synths, fan communities, and those unique track names.
Oversteps is a more melodic record than Autechre, consisting of Booth and partner Rob Brown, have made in some time – reminiscent at times of the duos ambient-leaning second album, Amber. “It was an unconscious studio effort,” explains Booth, “we didn’t start out with an end point in mind.” After playing the beat-heavy live set on 2008’s tour in support of their ninth album, Quaristice, Autechre hit the studio ready for a change. “We came back and didn’t want to do any tracks with beats for a bit,” explains Booth. “Most of the material that we did as soon as we got back was almost the polar opposite of what we’d been doing on tour. It wasn’t pattern-based, and it wasn’t for dancing to, really.”
In contrast to Quaristice, much of which was edited down from live recordings, Oversteps afforded the duo “the opportunity to change everything, right until the last minute. There was more focus this time on making the album a cohesive piece.” Oversteps further represents a return to computer music for the duo, with Booth revisiting Max/MSP for generative composition. Having improved their live interface for laptop performance, Autechre are also set to return to using a computer during live dates. “We kind of go through phases with equipment,” explains Booth, with a tongue-in-cheek acknowledgment of the group’s history with live computer performance. “In about 2001 we were using our own system, and it was good, but it was a bit flakey, and we’d get crashes – entirely out own fault, for being lame programmers.” Having figured out the crashes, Autechre stand to bring a more unpredictable element to the Oversteps tour, utilizing Max for algorithmic changes in sequences.
Lastly, Booth suggested that there’ll be more to come for Autechre later in 2010, sure to whet appetities of its already-excited fanbase, who are responsible for four currently circulating fake leaks of Oversteps (at last count). More on Autechre to come in the full-length article from Big Shot’s lengthy chat with Boooth, in BS31.