Lianne

See, I would be dead excited for a beatless, super melodic Ae album in principle. It's just that the sounds they've played the melodies on on this one are mostly gash, and the melodies themselves clumsy and amateurish sounding. With the exception of the 5 tracks I listed earlier, of course. I'm not as big a fan of Amber as most people, but even Amber has better ratio of decent synth sounds than this -and if you're thinking, Ah melodies - just like the old days - think again.

You just need to listen harder I like you - I like your enthusiasm and your honesty. But I think we can make ourselves like anything if we listen to it enough times. We get used to the disappointing or downright awful aspects of the music -and every time we hear it, those elements become familiar to us and that much easier to swallow. Sure, things take time to grow on us, but I think this 'it's a grower' argument is overused. Is it really growing on you, or have you just convinced yourself it's good because it's Autechre and it's been a while since they put anything out? I've listened closely to known(1) a large number of times now. It's so obviously a musical travesty that I'm amazed it could grow on anyone, even someone who has been waiting for a new Autechre album for a while. It has no atmospherics, no interesting sound design, no interesting percussive elements, the synth sounds utilized are all utterly tacky sounding, the melodies are not atonal or challenging but merely clumsy (which might make them appear somewhat interesting at a cursory listen), and it doesn't go anywhere at all. The only thing going for it is the main lead line, which I admit I found quite enjoyable at first in how deranged it is, but I've since noticed it's actually playing a very predictable melody and is just all stuttered up and detuned. I repeat: if this track had been posted by anyone else, nobody would give a shit - or they'd tell the person who made it to give up or work at it a few more years. Edit- thanks to everyone who does like this album for remaining polite and for sharing why you do like it. Sorry for being a moanbag - I've just been looking forward to this for a while and am a bit miffed. Sad a music album can lead to this kind of behaviour but...oh well.

I don't mean to rinse this... but how on earth can people actually like known(1)? When I said it was horrible earlier, I didn't mean it was horrible in a frightening or confusing way. I meant it was horrible and ugly sounding because it is so, so amateurish. Apart from the detuned and stuttered main lead sound, it literally sounds like poorly sequenced MIDI game music (though I prefer most game music to this boring vomit of notes.) If I had a ten year old kid who was mucking about making his first sounds and multilayered pieces with a multitimbral synth - and known(1) was the result, I'd think, 'oh, that's pretty cute, that's pretty interesting...' I wouldn't be like, 'shit, what a weird racket - how the hell did he make that noisy mess?' I can say this with complete confidence: if a new poster put known(1) and claimed it was his/hers, they'd be shot down, or at least told to work at it a few more years. Autechre are having a laugh with this release. What was I thinking praising it before? Such a cynical, cynical album.

Am I going mad, or is krYlon pretty much the same as see on see, but pitched way down, with no (or hardly any) reverb and on a different synth program? The sequence seems identical apart from that.

I guess known(1) is good in a lol way. Maybe that's what Oversteps is mostly about. It's Autechre having a big old lol. It's an..erm... overstep, a step too far, using borrowed time. I thought before it'd be Oversteps as in 'screw you, we're next level, we're one step ahead.' But maybe it's more like, 'over did it there a bit, bit of a misstep, isn't it? Whoops - well, never mind, we're just havin' a laugh, innit?'

Fair enough people like it - much it just sounds limp to me now. It doesn't scare me, it doesn't excite me, nor does it put me in a strange 'in between' place of hybrid or alien emotions like the stranger bits of EP7 might. It just makes me think, 'meh. What a pathetic, cheap sounding synth line." I feel embarrassed about going on about how great it was on here. At least I won't be too disappointed once it arrives, though! Anyway, I should stop posting. Just venting disappointment.... Sorry guys. And kaini, thank you very much for that deconstruction of Plaid's music. I've always felt there's far, far more to their music than people on 'IDM' forums let on - or than they let on themselves! (They're so modest and self-depreciating in interviews.) I now see what you mean about their use of countermelodies and how their melodic content, while sometimes wondering, has a much more satisfying feel than the lazy shit Autechre have spewed out on moments on this album. Heres to the new Plaid album!

I think the comparisons to Plaid are a little unfair to Plaid. When Plaid use cheap MIDI-like bell sounds on their melodies, there's often something charming about it. It just works very nicely in the context of the track and the album (and they know when to pull back on it.) Plaid would never use noises as horrifically cheap and cheesy sounding as those on known(1).

Which is your favourite then? It's a toss up between a few - r ess, ilanders, pt2ph8 and qplay are all good. see on see is also quite a beautiful track. The rest are all afflicted, to one degree or another however, by things that sound similar to those horrid, cheap sounding synths on known(1). I'm not just being critical for the sake of it. I so want to love this album and to be excited about it, and I was before - it must have been excitement mixed with an addiction to the album's few good tracks, a lack of sleep and too much coffee. If anyone else had put out an album with sounds and melodies like those, I'd think they didn't know what they hell they were doing. There's ugliness in music which is challenging in a good way, like the brutality of Gantz Graf, and then there's the general sound of synths on Oversteps, which is video gamey (in a bad way) and undeveloped sounding to the point of sheer ugliness.

I've listened to known(1) a few times now, in a hope to start liking it more, but I've now decided it is possibly the worst piece of music ever. Horrible melodies, horrible synth sounds, horrible production, and hardly any development. Even though I've been defending Oversteps over the last few days, it's actually growing *off* me. I must have been on some weird high when I was rabbiting on about how great it was. I shall now just wait for the higher quality thing.

This is so true. I know this music is obviously impossible to 'represent' visually, but almost all past Ae albums have had covers that fit the music in some way - especially EP7 and Confield. But the Oversteps cover made me think the album would be more organic, more hip hop, more upfront, more...erm....'white' in colour. I don't know, I'm useless with these words. But Oversteps sounds soundtracky and sleek and synthetic and sci-fi-ish (more useless words, but you get what I mean.) Basically, it sounds the opposite to its cover.

I'm quite used to serialism and atonal pieces of classical music, so the off kilter 'melodies' on this one don't bother me so much. I agree that there's a depth of sound present that hasn't been there in a long time - which creates a kind of cinematic, widescreen effect and means the album sounds better on headphones than say, Draft or Untilted or Quaristice (which i love loud on speakers, but seem a bit 'flat' on headphones.) I do understand why people would find some of the synth sounds irritating though, especially in the second half. I don't really know why they chose to use such coarse, cheesy, synthy synth sounds, but never mind.

No, that's totally understandable. If a director I loved, or a writer, put out work that I found to be shoddy after a long wait I'd sure be upset. Whether it's fashionable to say it or not - artists of all kinds do have a degree of responsibility if they are bothering to put out material - not for it to conform to others' tastes, but for it to be quality or at least provocative in some way. Art gives happiness and meaning to our pursuits and music soundtracks our lives.

Well, I suppose you'd know more about that than me. :-) Do you not enjoy any moments on it at all? I find some of the shifts very beautiful and moving, regardless of theory or whatnot (though I agree with you that Ae's adventurousness is what has usually set them apart.) Btw, I also love your music. And I still prefer your Untilted leak ;-) But on this one - I just don't get the dislike Oversteps is getting. Is it the second half that irritates people?

If you don't like the album - that's fair enough. But - though I am no music expert - I think it's ridiculous people are calling this lazy or a pisstake. There's nothing flippant or stupid on here, unlike a few moments on Quaristice/Version/Quadrange. It sounds very sincere and emotive to me, which is why I like it, and though Plaid are awesome, this has a lot more fucked up moments than your average Plaid record. It is also beautifully produced... a lot warmer and more 'widescreen' than their recent stuff (which I can understand would not be to everyone's taste.)

I was always under the impression Rob gravitated more towards the bleak, textural, melodic stuff? At least I swear I read Sean saying that in a fairly recently interview. It would also fit the different impressions I get of both of them from interviews. Sean seems more laddish, more forward, a little confrontational, while Rob seems a little more eloquent and polite.

I dont see why? I wanted Autechre to do something unexpected and thats what we got. They dont have to be abrasive and super complex to get their point across always. I'm fine with that. For me, they've always presented two paths upon listening... either awe at the mindfuck beat slaying or a deep-rooted nostalgic, yet alien sense of haunting at their melodies. I got the later with this release. I didnt quite get either with Quaristice. Take Confield's VI Scose Poise. This album is a natural progression of what we got there. Same goes for Fermium, then Simm. Perhaps those sounds are more bright and sharp, but they are also more "holographic" or 3D in how they cut through the listening space. I'm enthusiastic because the album deserves to be. If it was just another beat slaying album, I'd be sitting here saying, "..Albeit good, its the same. Where's the melodies?" Right - there's something very magic in the atmosphere here. It's a very special release, even without the beat screwery (though there ARE some sick beats in here, especially in how they don't have obviously drum-kit-like sounds, like Untilted or Quaristice did, but rather percussive swells and splats, as in a track like Reniform Puls.) I'm normally whine a lot when it comes to new "IDM" releases (because I have found many of them so disappointing - especially Squarepusher's latest excrement.) As depressing as it is to admit it, I would be glad to join in the chorus of dislike on this album. But I can't. There's just something so emotional and alive about it - without stepping into predictability and cheese. Like I said before, when I heard Simmm off Quaristice, I thought it'd be wonderful to have a whole album exploring those deranged melodic sounds and odd sci-fi atmospherics. And that's what Oversteps is, and then some. Does anyone else here love it? I really appreciated that longer, positive review posted a few pages back. I'd be great to hear someone wax lyrical about how great it is. ;)

Dear Autechre, I love the new album. It's beautiful and pleases my heart and ears greatly.

Yeah, after another listen on headphones, I've decided that this is absolutely awesome. I must have been in a foul mood the first time I listened to it, or maybe it was on too quietly. When I heard Simmm and Paralel Suns off Quaristice, I thought, 'wouldn't it be awesome getting a whole album exploring these kind of sounds and atmospheres?' And Oversteps is a bit like that. It isn't very upfront and it isn't brutally clever (like Untilted was in places, like on Ipacial Section) - but it is strikingly beautiful and very unusual. I tend to be negative more than positive on here, so I don't say this lightly: but this could end up being one of my favorite Ae albums. I will have to delete the file now and wait for when we get it, otherwise I'll ruin release day (I like to try and keep it like how it used to be: exciting, and worth looking forward too.)

Actually, moments of this are quite remarkable on headphones. I can't wait to hear my high quality files when they arrive! Now I wish I hadn't spoilt the surprise by listening early. I did the same with Ultravisitor and it damaged the impact of that album for me. There are still some bits on Oversteps that I find a bit odd or boring, like on Quaristice, but I think it's certainly atmospheric and seems strikingly constructed in places. It's definitely special... I love ilanders. At first I found the sci-fi/video gameish atmosphere a bit cheesy (though that description itself is far more cheesy), but now I've accepted it has that atmosphere and I love it. Brings me back to memories of FFVII and post apocalyptic science fiction films I used to enjoy.

I agree with Awepittance - for now. I'm a little underwhelmed by this one, though I don't regret pre ordering it anyway. It's better than Quaristice. I wonder, though: have Plaid and Autechre swapped places? Not that I don't like Plaid, but Plaid do Plaid best. My favorite Autechre album is Confield. I would love them to go further and further into the deep end - as began in Confield and Draft. Another favorite of mine is Chiastic Slide, and I do like their more melodic stuff, but these days I don't listen to them for that aspect of their music. This will probably grow on me, but Quaristice never did grow on me, and I disliked it for the reason I am not sure of this leak: I just found it a little bare. Nothing wrong with that, but there's plenty of other music I can turn to if I want a more obvious/upfront/accessible fix.

LOL, I accidently played ilanders while see on see was playing and thought that was one of the tracks. They sounded great together! But then I played see on see on it's own. I don't really like see on see, and I can't see it growing on me. It just seems too obvious to me - I like my ambient a little less fiddly and tinkly. I can honestly say that if I didn't know that it was made by Autechre, I'd think it was some new IDM producer attempting a cute Plaid-like melodic FM-synth thing. Ae themselves have done much better beatless melodic pieces in past albums and EPs. But I can see why some people would find it pretty.

From that preview... 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. This makes makes me very excited. But I know it was posted a few pages ago...

Max and ambient? Brilliant. I hope it's super dark and Confield like.

I have already pre-ordered the album. But to repeat what others have asked: could someone upload this somewhere else? I know it's ridiculous, because all of us have pre ordered or will buy the thing anyway, and it is probably fake, but I am ridiculous and impatient and I want to hear anything even remotely Oversteps related NOW. :)

I'd like to ask them if negative criticism really doesn't affect them at all - and if it doesn't, how they think they developed such a healthy sense of confidence so as to continue going on their own trajectory regardless of naysayers.