Why is Autechre so difficult for people to like?

[Amen Lare]

On 12/10/2021 at 9:50 PM, thehauntingsoul said:

I think it's because Autechre simply doesn't qualify for the label "music" by most people's definition.

I used to dismiss that as a completely ignorant mentality, but I have kind of come around on that opinion. I love Ae as much as anyone, but their work resembles music in the way that Picasso's work resembles actual people. People who are used to, and expecting to see a classic semi-realistic painting of a person is going to be totally off-put by something like The Poet. As interesting a piece as it is, it resembles a person in the faintest sense of the term. About the only thing it has in common with a more classical portrait is that it is a bunch of paint on a canvas. There are vague hints of human-like features but you need to look to even see those.

Over the years I've realized that while my need for Autechre is rarely quenched by other music, my need for other music is rarely quenched by Autechre. They are separate mediums in a lot of ways. Autechre is where I go to for exploration, intrigue, novelty, and it benefits greatly from concentrated attentive listening.

On the flip side, if I just want to have something on in the background, or listen to something to cheer up or relax or whatnot, I'm much more likely to toss on something more conventional.

That's not a functioning analogy at all, "their work resembles music in the way that Picasso's work resembles actual people" sound absurd. Music is not a portrait of "actual" music in any way, it's a tautology. 

The Picasso angle is overblown too (as is his name and art, it is the convention), classical painting did not have a goal of resembling photo, and there's no artistic achievement in going as far from it as possible. Picasso's pieces have much more in common with classical portrait than classical portrait have in common with realistic image of a person, Picasso is nothing more than a minor stylistic branch of the same principles.

This whole take of Autechre being madly unconventional is a strange one, they practically do fucked-up pop music, with direct borrowing of hip-hop, electro, techno et al.

No music qualifies for the label music in most people's view, because there's no such view (for example, one of the most popular genres trap is trash to most people). And there's no such debate in mainstream institutes -- Autechre had a SIGN album interview on the main page of New York Times and their tracks are played on BBC radioshows both for popular and academic music.

Why is Autechre not more popular? People are generally not interested in musical intricacies of any kind, let alone this particular kind. Look up the fooking charts, it would be an insult to be among that. If anything, Autechre is unusually popular and successful for their type of stuff.

[mTesc]

Never trust a people to know what's what.

[phudoshin]

I find them difficult to like, and I like that and other people don't like that

Same with film... same maths, same with puzzles, same with untying knots

I think I get a sort of dopamine hit form the "puzzle-solving" I get from listening to their music

Over time the melodies emerge, the beats make sense, the narrative reveals itself

 

Having 2 kids who have been raised slightly differently I can tell these things are developed early on and its probably hard to retrain the brain

That's fine, i don't think everyone HAS to like them. Let people feel rewarded in their own way  - no harm no fowl

 

 

 

 

 

 

[President Squidward]

I don't know, they may not be as popular as Boards Of Canada, 90s Aphex Twin and *shudders*... Tycho, but they still have a big following, and a lot of love from people outside of the IDM community. Maybe the stuff around the 2000s is where it gets complicated for some regular people, but even then, it's very well received and listened to by many.

I could go all day about how Plaid seems to be more difficult for people to like. It's like they're subtle with how they make their music. You like some stuff, find the rest boring, then later on it all clicks.

[milkface]

Dunno I liked them right away, better known tracks like Eutow, Slip and Bike are really accessible to people who already like electronic music then you end up going down the rabbit hole regardless.

[vkxwz]

On 12/14/2021 at 8:56 PM, phudoshin said:

I find them difficult to like, and I like that and other people don't like that

Same with film... same maths, same with puzzles, same with untying knots

I think I get a sort of dopamine hit form the "puzzle-solving" I get from listening to their music

Over time the melodies emerge, the beats make sense, the narrative reveals itself

Same here, having it seemingly unscramble and change in your mind over time is part of the fun, it is strange if you can still remember how it sounded originally and compare. i dont think i'd listen any less without that aspect of it though, probably more actually. I think lots of people are looking for vocals and sounds they have heard many times before presented to them in a way that they are used to, and anything outside of that narrow range doesnt fit into what they consider music, thats how you get the "its just noise" "is the cd skipping" reactions.

[Alcofribas]

autechre 

[usagi]

Australian Technology Registrars

[xox]

is ae still difficult? 

[Freak of the week]

rearranged thread title gives:

autechre is for difficult people. so, why to like?

[wredny]

On 1/11/2022 at 6:36 PM, Freak of the week said:

rearranged thread title gives:

autechre is for difficult people. so, why to like?

So why difficult people like Autechre?

 

[ignatius]