Autechre Autechre - Oversteps (WARP210) [The MegaThread]

[Guest Calx Sherbet]

did the entire album leak or just some of it?

[lumpenprol]

all of it

[karmakramer]

well except for maybe the end of yuop

 

Oversteps is the album I have been waiting for Autechre to make I feel. It just kind of completes the puzzle for me...

 

coincidentally the title of the message i sent the chap was 'the next piece of the puzzle'. high five.

[thehauntingsoul]

I'm gunna take a stab at a track-by-track of oversteps now. It'll be preliminary but there may be some spoilers so don't bitch at me for ruining anything.

 

 

r ess - starts out almost like a Clark album. Clearly has the Ae energy puslating in it though, as the beat drops. Sounds like a beat from the Untilted world that's rusty and broken and slow. It's almost like a fusion of the styles from Chiastic Slide with the Untilted style. Awesome track, one of my favs for sure, leaves alot of unfinished business for the album to take care of.

 

ilanders - kinda begins like you're waking up on an island, you don't realize your predicament until the beat drops and then it's like this constant battle between hopefulness and hopelessness that ensues. Really nice way of capturing a dichotomy of emotions into music. Love this track.

 

known(1) - really unexpected from Ae but I like it. I like how they start with a fairly mainstream sounding melody and then the glitchy squelching synth line comes in and its like Ae's saying "Haha fuck that you think we'd do MAINSTREAM BITCHES???"

 

pt2ph8 - like underwater. That's what I get out of this. The last minute and a half of this track really gets me. It's like some blissful bath in warm water. Like being inside some IDM womb.

 

qplay - brings back the staggering, stuttering beats and abstract melodic constructs. This track is taking me a while to fully digest but it's starting to make alot of sense to me. The second half of the track is much better than the first IMO but that remains to potentially change. Nice use of the hissing puff-of-steam noise that we indulged in in Iera.

 

see on see - Strings of wonder. If there was one word to describe this track its definitely 'wonder'. It sounds like music from a video game where you just discovered a cave full of treasure. Awesome track, blissful, warm, and happy. True unrestrained happiness too. I love that about this album, they don't seem shy to become fully happy, as most previous stuff has been at best a mixture of some strange emotion and happiness.

 

Treale - its like rale upgraded. Such a pimpin' track. I don't wanna use that word but those of you that have heard it probably understand. Fuckin sick beat, tons of layering and crazy stuff going on with the synth. The little melody at the end is just SO fucking Autechre. So dystopian future-esque which is something I love in Ae music. As I said, right at the end my brain dribbles out my pee-hole for that synth line. So perfect, it really hits the spot!

 

os veix3 - is like this album's version of tracks like Sim Gishel, VL AL 5, Uviol, etc. Really sparce and spacey. Wonderful melody that kinda indicates despair, occasionally becoming overshadowed by hopefulness only to be stomped back down into despair with the switch of a key. Wonderful track, really bouncey and chill.

 

O=0 - almost like Ae does Plaid. This track is full of determination. Like serious wholehearted determination. It seems like the track is constantly trying to resolve some conflict, and although it never quite succeeds, it remains just as determined. That's what I get out of it anyways.

 

d-sho qub - I'm tempted to think this is a rearrangment of q-sho(w) dub as in a re-working of the Quaristice show or something Quaristice related. Starts out by reminding you of that psychotic clown that was Perlence, only he's gotten much much more psychotic and insane. Really pounding dancey track. I like that there are a good number of tracks that you can actually bob your head to with ease and comfort. It's a bit refreshing. The swells in this track are so bizarre but so intriguing. Eventually it all strips away to a pulse much like Simmm and proceeds onwards with st epreo

 

st epreo - almost sounds like some holy church that was ravaged by Satan. Very evil and growly and dark. Can't really say I enjoy this one yet but it's very very slowly growing on me. Kinda reminds me of the atmosphere behind the whole Diablo storyline.

 

redfall - I think of this track as though we are suddenly re-visiting the world of Amber (due to the word 'red' in the title). The atmosphere feels much the same, but there is no life anywhere, only sadness and memories. Definitely the most nostalgic track on the album. Fucking love this track. I've had the little string melody on repeat in my head for a few days now lol.

 

krYlon - still can't really figure this track out. It doesn't seem to have much of a direction, although it's making more sense each time. It's kinda just a synth bath. A nice warm bath after a long stressful day.

 

Yuop - perfect closer. Can't say I expected any less. Nice stuttering beat and synth line. So beautiful but handicapped at the same time. To me it feels like the realization that the journey isn't actually over, that there will be a new day and more challenges and hardship.

 

So to summarize, I'd say this album is really warm and friendly and accessible. Even the most complex beats on this album aren't difficult to follow at all, but they retain enough subtle quirkiness to satisfy my ravenous appetite for beat puzzles. I'm just really glad this is what we got. Really glad. There have been many times I've perused the Ae discography on my iPod feeling like it was lacking something, more specifically it was lacking a nice optimistic happy installment. Not to say I don't love the melancholy, and on the opposite side it's not to say that this album is entirely blissful, but it's enough to perk me up. I never thought I could be more eager for more of their work but fuck, I can't wait for their next release.

Edited February 15, 2010 by thehauntingsoul

[kaini]

by post 5000 it'll probably be back to again

more than three and a half thousand posts about this album...

[lumpenprol]

at least this time when people heard the real leak most said "this is autechre." The reactions to the Untilted leak were hilarious.

[Guest 123]

see on see

[Guest Calx Sherbet]

at least this time when people heard the real leak most said "this is autechre." The reactions to the Untilted leak were hilarious.

 

oh god, what happened? lemme guess, people didn't think it was them at all?

[kaini]

the funny thing is robbie's untilted fake had typewriter noises on it iirc (as well as sitar, that was the giveaway for me)...

now go have another listen to ilanders lol.

[awepittance]

at least this time when people heard the real leak most said "this is autechre." The reactions to the Untilted leak were hilarious.

 

yes they were quite hilarious

 

the funny thing is robbie's untilted fake had typewriter noises on it iirc (as well as sitar, that was the giveaway for me)...

now go have another listen to ilanders lol.

 

lol i distinctly remember either you or somebody else calling me out on that. but as always nobody fucking listened to you(or whoever that was) and kept thinking it could be real

 

 

 

oh god, what happened? lemme guess, people didn't think it was them at all?

 

i admit when i first heard the real untilted i was not convinced it was Autechre, i thought it was a VERY good fake but it was so stripped down and dry sounding compared to Draft i just couldn't believe it.

eventually of course i came around but for at least a whole day i was convinced it was a fake

[Guest frits]

Pt2Ph8 really reminds me of the Machinarium soundtrack.

 

Here's an example. I warmly recommend checking out this game as well as the soundtrack. It's like steam punk jazz induced Autechre :)

[Aefx]

Some of qplay beat sounds like it sampled from Omgyjya Switch 7. My fav from oversteps.

[Guest uiert]

Oversteps just does´nt get as happy and funky as this :

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81NygS5pyYo

[phudoshin]

Jesus.. even the Wire magazine has a review of this album.. a favouirable one too. Its got a month to go!!

 

The first time i ever hear it will be when it comes through the door in a few weeks as a lovely vinyl and the needle goes down...

 

Meanwhile am relistening to live Autechre.... "Hemsby" owns!!!

[thief]

[beariksson]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNe8HClztFM

[Guest Jacck]

 

Treale - its like rale upgraded. Such a pimpin' track. I don't wanna use that word but those of you that have heard it probably understand. Fuckin sick beat, tons of layering and crazy stuff going on with the synth. The little melody at the end is just SO fucking Autechre. So dystopian future-esque which is something I love in Ae music. As I said, right at the end my brain dribbles out my pee-hole for that synth line. So perfect, it really hits the spot!

 

 

This. Probably my favourite melody of the album atm. It's conclusive, yet at the same time very defeatist. Conjures up memories of 'There's light at the end of the tunnel, but I'm not going to reach it.' situations.

 

It's interesting that you're calling this an optimistic, even happy record. I think it's Autechre's most melancholy and gloom-ridden release to date. Good review though.

Edited February 15, 2010 by Jacck

[Guest Garkken]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNe8HClztFM

is weak thing, IMO

[superstix]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNe8HClztFM

 

Is that track only avail. on the ATP compilation? Is it actually an excerpt of a longer track that has been released?

[xox]

Ooooh...I can say now...i'm in love with this album!

 

I went to a concert yesterday (Depeche Mode) and while i was driving on my way home i had an opportunity to listen to Oversteps in my car...unfortunately only through headphones

After about 30 minutes my girlfriend felt asleep and i had enough time to listen to the complete album.

It was midnight and it was lightly snowing all the way...Nice!

 

All i can say is that Oversteps passed the ''driving test''.

Grade: Excellent!

Edited February 15, 2010 by xox

[thehauntingsoul]

I like this album because it does a good job of spanning the emotional range of Autechre music. There aren't really many tracks they've ever done that wouldn't sound at home on Oversteps.

[xox]

 

hot damn i love his work

 

Then i'm sure that you love Vladimir Kush's work too...

 

pt2ph8:

 

[Alcofribas]

 

As I said, right at the end my brain dribbles out my pee-hole

 

 

This.

 

lol

[kakapo]

Sorry, I know this will have been asked several times over the course of 240 pages, but is the leak of decent auditory quality?

 

I was going to wait until release day, but Ive changed my mind.

[Guest]

sound quality wise it's okay. the origin is a single .m4a file where the tracks itunes-autocrossfade into each other and roughly 30 seconds are missing from the beginning and end of the album.