Autechre Autechre - Oversteps (WARP210) [The MegaThread]

[awepittance]

Yuop is kind of a good example of what i don't like about this album, the melody is rather forgettable very forced sounding. also the synth timbre is very unpleasurable. maybe if the song was a lot slower i would like it better. the excessive use of reverb is cool for a little bit but just overall ends up sounding again like 'intentional' amateurish production. There is a cool stretch of 4:00 - 5:00 where the synth sound gets very strained sounding and tiny, but the rest is just kind of average

 

the only 2 songs i really like so far are Treale and R ess

and even compared to the better songs on Untilted or Quaristice they totally pale in comparison (Simm, Pro Radii, Tankakern, Altibzz, Rale, Sublimit, Ipacial Section).

 

and for all the melody happening all over the place in this album the only meldy that is really striking/evocative for me is about 4:49 seconds into Treale, which is ironically a very beat oriented song. None of these purely melodic tracks are effecting me on the same level

Edited February 9, 2010 by Awepittance

[Guest lithgow]

It's Autechre. It's completely fucking obvious. No question about it.

 

Wow, since you're so knowledgeable, please to be pointing me at ANY track that sounds remotely as amateur as "known1", you must intimately know their entire catalog, so please, let me know.

In complete honesty and no offense but why do you bother hanging out in this thread if you hate this album so much? I'm fairly certain you're a dupe or just a random troll but either way start acting a little bit less hostile and confrontational because Watmm(especially the ae subforum) is a place of friendship.

 

Because stupidity offends me, and this thread has it in droves

[Lianne]

if Rob Brown really does work on a lot of the beats in Ae i wonder if Sean killed him? we havent heard from him in a while, jsut sean

 

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.

[acroyear]

It's Autechre. It's completely fucking obvious. No question about it.

 

Wow, since you're so knowledgeable, please to be pointing me at ANY track that sounds remotely as amateur as "known1", you must intimately know their entire catalog, so please, let me know.

 

I'll be sure to rub it in when the album comes out. And Known1 is great. I'm stroking myself to it right now.

[awepittance]

yeah i was being facetious, since weve never heard any solo work from either of them we are totally in the dark. they can say anything an we'd beleive it

[sysyphus]

i'm concerned about the users of this forum. if this does turn out to be the real thing, will there be mayhem and slander all over the boards?

[awepittance]

it is the real thing, who besides 2 people who just started posting here think its fake? nothing going to happen, everyone who is a fan of AE knows its real unless they are in denial or havent heard it yet

Edited February 9, 2010 by Awepittance

[Lianne]

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.)

Edited February 9, 2010 by Lianne

[awepittance]

only reason it sounds remotely pisstakish to me is a lot of the melodies seem generative and samey, for all the 'sketch' work that quaristice had it was thematically different from song to song, the melodies varied , were buried but still present on most tracks. On oversteps it sounds literally to me like they are using the same midi scale filter generative patch on 50% of the songs on this album using even the same scale or mode. Im not a music theory expert but i have used a lot of generative music making software before. After using KOAN, bidule, Reaktor and Nodal alot, oversteps doesnt sound like it was very hard worked on in my very strong opinion. I mean in reality Quaristic sounded very jammy in some parts too, like unfinished ideas or quickly laid to tape ideas. And i feel like a very similar thing is going on here but people aren't able to percieve it as easily because of their unfamiliarity with generative music making software. Alot of these sound like single takes with no sequencing, great example is Krylon. sounds like a straight recording of a generative pass with no editing. Quaristice, while being live and on the fly i think was a much more ambitious album on many levels. It didn't rely on very predictable melodies to carry you through the album, it's actually amazing how cohesive and well flowing Quaristice is with so many ideas/themes at play.

and dont get me wrong i have no moral or other opposition to generative or algorithmic music making, i think it's a great tool. Autechre's talk and usage of it on their previous work were a great inspiration to my own music and for the most part most of the time they used it before it was completely undetectable and very genius. This is the first time where i hear pretty standard (predating Autechre) generative techniques being used on an AE album

Edited February 9, 2010 by Awepittance

[Lianne]

only reason it sounds remotely pisstakish to me is a lot of the melodies seem generative and samey, for all the 'sketch' work that quaristice had it was thematically different from song to song, the melodies varied , were buried but still present on most tracks. On oversteps it sounds literally to me like they are using the same midi scale filter generative patch on 50% of the songs on this album using even the same scale or mode. Im not a music theory expert but i have used a lot of generative music making software before. After using KOAN, bidule, Reaktor and Nodal alot, oversteps doesnt sound like it was very hard worked on in my very strong opinion. I mean in reality Quaristic sounded very jammy in some parts too, like unfinished ideas or quickly laid to tape ideas. And i feel like a very similar thing is going on here but people aren't able to percieve it as easily because of their unfamiliarity with generative music making software. Alot of these sound like single takes with no sequencing, great example is Krylon. sounds like a straight recording of a generative pass with no editing.

 

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?

[awepittance]

well when i first listened to OVersteps i remember having a mini burst of anxiety/concern when i noticed that already 40 minutes had gone by and i only heard 4 AE beats, and at the same time i had a flash to someone online telling me the 2nd half of the album is mostly purely ambient. I remember being a little bit in denial still because at this point i was still really enjoying a lot of the beat based tracks but not overly much, but yeah after listening to the end i went to sleep pretty sad that night. I know its ridiculous to get so emotional about a new album by a musician but after all the love Gl0tch praised upon it and so many others from this forum it was a huge let down for me.

[karmakramer]

First half definitely seems stronger to me, and a pon first time hearing the first half, I was thinking it was going to be one of my favorites from them, but second half really drives these melodies that I am not sure of yet. I'd prefer to hear better rips before diggin too much more in it

[awepittance]

it would be interesting for someone really well versed in music theory to assess this album in some way. Maybe we should take it to that guy in the EKT form who offered his services, heh.

[Guest]

and the point would be?

 

 

second half is actually better than the first, IMO. except r ess

[awepittance]

St Epreo sounds like AE doing Nommo Ogo, no joke

[Lianne]

well when i first listened to OVersteps i remember having a mini burst of anxiety/concern when i noticed that already 40 minutes had gone by and i only heard 4 AE beats, and at the same time i had a flash to someone online telling me the 2nd half of the album is mostly purely ambient. I remember being a little bit in denial still because at this point i was still really enjoying a lot of the beat based tracks but not overly much, but yeah after listening to the end i went to sleep pretty sad that night. I know its ridiculous to get so emotional about a new album by a musician but after all the love Gl0tch praised upon it and so many others from this forum it was a huge let down for me.

 

 

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.

[o00o]

Yuop is kind of a good example of what i don't like about this album, the melody is rather forgettable very forced sounding. also the synth timbre is very unpleasurable. maybe if the song was a lot slower i would like it better. the excessive use of reverb is cool for a little bit but just overall ends up sounding again like 'intentional' amateurish production. There is a cool stretch of 4:00 - 5:00 where the synth sound gets very strained sounding and tiny, but the rest is just kind of average

 

the only 2 songs i really like so far are Treale and R ess

and even compared to the better songs on Untilted or Quaristice they totally pale in comparison (Simm, Pro Radii, Tankakern, Altibzz, Rale, Sublimit, Ipacial Section).

 

and for all the melody happening all over the place in this album the only meldy that is really striking/evocative for me is about 4:49 seconds into Treale, which is ironically a very beat oriented song. None of these purely melodic tracks are effecting me on the same level

 

remember that most of the autechre takes longer to get into maybe it will take time

 

I kind of see that in the album like they did it with the others

 

its easy to get at first but there is more hidden underneath that takes time

[thehauntingsoul]

lol that would be awesome if Sean booth had a schizophrenic episode and put out a really cheesy plaid ripoff and his other personality was completely unaware of it

Fucking irl lol

 

It's Autechre. It's completely fucking obvious. No question about it.

 

Wow, since you're so knowledgeable, please to be pointing me at ANY track that sounds remotely as amateur as "known1", you must intimately know their entire catalog, so please, let me know.

In complete honesty and no offense but why do you bother hanging out in this thread if you hate this album so much? I'm fairly certain you're a dupe or just a random troll but either way start acting a little bit less hostile and confrontational because Watmm(especially the ae subforum) is a place of friendship.

 

Because stupidity offends me, and this thread has it in droves

Yeah and you've contributed about 60% of it single-handedly, now piss off.

[karmakramer]

okay, I think i just got the legit cd quality mp3's, but the rars were broken so not all songs were uncompressed

[Redruth]

so just to recap, im the only diehard AE fan in here who thinks is this is potentially their worst full length album?

 

no, your not the only one.

[jules]

Yes! I finished reading the thread!

 

This is brilliant. Almost as good as Tool's 10,000 Days leak debacle. For months people were listening to (what was quite obviously) the new Tool record whilst swearing blind it was fake. They shut the fuck up pretty quick when the "real" one came out.

LMAO I've been thinking this since a few days ago, so true. And that is partly what's making me think this is real, because of the disbelief and dislike (I personally haven't listened).

 

lol, yeah. i didnt listen to that one either.

[David Bowman]

it's definitely got some moments where it shines - but over all I was just expecting something with a lot more differentiation between tracks - it's been my experience that each time a new AE album comes out it always floors me with how unique, consistent, and interesting it is - Oversteps (assuming this IS oversteps) seems to be variations on themes autechre have already covered musically - which is what led me to believe it was a fake at first, now i'm not so sure. Either way, it's good, but not NEW AUTECHRE good. I still prefer Quaristice to this so far, but I liked quaristice when it first came out.

[Guest 21B]

anyone else find awepittence at a stage beyond parody?

 

maybe once you get your musicologist to analyze and objectively undermine their generative melodies you can feel sure footed about your opinion.

 

but it must be pretty gutting for your ae ultrafanboy persona to find out you don't like an album. Do you feel forsaken? Maybe you can find happiness away from the caricature.

[karmakramer]

legit leak is out now, no more 1 song bullshit

 

edit: i thought I just posted something about this... should I not, was it deleted by a mod?

Edited February 9, 2010 by karmakramer

[gl0tch]

okay, I think i just got the legit cd quality mp3's, but the rars were broken so not all songs were uncompressed

 

 

Uhhhhhhhhh........ what? From where? Rars? As in more than one?