sweepstakes Posted February 27, 2012 Share Posted February 27, 2012 As I said, I like them too, I just don't love them. And I know it's not 100% newcomers that really appreciate these releases. My point is that there's a major shift here that seems to have alienated some people, myself included, who have been listening for a while. Gotta say - the same thing happened with Confield. And Untilted (that got absolutely fucking slated on xltronic upon release, for unwarranted reasons in my opinion). And Quaristice. I know that could be said of almost any of their releases. But in the past, I could pull out new, interesting details with every listen, even if I didn't really like the tracks that much. I don't feel that way about Oversteps, though I have noticed that at work with a couple MoT tracks. I kind of feel like you're not reading my entire posts. No, I read it. After your bolded statement you go on to explain why it's different this time around. I just wanted to point out that, in my opinion, it's no different from the 'backlash' against other releases. Fair enough. I just think it is different this time. I didn't like Untilted right away and I still don't listen to it often, but I like it better than I did, and it's because when I gave it a chance it did reveal its details over time. With Oversteps especially I feel like those details just aren't there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheTransitionary Posted February 27, 2012 Share Posted February 27, 2012 When I think about Oversteps as a whole I tend to slip into thinking about it as just a bland ambient album that drags on a bit. It's only when I'm actually listening to the tracks that I re-realise all the awesome technicalities and melodies. Although not the usual Ae beat-fuckery abstract melody sort of thing, this album does contain lots of my favourite little melody-rhythm combinations; I think it's overlooked because it's not as in your face/abrasive as a lot of Autechre's stuff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest theSun Posted February 27, 2012 Share Posted February 27, 2012 these newbie ae fans and their puckered buttholes are making me pretty hot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Xenblake Posted February 27, 2012 Share Posted February 27, 2012 I suppose only time will tell whether it's the "typical backlash ae effect" or not. How goes your listening of MoT sweepstakes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweepstakes Posted February 27, 2012 Share Posted February 27, 2012 I suppose only time will tell whether it's the "typical backlash ae effect" or not. How goes your listening of MoT sweepstakes? Haven't listened to it in a bit. Come to think of it I really do not listen to these releases very often at all really. I can probably count the number of plays of each on one, maybe two hands. I was so initially alienated by them (which has NEVER happened with an Ae release for me before) that I just haven't spent too much time trying to crack their mysteries, if there are any. Maybe I need to just throw them on in the background more often. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Kraldog Posted February 27, 2012 Share Posted February 27, 2012 Oversteps has my favorite album art... also I completely disagree about the details not being there, the joys are in stepping inside the soundscape and looking around at all the different things that are going on, and enjoying them all individually, and then as a whole. My favorite feature of the album (and somewhat MoT) is their obvious love for 'dat reverb, seriously I think every song has some point where its just holding on until the last traces of sound die away, those are some beautiful moments. The soft melodies sometimes obscured behind the sharp jolts are the things I listen for. Oversteps is slowly becoming my favorite autechre release. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joseph Posted February 27, 2012 Share Posted February 27, 2012 I don't think there are any mysteries in MOT, which is why its my least favorite autechre release, but there are plenty in Oversteps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehauntingsoul Posted February 27, 2012 Share Posted February 27, 2012 In a lot of ways, I love Oversteps and Move of Ten, but I really feel this sense of bastardization there. Like some big hollywood producer took some classic sci fi horror movie and decided to remake it and put romance as the central value. Not that I can't stand romance in movies, but it feels out of place for these guys. Again, I'm not saying I don't like the releases, they are very good quality. As well, there are some very core Autechre tracks in with much of the ambient mish-mash. They clearly haven't lost their style of beat-fuckery, and it's obvious that they want their fans to know that since they did throw a few good abrasive tracks in with the mix. I think the way the future unfolds will determine my attitude towards these releases. There is a delicate balance of pacing at play here. They may continue down the slope of emotional sappery in which case I'll still listen to everything but it just won't be anything to rock out to really, in which case I'll be disappointed with these releases. The other option is that they go straight back to raw beat fuckery Untilted style in which case I will say that these two albums served as a very nice change of pace. As much as some of you will disagree with basing opinions of the albums on potential future releases, I think pacing has EVERYTHING to do with it. I mean, look at their back-catalog and tell me that progression isn't one of the main reasons that makes them so unique and awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweepstakes Posted February 27, 2012 Share Posted February 27, 2012 I don't think there are any mysteries in MOT, which is why its my least favorite autechre release, but there are plenty in Oversteps. also I completely disagree about the details not being there, the joys are in stepping inside the soundscape and looking around at all the different things that are going on, and enjoying them all individually, and then as a whole. It seems like the point of interest is the relationship between the different elements. My favorite feature of the album (and somewhat MoT) is their obvious love for 'dat reverb, seriously I think every song has some point where its just holding on until the last traces of sound die away, those are some beautiful moments. The soft melodies sometimes obscured behind the sharp jolts are the things I listen for. Oh gawd, that verb was the worst part for me. They used to talk about how cheesy Amber was and I thought they were talking about the reverb, and then it comes back at full force on this album. Sometimes it's pretty but most of the time it's like some soft lens 80s soap opera or something. Like some Paula Deen's cooking with butter all over everything. It doesn't do it for me, although it might have if they'd used it MUCH more judiciously. Ironically my favorite reverb action was on "Yuop" where they fuck up the reverb and start degrading the algorithm so it splatters into individual delay lines. If that's a kind metaphor for where they're going next, emerging from the fog, I'm excited. I'm glad they ended it on that note and not some mopey thing like O=0. I like that track too, it just feels like somebody died. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auxien Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 on the 'details' tip: first of all, please note that these time frames are not exact, and usually include the sibling EPs and such from around the times i mention. from Chiastic Slide on through Untilted there's a lot of hidden things in most if not all tracks, lots of subtleties that their earlier work (for the most part) was lacking. imo Untilted was kind of the climax of all this...then Quaristice pulled all of that away and left the music mostly stark and stripped down; Oversteps seems to continue that simplicity. around Quaristice/Oversteps though, we have reference to a lot of 'live' work (be it Versions/Quadrange, or concert sets) that doesn't seem to follow the simple and stark sound pallet used on the full albums. this is where i think the two of them working from separate studios (at least partially; Quaristice was culled from improv jams they did when together, which we have some large chunks of as Quadrange/Versions iirc) has possibly triggered the shift away from layered texturally complex songs and towards more focused or superficially simplistic pieces of music. this is mostly speculation of course....maybe they just quit smoking weed. or maybe their style just changed, as it obviously often does. whatever the case, i just think it's interesting to look at the first few albums, then Chiastic-Untilted, then Quaristice-? as different eras, just provides a different perspective. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest theSun Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 ae are the reverb kings imo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blir Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 auxien I think you're looking into it too much. They live other ends of the country now, so whereas before they would work in the studio together and intricately put tracks together, now they work on things independently and transfer files back and forth. I'm willing to bet now more than ever the tracks are more often 'Rob tracks' and 'Sean tracks' and less actual collaboration. I don't think they'll ever go back to the old long tracks with "repetitive" elements all being added together. It's probably not even intentional, just a natural side effect of their life situations. OR... I'm wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Balance Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 Bit strange to say new fans like Oversteps when it was seen as a return to their earlier melodic style. I seem to remember most people loving it in the big thread. Everyone just wants them to do what they want them to, then invent reasons why they don't or should. Oversteps FTW Anyway their two new tracks sound different, so they could do anything next, as usual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joseph Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 No one has ever explained to me how Oversteps is a "return" to anything Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blir Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 I doubt the new tracks were new at all. Seem more like something that was laying around, no place on an album and conveniently could be sent over for the benefit albums. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweepstakes Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 No one has ever explained to me how Oversteps is a "return" to anything Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soloman Tump Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 I doubt the new tracks were new at all. Seem more like something that was laying around, no place on an album and conveniently could be sent over for the benefit albums. I agree on this. They are just tracks from some point in space/time during their career, that sounded finished enough and that they were happy enough with to release. New album? Hmm... maybe towards the end of this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xox Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 Oversteps and MoT are like Beethoven's 7/8th symphonies (of 4th), a rest...and the storm is coming i hope. I'm still waiting for the Ae's 9th to come (of 5th) and for me that would be Draft/PenExpers/Uviol/Sublimit/Treale combination. Am i too demanding?:) I just want my brain to finally explode. Those quantum gravity theories are inefficient! :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest disoriental express Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 It's interesting to me how many people like Oversteps/MoT that are new to Autechre. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, like you guys don't know any better. And I do like the albums, I just don't love them. Someone said somewhere that it seemed like they just needed to get Oversteps out of their system and if that's the case, I'm fine with that. MoT almost felt like an apology for Oversteps, which seems corroborate that theory, but except for "Etchogon-S" it felt like they didn't really deliver the Autechre experience with that one, either. Someone also mentioned that they have separate studios now so there is kind of flow missing from the newer tracks. I think that's very true. Although this did work well with with Draft 7.30, for example. After not listening for a while I went back to their 90s tracks and I was surprised how fresh and improvised many of them felt. With Untilted they switched to a very live-oriented, stripped-down (by their standards) hardware setup and came out with more fresh results. And it's probably no coincidence that after touring they did Quaristice, one of my favorite albums, with the remnants of their on-tour hardware improvisations. And then comes Oversteps and it feels like they've backed away from all that again. Back to interacting in different rooms like people talking on facebook. I guess this is to say that I've learned from this that process IS important and it DOES come through in the results of music making. I'm not sure what reasons led them back to such a software-centric process, and they were probably very reasonable, practical and logistic. But I do know that something is missing from these releases as a result. Something that I've realized isn't unique to Autechre, although they were really fucking good at it, maybe the best. I hope it returns for the next release. I am probably just being one of those ridiculous, demanding, pain in the ass purist fans that irritate any successful artist. But something inside me has moved on now. Which is healthy because being such a fanboy hasn't left much room in my heart for making my own tunes, let alone taking seriously music from people who aren't Autechre. applied your momentary and arbitrary opinions to the motives and circumstances of other perspectives. move often Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Xenblake Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 I doubt the new tracks were new at all. Seem more like something that was laying around, no place on an album and conveniently could be sent over for the benefit albums. I agree on this. They are just tracks from some point in space/time during their career, that sounded finished enough and that they were happy enough with to release. New album? Hmm... maybe towards the end of this year. Does anyone know for certain / have reliable info on when Ts1a and 6852 were actually made? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joseph Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 ts1a feels quite recent to me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blir Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 I doubt the new tracks were new at all. Seem more like something that was laying around, no place on an album and conveniently could be sent over for the benefit albums. I agree on this. They are just tracks from some point in space/time during their career, that sounded finished enough and that they were happy enough with to release. New album? Hmm... maybe towards the end of this year. Does anyone know for certain / have reliable info on when Ts1a and 6852 were actually made? Nah. But if I were going to take a guess going by what I know of AE's "sound" in certain time frames I would estimate 6852 was made around 2008-9 and TS1A about ten years earlier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweepstakes Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 It's interesting to me how many people like Oversteps/MoT that are new to Autechre. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, like you guys don't know any better. And I do like the albums, I just don't love them. Someone said somewhere that it seemed like they just needed to get Oversteps out of their system and if that's the case, I'm fine with that. MoT almost felt like an apology for Oversteps, which seems corroborate that theory, but except for "Etchogon-S" it felt like they didn't really deliver the Autechre experience with that one, either. Someone also mentioned that they have separate studios now so there is kind of flow missing from the newer tracks. I think that's very true. Although this did work well with with Draft 7.30, for example. After not listening for a while I went back to their 90s tracks and I was surprised how fresh and improvised many of them felt. With Untilted they switched to a very live-oriented, stripped-down (by their standards) hardware setup and came out with more fresh results. And it's probably no coincidence that after touring they did Quaristice, one of my favorite albums, with the remnants of their on-tour hardware improvisations. And then comes Oversteps and it feels like they've backed away from all that again. Back to interacting in different rooms like people talking on facebook. I guess this is to say that I've learned from this that process IS important and it DOES come through in the results of music making. I'm not sure what reasons led them back to such a software-centric process, and they were probably very reasonable, practical and logistic. But I do know that something is missing from these releases as a result. Something that I've realized isn't unique to Autechre, although they were really fucking good at it, maybe the best. I hope it returns for the next release. I am probably just being one of those ridiculous, demanding, pain in the ass purist fans that irritate any successful artist. But something inside me has moved on now. Which is healthy because being such a fanboy hasn't left much room in my heart for making my own tunes, let alone taking seriously music from people who aren't Autechre. applied your momentary and arbitrary opinions to the motives and circumstances of other perspectives. move often How are my opinions any more momentary and arbitrary than anyone else's in this thread/subforum? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oscillik Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 WATMM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweepstakes Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 Bill Paxton looks like such a jackass in that frame. Like one of the animatronic Chuck E. Cheese bears joined the space marines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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