Autechre Does anyone else find Incunabula underwhelming?

[AJW]

Incunable

 

[Terpentintollwut]

I find myself not listening to Incunabula very often cause I can't always put up with its heavy atmosphere.

[Guest couch]

Folks keep saying that 'most' of watmm was born after Incunabula, but that... that can't actually be demographically correct, can it?

Prolly not. But I imagine a large portion barely being into their teens when it was released, including me.

[jeremymacgregor87]

Incunable

 

 

"the earliest stages or first traces in the development of anything"

 

yep

[auxien]

Folks keep saying that 'most' of watmm was born after Incunabula, but that... that can't actually be demographically correct, can it?

Prolly not. But I imagine a large portion barely being into their teens when it was released, including me.

 

same here. i was about 11. i doubt there are many who are 17 or under on this forum. and i don't see why it matters really.

 

my line of thinking is that if music is well written, it doesn't 'date' itself or lose lustre over time. Amber still sounds fresh and (most of it) still comes across as just good music, despite it having a few cheesy synth sounds, they make it work within the context of the songs and the album. but on the other side, Incunabula, which isn't much older, sounds dated to me. does that mean it's bad or doesn't hold some qualities to be appreciated in some way? no, of course not. but i never just put the album on and enjoy it, for some reason it seems too much of a child of its time, rather than a free-standing work of art. just an opinion of course. LP5 is much the same to me, just sounds too much like '98 or whenever it came out, despite me getting it upon its release and loving it for years afterward, i just find it hard to enjoy these days for the same reasons i mentioned about Incunabula.

 

there's some music that works best, or dare i say ONLY works, within the context of the time when it's created. doesn't mean it's bad, just different. to me, Incunabula may fall partially into that group

[onecaseman]

It's still my favorite album of theirs. Every track is killer.

[springymajig]

It's really good. Though some of the sounds on it are a bit dated, the compositions aren't. I think I like it better than Amber, too. Hard to compare it to others.

 

I kind of think the opposite. The sound design might be a little dated but I think it has a real charm to it, and you can still hear a lot of this kind of sound in a lot of net label IDM/ambient. There's bits on Amber that sound a lot cheesier but I still like them more (Peizo for example).

 

Composition-wise I think a lot of the album falls flat. The beginning of Doctrine plays the same single note over and over again, and beautiful tracks like Eggshell and Windwind get ruined by just being way too long and repeatitive.

 

It all just seems only a little bit "off".

 

But it is certainly true that within context, it is really really good... just going through some other stuff I have from around then and nothing compares to it... they were AT LEAST a whole year ahead of their time (which is a lot for back then when electronic music was changing very rapidly).

[NewSchoolScience]

I used to be all about this album but the more I listen to the rest of Autechre's discog, the more I think this one pales in comparison. A couple of the tracks are outstanding but a lot just sounds like filler to me

 

i disagree.

[modey]

you can still hear a lot of this kind of sound in a lot of net label IDM/ambient.

 

haha yeah, i severely ripped off incunabula on this track, a few years ago:

http://pselodux.bandcamp.com/track/bel-cyan

[Soloman Tump]

I fell asleep listening to this album last night. I was smashed, and it sounded great.

[YEK]

i probably listen to this album all the way through the most

[vamos scorcho]

it's strange. as time goes on i find these early records which i was not around to experience at release, and which i never liked as much as post LP5 noisetechre,

 

I now enjoy far more often. the melodies are wonderful, the feeling of the tracks. it takes you to this place that is still at least human.

 

once the computers takeover we enter into this super insane abstract hyper realm of thought, that goes past our laws of physics. there is no sun with Confield.

 

on this, the sun shines across the desert. so where Confield and so on sort of take us into a totally different dimension apart from our own physical laws

Incunabula, Amber, and other music from that era tends to be more like a trip through the known universe.

[vamos scorcho]

I think I was 4 when Incunabula was released. I first heard it alongside "Bucephelus Bouncing Ball" in the Pi movie soundtrack. "Kapol Intro" was on the album. Got it off Napster.

 

I don't think I was an Autechre fan until a few years after that first meeting.

[vamos scorcho]

Regarding 'dated'

 

 

It's like, the synthesizers sound 'cheesy' now. But that's part of the allure. Beyond any notion of what sounds 'cheesy' or 'outdated,' the music still speaks what it spoke originally. For me, at least. Because it always sounded dated.

 

But in my mind, it is actually beyond 'dated', in the same way Ambient works 85-92 is beyond dated. The sound isn't exactly defined by the synthesizer tones used. It's more defined by the harmonic and melodic language. That takes you right back to early 90s.

 

 

On this album I also don't think the composition is necessarily dated. On 'Bike' for instance there are multiple sections that all have a distinctly memorable way about them.

 

There are a few shit tracks that make me turn it off, like the super annoying drums in 'Basscadet.' But I like to digest albums very, very slowly. Seeing that life goes on almost 100 years in some cases, we can spend a long time overcoming something like 'super annoying drums' in the name of enjoying the music. Or something!

[Guest thepilot]

what records are incunabula's peers? like Dimension Intrusion, Electro Soma, Colourform, Patashnik(?) I think this is interesting simply to place the album exactly amongst the musical climate from which it emerged.

[vamos scorcho]

Global Communication - 76:41 or whatever

 

has those synth strings. those are what define this stuff for me. instantly recognizable feel that takes you back, to somewhere

 

be it a random memory or your own personal 'summer of love'

[springymajig]

Global Communication - 76:41 or whatever

 

That was 94. And as far as I can tell, there was a HUGE leap in electronic music between 93 and 94. Just looking at some of the big names, 94 had:

 

Orbital - Snivilisation

Global Communication - 76:14

Future Sound of London - Lifeforms

Oval - Systemisch (ok, not really a BIG NAME but still valid. I haven't heard Wohnton so I dunno how big a leap forward this is)

Underworld - Dubnobasswithmyheadman

 

95 saw the release of Orbus Terrarum by The Orb

 

Looking at albums from similar artists before 94, and it's mostly pretty cheesy stuff (good, but a little cheesy).

 

Incunabula pre-dates all these other landmark albums. So... despite it's faults... it must be said it was revolutionary...

[jeremymacgregor87]

I think the fact that it's their most "melodic" (vs mechanical/rhythmically complex) album helps in regard to how well it holds up to other electronic music of the early 90s.

 

and, EGGSHELL

[beerwolf]

 

I now enjoy far more often. the melodies are wonderful, the feeling of the tracks. it takes you to this place that is still at least human.

 

there is no sun with Confield.

 

Incunabula, Amber, and other music from that era tends to be more like a trip through the known universe.

 

 

My thoughts entirely. Nicely put mate.

[Guest mafted]

damn, i was hoping they'd all sound exactly the same.

[Stock]

I think the fact that it's their most "melodic" (vs mechanical/rhythmically complex) album helps in regard to how well it holds up to other electronic music of the early 90s.

 

and, E G G S H E L L

 

This one is wonderful !!!

 

I really like this album, even when compared to the rest of Ae discog. It's the first Autechre release I played on repeat, and I still love it very much these days. Kalpol Introl, Bike, then Autriche and the others - perfect soundtrack to a walk in the matinee.

 

[Salvatorin]

basscadet sounds like the music from the game 'descent'.

actually the music from the game 'descent' sounds like basscadet.

[Terpentintollwut]

Is anyone aware that Bike is on a radio station in GTA: Liberty City Stories? I wasn't.

[Guest narkeworld]

damn, i was hoping they'd all sound exactly the same.

 

:). This album is simply a fun album imo.

[Guest theSun]

Is anyone aware that Bike is on a radio station in GTA: Liberty City Stories? I wasn't.

 

and ztwig is on the original. there's 1 or 2 other tracks on the electro station, cant think of them