Autechre All albums best to worst

[Alcofribas]

i've only heard cavity job.

 

as such, it is the best and the worst. imo

[Guest cult fiction]

i've only heard cavity job.

 

as such, it is the best and the worst. imo

Seems like you've learned from the pros - a true music journalist never listens to the music they review

[MisterE]

for me it's chiastic, then everything else as a close second, except tri repetae which is last and maybe incunabula being a bit better than tri

 

but even those are good

[Alcofribas]

 

i've only heard cavity job.

as such, it is the best and the worst. imo

 

Seems like you've learned from the pros - a true music journalist never listens to the music they review

yes precisely.

[Guest eczem]

 

IMO the "golden era" is LP5-EP7-Confield

But I've seen numerous lists which either end with lp5 or start with Confiled

Basically this. Personally I think the "most golden" period was Chiastic-EP7. If you want to extend it further could say Chiastic through Draft. I think there was a big break between EP7 and Confield, and between Draft and Untilted, though others probably don't see it that way. Prior to Confield I feel their music was more vulnerable sounding, then Confield became a heartless kung-fu robot of doom. And with Untilted I felt they underwent another shift - prior to Untilted I felt their music was pretty damn serious (as in, we are trying hard as artists to make "art"), but Untilted seemed to be more bizarre and tongue-in-cheek. Quaristice took this shift to its logical conclusion, being almost entirely tongue-in-cheek musical vignettes with no real overall binding feel or concept (big IMO here). From Quaristice on their stuff has seemed looser and wilder, like they're mostly fucking around (still in quite an impressive way), but less concerned with radically changing music or having some sort of "high concept". Which, tbh, is fine with me as long as they keep making quality experimental music.

 

I do feel LP5, EP7, and Confield are connected, almost in a building way, with Confield as a culmination and a breakthrough. Draft feels not too far removed from Confield (possibly in the way of 'high art' as Iumpenprol suggets), but to me it is a still a departure in that it is the ultimate expression of rhythm. Untilted is something of a transitionary album, but still feels closer to Draft in approach to me, despite sharing a similar sound pallette to Quaristice (elektrons, etc).

 

I agree that Quaristice takes on a different, looser form, surely related to their live-oriented approach. Quaristice also in my mind signifies a new era in a multi-faceted way. Firstly, I feel Quaristice is a leap forward in terms of production and mixing (sub-bass, stereo dimension), which continues and gets better with Oversteps and Exai. This is just my opinon as a listener, as I'm not much of a mix engineer. Also, tracks like Altibzz signify some of the lush atmospheric stuff to come in Oversteps.

 

I think Exai and Oversteps feel close in nature -Exai obviously having more beats- with Exai possibly having the most "high concept" feel since Draft 7.30.

[Guest WNS000]

it really is interesting how divergent people's opinions are on Ae's body of work. Can't think of any other artist where that seems as true.

 

I have no idea under the sun how someone could prefer quaristice to chiastic, for example.

 

For me, Chiastic Slide is just too basic, too repetitive and even cheesy sometimes - I really like only the first and the last track which are really good. The rest is forgettable for me but as always with Autechre, I don't dismiss the possibility of change in taste sometimes in the future. But it has been four years already with Chiastic and still no change.

 

Quaristice on the other hand is a technical perfection with the most delicate and interesting sound design ever and one of the best tracks ever - Simmm. I also have no problem at all with the short track lengths because I can see how they connect together. I also love how diverse the album is.

[jules]

the difference in these lists really speak to how much they shift their sound. there is something for everyone. some people prefer super technical sounding stuff and others like more straight forward beat fuckery. how they have managed to keep pushing really speaks to their creative drive but they have never lost sight of their overall sound and aesthetic.

 

for me, i prefer to be able to still nod my head or rewind those little bits that make you smile. that's why i prefer stuff like chiastic, untitled, exai, tri, etc...

[Guest Roksen Creek]

 

it really is interesting how divergent people's opinions are on Ae's body of work. Can't think of any other artist where that seems as true.

 

I have no idea under the sun how someone could prefer quaristice to chiastic, for example.

 

For me, Chiastic Slide is just too basic, too repetitive and even cheesy sometimes - I really like only the first and the last track which are really good. The rest is forgettable for me but as always with Autechre, I don't dismiss the possibility of change in taste sometimes in the future. But it has been four years already with Chiastic and still no change.

 

Quaristice on the other hand is a technical perfection with the most delicate and interesting sound design ever and one of the best tracks ever - Simmm. I also have no problem at all with the short track lengths because I can see how they connect together. I also love how diverse the album is.

 

 

Chiastic Slide has like, loads of subtelty dude. Bit like Tri, but more twisted.

 

It also has amazing sound design. Hub and Recury are about as atmospheric as it gets. I think with Chiastic it's about getting in a zone and losing yourself.

 

But yeah, agree with everyone else, it's great how everyone has different favourites. Shows how strong their discography is.

[Guest WNS000]

 

 

it really is interesting how divergent people's opinions are on Ae's body of work. Can't think of any other artist where that seems as true.

 

I have no idea under the sun how someone could prefer quaristice to chiastic, for example.

 

For me, Chiastic Slide is just too basic, too repetitive and even cheesy sometimes - I really like only the first and the last track which are really good. The rest is forgettable for me but as always with Autechre, I don't dismiss the possibility of change in taste sometimes in the future. But it has been four years already with Chiastic and still no change.

 

Quaristice on the other hand is a technical perfection with the most delicate and interesting sound design ever and one of the best tracks ever - Simmm. I also have no problem at all with the short track lengths because I can see how they connect together. I also love how diverse the album is.

 

 

Chiastic Slide has like, loads of subtelty dude. Bit like Tri, but more twisted.

 

It also has amazing sound design. Hub and Recury are about as atmospheric as it gets. I think with Chiastic it's about getting in a zone and losing yourself.

 

But yeah, agree with everyone else, it's great how everyone has different favourites. Shows how strong their discography is.

 

 

Yeah, I remember somebody on watmm said that Fol3 from Quaristice is Ae taking the piss. I love that track. Opinions varies.

[blos]

In a genre where pretty much any sound, and any sequence and any composition is possible, the only thing which counts is taste and instinct. That's what Ae have more than any other artist I've heard.

[lumpenprol]

One of theirs I still don't like is Move of Ten. Not sure what they were thinking of with that one, as several of the tracks sound like aping other artists or popular music, which to my mind Ae have never done before. Just thinking about that weird BoC-ish flute track makes me cringe. Only one I like on MoT is M62 (ok, cep puiq MX is pretty dang good too). Overall that ep (side-album?) just seems to be missing the Ae alien vibe, it's almost pop music.

[Ivan Ooze]

One of theirs I still don't like is Move of Ten. Not sure what they were thinking of with that one, as several of the tracks sound like aping other artists or popular music, which to my mind Ae have never done before. Just thinking about that weird BoC-ish flute track makes me cringe. Only one I like on MoT is M62 (ok, cep puiq MX is pretty dang good too). Overall that ep (side-album?) just seems to be missing the Ae alien vibe, it's almost pop music.

MoT is awesome, they are not aping anyone on these tracks lol can you give me an example?

only rew(1) reminds me of green calx by the aphex twin cause of the talking robot

come on almost pop music?? that is crazy talk, you are just not feeling it, it's swarmed with aelien vibes

[AJW]

I'm not sure what other artists it sounds to you like they're "copying". Gladly I'm oblivious. Though a lightweight compared to most other Autechre, MoT is still really nice. Only weak tracks IMO are no border and ylmo. Etchogon-S sounds like an early blueprint for nodeszh.

[usagi]

Overall that ep (side-album?) just seems to be missing the Ae alien vibe

 

rew(1) though

Edited November 20, 2013 by usagi

[YELLOW]

Wanted to throw my list in here

 

1. Untitled

2. Oversteps

3. LP5

4. Chiastic Slide

 

The rest are undecided.

[lumpenprol]

 

One of theirs I still don't like is Move of Ten. Not sure what they were thinking of with that one, as several of the tracks sound like aping other artists or popular music, which to my mind Ae have never done before. Just thinking about that weird BoC-ish flute track makes me cringe. Only one I like on MoT is M62 (ok, cep puiq MX is pretty dang good too). Overall that ep (side-album?) just seems to be missing the Ae alien vibe, it's almost pop music.

MoT is awesome, they are not aping anyone on these tracks lol can you give me an example?

only rew(1) reminds me of green calx by the aphex twin cause of the talking robot

come on almost pop music?? that is crazy talk, you are just not feeling it, it's swarmed with aelien vibes

 

 

yeah I'm overstating it but yeah rew 1 is such straightforward funk, and the aforementioned "BoC flute track" n dafuserdb (sp?) and the opening track I think sounds weird too, like Ae parody, dunno...of course it's still not pop music, but actually since oversteps they do seem to be experimenting with more pop-like structures, they've certainly given us some of their most straightforward beats in this period, like Recks On, I don't know what Coil sounds like but that's a pretty straightforward pop-sounding track. Of course they layer some tasty ae goodness on top to raise above the average (and it could be said that tasty goodness is there to subvert and warp the simple beat) but still an interesting trend imo. I guess this could be traced back to Pro Radii, that was the first track where I thought "wow this is very cool but it almost sounds like an Amon Tobin jam, quite close to some popular electronic sounds. "

 

Nevermind me though, mostly I'm just saying I like being transported to an alien sound world when I listen to their music so I tend to react whenever more familiar signposts appear.

[awepittance]

 

 

One of theirs I still don't like is Move of Ten. Not sure what they were thinking of with that one, as several of the tracks sound like aping other artists or popular music, which to my mind Ae have never done before. Just thinking about that weird :zoviet*france: flute track makes me cringe. Only one I like on MoT is M62 (ok, cep puiq MX is pretty dang good too). Overall that ep (side-album?) just seems to be missing the Ae alien vibe, it's almost pop music.

 

 

fixt

[lumpenprol]

to me that flute is really laughable, should have asked them about it in the ama but was too starstruck, but it's tough to do when you're confronted with the fact that they're real people with (potentially) feelings and stuff

[playbynumbers]

Confield

Tri Repetae

Chiastic Slide

Quaristice

Amber

LP5

Draft 7.30

Incunabula

Exai

Untilted

Oversteps

Edited December 5, 2013 by playbynumbers

[Npoess]

I think Exai is my least favorite.

 

Don't get me wrong, it has a handful of very great tracks, but there are just too many tracks I don't care about.

 

I think It would probably have been better as an 1-disc album.

Edited December 5, 2013 by Ceerial

[playbynumbers]

it shouldn't have been a double album.

[lumpenprol]

hi pbn, good to see you're still alive and kicking.

 

I like Exai as a double album. I agree it's not as unique and groundbreaking as some of their other albums, but it makes up for it in delicious ear candy.

 

Perhaps one word that fits it is "generous." To me it seems like quite a generous helping of tunes. It's comfort food that sticks to your ribs.

[Blir]

it shouldn't have been a double album.

 

Couldn't disagree more

[playbynumbers]

it reminds me of quaristice, the 4 hours of music they released around that album ... i guess i can just make my own condensed album-length version out of the 2 hours of music they gave us, lol

 

 

hi pbn, good to see you're still alive and kicking.

 

I like Exai as a double album. I agree it's not as unique and groundbreaking as some of their other albums, but it makes up for it in delicious ear candy.

 

Perhaps one word that fits it is "generous." To me it seems like quite a generous helping of tunes. It's comfort food that sticks to your ribs.

Edited December 5, 2013 by playbynumbers

[lumpenprol]

I was pretty pissed off by the sloppiness of the Quaristice release (not least the fact that my metal deluxe edition had clear glue squirted all over the second disc, rendering it unplayable).

 

But I feel the Exai collection of tunes was much more carefully selected for "alike-ness" and album flow.