Autechre All albums best to worst

[Mindphaser]

My latest results

 

1- Amber, Tri Repetae, Exai

2- Chiastic Slide, LP5

3- Oversteps

4- Incunabula, Untilted

5- Quaristice

6 - Draft

7- Confield

[Pirtek]

Thou art brave sir, and I find your actions laudable to the highest degree. I do wish to raise a point which holds no small interest to me - to wit, that Chiastic Slide languishes in the bottom half of your list though otherwise your choices bear witness to an exceedingly rational mind at work.

 

Really?

[Guest X Fretensis]

My latest results

 

1- Amber, Tri Repetae, Exai

2- Chiastic Slide, LP5

3- Oversteps

4- Incunabula, Untilted

5- Quaristice

6 - Draft

7- Confield

 

Odd sir, damned odd in fact. Your tastes would seem to place you firmly in the 'maverick' zone. I must say that I am mystified by the high rankings Oversteps gets around here - to me it is far and away their weakest effort. To place Amber at the head of your list and Confield at the end is to get things completely arsy-versy, as they say. Also, to rank their latest amongst the no.1 listings smacks somewhat of hubris, if I might make so bold as to remark. "Time, old chap, give it time" (said earnestly, and with steadfast gaze and hand on shoulder)

[Mindphaser]

 

My latest results

 

1- Amber, Tri Repetae, Exai

2- Chiastic Slide, LP5

3- Oversteps

4- Incunabula, Untilted

5- Quaristice

6 - Draft

7- Confield

 

Odd sir, damned odd in fact. Your tastes would seem to place you firmly in the 'maverick' zone. I must say that I am mystified by the high rankings Oversteps gets around here - to me it is far and away their weakest effort. To place Amber at the head of your list and Confield at the end is to get things completely arsy-versy, as they say. Also, to rank their latest amongst the no.1 listings smacks somewhat of hubris, if I might make so bold as to remark. "Time, old chap, give it time" (said earnestly, and with steadfast gaze and hand on shoulder)

I`ve always disliked Confield, too cold and distant for me, can`t enjoy it, and Amber was my first Autechre album, I used to play it non stop, the atmosphere and mood of it is beyond words. I`ve had plenty of listens of Exai and I`ve pretty much sussed it out and I rate as being up there with their best. It`s a masterpiece. Couple of tracks I could do without, but it`s a minor complaint for such a long album.

[Guest X Fretensis]

 

 

My latest results

 

1- Amber, Tri Repetae, Exai

2- Chiastic Slide, LP5

3- Oversteps

4- Incunabula, Untilted

5- Quaristice

6 - Draft

7- Confield

 

Odd sir, damned odd in fact. Your tastes would seem to place you firmly in the 'maverick' zone. I must say that I am mystified by the high rankings Oversteps gets around here - to me it is far and away their weakest effort. To place Amber at the head of your list and Confield at the end is to get things completely arsy-versy, as they say. Also, to rank their latest amongst the no.1 listings smacks somewhat of hubris, if I might make so bold as to remark. "Time, old chap, give it time" (said earnestly, and with steadfast gaze and hand on shoulder)

I`ve always disliked Confield, too cold and distant for me, can`t enjoy it, and Amber was my first Autechre album, I used to play it non stop, the atmosphere and mood of it is beyond words. I`ve had plenty of listens of Exai and I`ve pretty much sussed it out and I rate as being up there with their best. It`s a masterpiece. Couple of tracks I could do without, but it`s a minor complaint for such a long album.

 

Every Ae experience is a personal one, and that's a huge part of their genius. I suspect you may well be right re Exai - it definitely has some of the best stuff they've ever done. Confield is a very emotional album imo, and interestingly - in light of your experience with Amber - it was the first of theirs I ever heard. My younger brother was into IDM before me - I'm a jazzhead primarily - and I bought it for him completely blind.

 

Wasn't too long before it found it's way onto my CD player and into my brain. And so the 'first lay' syndrome is probably in full effect as regards my high estimation of Confield. However - and in keeping with the metaphor - subsequent first encounters with Ae albums were heightened and more aware experiences. Just as with boning, the past experience and knowledge makes for a somewhat richer symphony of enjoyment.

 

On a tangentially related side note, I saw a free jazz act last night - sax and drums. The sax was Peter Brotzmann, a legend in his field, and truly out there, most notably for blasts of noise - at the limits of what the sax is capable of. However, the drummer was the cream of it for me - he played an incredible hi-hat solo at one point, that got me thinking of Autechre (and bear in mind that I was nodding my head to the 'techre DEMF set until the moment the announcer came on) specifically how the complexity of their music is offputting to many, but that what they have accomplished places their music beyond genre. sui generis is the term I'm scrabbling for I think.

 

Here's a point that's actually noteworthy from a wikipedia page! From the Confield entry: "[booth argues] that although the beats created with the sequences may seem completely random to some people, that he and Brown had tight control over the limits and rules of what the beats could do, and that the concept was no different to the improvisation found in jazz."

 

I have much sympathy and agreement for that self assessment.

Somewhat innarestingly perhaps - given the image of Confield as the ultimate exercise in 'music for machines, by machines, on machines' ethos which the average Joe in the street believes wrt to Ae's music - the article goes on to say that..."Although the bases of most of the songs were created by computers, analogue synthesizers and conventional drum machines were in fact used in many of the tracks."

 

And to me, Confield has some incredibly lush soundscapes, both the melodies and the beats. Texture, timbre, and contrasts across the board.

[Pirtek]

Well said!

[AJW]

Confield still has a special place for me, something about that album as so alien. Even within Autechres already alien universe. It goes down weird roads and makes turns not really found on other Autechre albums. It sounds like some kind of occult gathering, black magic being performed. Or as someone on here once said; "Like having liquid metal injected slowly into your brain"? Or something to that effect, lol.

I'd place Exai somewhere in the "above average" area of the album list. Exai sounds really free and fresh, a good mangling and bending of what seems like sounds/moods ranging from Untilted and up to Move Of Ten. I also think Exai has an excellent sound to it. It's as if everything here has been doused in some sweet layer that makes it all go down a bit easier and it fits perfectly, without in any way detracting any excitment from the great innovativeness at play. Exai is having your cake and eating it man, wonderful.

[beerwolf]

Or as someone on here once said; "Like having liquid metal injected slowly into your brain"? Or something to that effect, lol.

 

That was I

[NorthernFusion]

I'll probably get shot for this, but here goes:

 

Amber

Tri Repetae

Quaristice

Inacunabla

Draft 7.30

LP5

Confield

Oversteps

Chiastic Slide

Untilted

 

I dig Exai a lot, although I stopped listening for a week or two, I should probably put it on in a bit.

 

Also, I don't actually dislike any AE record, but I don't listen to the last two very much at all.

[Pirtek]

 

 

 

I don't listen to the last two very much at all.

 

The exact same can be said for my list.

[Soloman Tump]

I have purposefully not posted in this thread yet as its so damn difficult. I enjoy each album in different ways - which is unique for any artist I enjoy, everyone else has at least 1 "dud" that I dont like for some reason.

 

Anyway, here goes, todays list, LP5 is at the bottom because it is probably the album I have been least able to connect with and is probably my least played out of the lot (for one reason or another...)

 

Top 5 change daily / hourly....

 

quaristice

draft 7.30

untilted

chiastic slide

oversteps

confield

tri repetae

amber

incunabula

lp5

 

Updated for 2013 with the inclusion of Exai....

 

quaristice / versions

draft 7.30

chiastic slide

exai

tri repetae

untilted

confield

lp5

incunabula

oversteps

amber

 

I still have an immense love for Quaristice, especially when coupled with versions and quadrange. Such a beast of an era, and the music that really cemented my ae-lust. I love hows its cold and mechanical, I love the ambient interludes, and I can't get enough of the different versions / iterations that they released. One tiny seed of an idea in the main album fleshes out to complete tracks in Quadrange.... Imagine if they did the same for Exai???

[NorthernFusion]

 

I don't listen to the last two very much at all.

 

The exact same can be said for my list.

It's probably worst for Untilted, I've barely listened to that since it was released, but then I'm a bigger AE fan now than I was then.

[PlatrixECV]

I got into Autechre at some point in '95... between Amber and when Tri Repetae came out. It might sound odd considering where Autechre has gone, but Tri Repetae was shocking and harsh at the time and took awhile to get used to. That being said, it was (and is) a point of departure for electronic music. US listeners like me got it as Tri Repetae++ with the glory of the Garbage and Anvil Vapre EPs added on. Overwhelming number of great tracks. This was the point for me when they put Aphex (and everyone else) to shame as to what second generation electronic music could be. I'm going to try to rank Ae albums at least in part in a historical context based upon my maximum levels of obsession and note songs I would have rated at some point as 10s or 9.5+s.

 

Also none of their stuff is sub par. I listened to the bulk of Incunabula (never liked Basscadet) and Amber more times than I can count. I have extsremely vivid memories of listening to Incanabula in the middle of winter break home from college. Incanabula is admittedly a bit dated sounding as of 2013, but Amber is aging gracefully.

 

I'm including Move of Ten and EP7 since both are basically album length.

 

1. Tri Repetae (10s: Clipper, Rotar, 9.5s Stud, Eutow, C/Pach, Overand)

1a. Tri Reptae++ disc (11: Garbage, 10: Vletrmx, 9.5 Bronchsum, Second Bad Vilbel)

2. Chiastic Slide (10s: Recury, Cipater, 9.5s RetticAc, Tewe, Cichli, Nuane)

3. Exai (10s: 1 1 is, Bladelores, irlite, recks on, 9.5s Jatevee, vekoS, deco loc)

4. Confield (10s Lentic Catachresis, 9.5 VI Scose Poise, Pen Expers, Sim Gishel)

5. Quarstice (10 Rale, Notwo, 9.5 Altibzz, Palalel Suns, Fol3, Tankakern)

6. Amber (10s Foil, Yulquen, 9.5s Glitch, Montreal, Silverside, Piezo, Further)

7. Lp5 (10s Rae, Arch Carrier, Drane2, 9,5s Acroyear)

8. EP7 (10s Rrpeg, Outpt, Dropp, 9.5 Maphive 6.1)

9. Untilted (9.5s LCC, ipacial section, Pro Radii, Fermium)

10. Incunabula (10s Bike, Eggshell, Windwind 9.5s Kalpol Intro, Autriche)

11. Oversteps (10 Known(1), 9.5 pt2ph8, Treale, OsVeix3)

12. Move of Ten (11 Cephuiqmx, 9.5s PCe Freeze 2.8I, Ylm0, No Border)

13. Draft 7.30 (9.5s Surripere, VProc)

[Guest RadarJammer]

tied for 1 Oversteps / Exai

tied for 2 Lp5 / Chiastic slide

tied for 3 Move of Ten / Untitled

tied for 4 Confield / Tri Repetae

5 Draft 7:30

tied for 6 Amber / Incunablabla

[salvakkpooo]

Quaristice is the worst.

[lumpenprol]

without a doubt, quaristice (take on its own) is lame.

[coax]

I dunno how to do this as all their albums have a special place...

 

At the moment though

 

Untilted

Oversteps

Quaristice

Amber

Confield

 

 

I can say the bottom 3 which are usually at the bottom regardless...

LP5

Tri Repetae

Exai

 

Everything else is lush, those 3 I've either listened to too much, or they just don't click with me as well. Exai is OK, has waned with time. Except irlite which still is one of my top tracks.

[Guest]

ok if doing tier style:

 

my holy trinity is Chiastic Slide / Tri Repetae / LP5 (95-00 era). LP5 being their Magnum Opus.

All the EPs from this era are also untouchable (Garbage / Anvil Vapre / EP7 / Peel Sessions / Cichlisuite / Envane)

No matter what I think of their latter discog, this is what makes autechre one of my favorites.

 

Then Draft 7.30 & Quaristice (& all it's eps / versions). I don't love them as much as the top era but I still think these albums are amazing. I would say Draft 7.30 is probably the last album they made to really impress me. Quaristice is interesting because it kinda sounds like they kinda delved back into their older sound a bit - but programmed more like their recent stuff - if that makes any sense.

 

(Dual tier) Untilted & the classic autechre albums. Amber + Incunabula - though not as interesting as the tiers above - they are still really solid albums. Early autechre had really great melodies and fit in along with a lot of other electronic music I liked in that era. Untilted - I like the drum programming in this album - but there's a certain dryness to it's sound that puts me off a bit that keeps me from listening to it too much. But I still would go back to it if I'm in the right mood.

 

Confield - I'll go as far as to say this is my least favorite autechre album. It was the first autechre album I listened to that I didn't instantly clicked with at that point. Which is really disappointing because I became an Autechre fan somewhere right before this album came out - and was excited when it showed up. Imagine my disappointment comparing to the top tier era that I had just delved into. I really have to be in the right mood for this album to click and it's very rare that I get into it - so I never listen to this.

 

Oversteps / Exai - I haven't heard of more than once each. Granted I haven't had alot of time to delve into these but they didn't excite me on first listen. But I can't really put them into rank cuz I haven't listened enough.

[Guest GNG]

Really can't list best-to-worst since they all have a different feel and it would probably depend on my mood.

 

Having said that, my basement would be...

 

Quaristice (but Versions and Quadrange awesome)

Incunabula

[mrmegaman]

old is better then the new but i love quaristice and exai

[KovalainenFanBoy]

1. Untilted

2. Exai

3. LP5

4. Chiastic Slide

5. Quaristice

6. Incunabula

7. Amber

8. Tri Repetae

9. Draft 7.30

10. Confield

11. Oversteps

 

Untilted, Exai, LP5 and Chiastic Slide are albums I listen to in a consistent basis and I find enjoyable from start to finish.

Quaristice is an album whose enjoyment depends heavily on my mood, but when the time's right it's a blast

Incunabula and Amber are OK, a pleasant listen but they don't move me in the way other Ae albums do.

Tri Repetae, Draft and Confield are praiseworthy but I hardly ever listen to them from start to finish, but rather selected tracks every now and then.

And Oversteps' got 3 good tracks at the beginning and then zzzzzzzz

Edited May 5, 2013 by ThatSpanishGuy

[Ivan Ooze]

this thread hurts my head

[Pirtek]

1. Untilted

2. Exai

3. LP5

4. Chiastic Slide

5. Quaristice

6. Incunabula

7. Amber

8. Tri Repetae

9. Draft 7.30

10. Confield

11. Oversteps

 

Untilted, Exai, LP5 and Chiastic Slide are albums I listen to in a consistent basis and I find enjoyable from start to finish.

Quaristice is an album whose enjoyment depends heavily on my mood, but when the time's right it's a blast

Incunabula and Amber are OK, a pleasant listen but they don't move me in the way other Ae albums do.

Tri Repetae, Draft and Confield are praiseworthy but I hardly ever listen to them from start to finish, but rather selected tracks every now and then.

And Oversteps' got 3 good tracks at the beginning and then zzzzzzzz

 

Although I don't completely agree with the above order, it does make sense.

[Panoptic Sweep]

1 Oversteps

2 Confield

3 Untilted

4 Chiastic Slide

5 Tri Repetae

6 LP5

7 Quaristice

8 Draft 7.30

9 Amber

10 Incunabula

 

Exai is too new but it will undoubtably cause a stir in the top 3.

 

 

[sweepstakes]

1-11. Aspergers