XI year old Autechre Album Released: Exai (WARP234)

[kichiguy]

loving the boom bap on recks on.

[syd syside]

By the end of the album, this is how I feel:

 

[Guest pixelives]

maybe more than any other ae work, this blurs the line between what is considered "music", and what is "stimulating auditory input".

 

I want to be critical of the "songs" from a musical standpoint - melody, beats, etc - but even if I was the fact remains that it's just damned pleasurable to listen to, in a very tactile, spacious way.

 

Gesamtkunstwerk

[Kavinsky]

 

maybe more than any other ae work, this blurs the line between what is considered "music", and what is "stimulating auditory input".

 

I want to be critical of the "songs" from a musical standpoint - melody, beats, etc - but even if I was the fact remains that it's just damned pleasurable to listen to, in a very tactile, spacious way.

 

Gesamtkunstwerk

lol

[modey]

 

 

 

any thoughts on whether bladelores might be an old (like, very old) track? maybe some others too, hearing a lot of sounds and vibes that bring ep7 to mind particularly

maybe it's not an old track per se but rather a deliberate throwback to an older style. I get vibes off it that remind me of their Skeng remix, at least the opening.

throwback is likely to be the case, but I just get an odd feeling that a pretty big part of exai consists of previous incomplete projects from older album periods that have been beaten into shape and fleshed out. they must have hundreds, thousands of sketches sounds and just things that didn't fit, built up over the years.

I had this thought as well. I can hear sounds from as far back as Draft in this album. There is nothing wrong with recycling/finishing old sketches though!

[berndspring1974]

haha, just found that quote

 

On this album, you can hear Pac Man get raped over and over again in like 6 different dimensions. 10/10

[awepittance]

any thoughts on whether bladelores might be an old (like, very old) track? maybe some others too, hearing a lot of sounds and vibes that bring ep7 to mind particularly

 

i doubt it, it was only recently when AE started aping Scorn

[jhonny]

I could listen to Yjy Ux forever.

[lumpenprol]

To me Drukqs sounded very obviously like it was made up out of old tracks that had been dusted off and polished a bit. One of the reasons I never warmed to it.

 

This, less so. If this sounds like reheated oldies, then Untilted does moreso.

[exm]

Don't know why, but i am really into this album. Ir is placing me in a total different place. Even without listening to it. Even at work without this masterpiece playing i am submerged in this strange feeling...i am very positive about this album...

[Guest bitroast]

 

this album is so good it almost feels like they have slowly over the years/decades been planning out their attack, patiently waiting in the shadows until aenergy is fully charged, and then launched themselves into a higher alien dimension to finally construct like tiny molecules their sacred language

 

a lifetime of experiences in one album

Indeed

 

album of the year does not come close to describing how i feel about exai

[exm]

 

 

 

this album is so good it almost feels like they have slowly over the years/decades been planning out their attack, patiently waiting in the shadows until aenergy is fully charged, and then launched themselves into a higher alien dimension to finally construct like tiny molecules their sacred language

a lifetime of experiences in one album

 

Indeed

album of the year does not come close to describing how i feel about exai

[jhonny]

 

 

 

 

this album is so good it almost feels like they have slowly over the years/decades been planning out their attack, patiently waiting in the shadows until aenergy is fully charged, and then launched themselves into a higher alien dimension to finally construct like tiny molecules their sacred language

a lifetime of experiences in one album

Indeed

album of the year does not come close to describing how i feel about exai

[Amen Lare]

So T ess xi isn't referencing r ess but Ts1a track for ICASEA compilation.

[Guest disoriental express]

where'd these pics come from? they're exaillent!

Edited February 8, 2013 by disoriental express

[goDel]

I could listen to Yjy Ux forever.

[sweepstakes]

Don't know why, but i am really into this album. Ir is placing me in a total different place. Even without listening to it. Even at work without this masterpiece playing i am submerged in this strange feeling...i am very positive about this album...

I am getting too. I don't know that I would describe this feeling as positive but I am digging it. Flipped on my head.

 

I like these promo pics too but they're um... not what I expected from Autechre. lol

[Guest 123]

I think they have mentioned in interviews that those filenames evolve as they save iterations of tracks. Would not be suprised if they have some sort of version control to track the evolution of these songs, therefore perhaps T Ess Xi has some continuty with r ess — why add the Xi? Prac-F maybe has V-Proc as an ancestor? Yjy Ux and Yuop? Etc...

[Guest 123]

1:27s in Irite (Get 0) — holy fuck where did that come from? Amazing. I agree with others; this is the pinnacle of Autechre. Confidence, maturity, mastery.

Edited February 8, 2013 by 123

[goDel]

I think they have mentioned in interviews that those filenames evolve as they save iterations of tracks. Would not be suprised if they have some sort of version control to track the evolution of these songs, therefore perhaps T Ess Xi has some continuty with r ess — why add the Xi? Prac-F maybe has V-Proc as an ancestor? Yjy Ux and Yuop? Etc...

 

Sounds plausible, but I don't think those tracks would evolve in any logical fashion. Although the entirety of Quaristice would make a strong case for your point, I'd think that a complete new DNA (so to speak) after only a few generations would be normal in the Autechre-world. And complete new DNA would mean an entirely different beast.

[Kavinsky]

Listening to Exai is like being in war

[lumpenprol]

Not sure it's my favorite album of theirs, but I think it's safe to say it's the pinnacle of their "wildstyle graffiti" approach. It feels very much like the auditory equivalent of some guy spraypainting one of those colorful supercomplex graffiti images in real-time. Has a very live vibe to it.

why is everyone likening Exai to war and evil (Salvatorin). Feels much less evil than Confield. It's certainly Psychedelic.

[Dale]

maybe more than any other ae work, this blurs the line between what is considered "music", and what is "stimulating auditory input".

 

I want to be critical of the "songs" from a musical standpoint - melody, beats, etc - but even if I was the fact remains that it's just damned pleasurable to listen to, in a very tactile, spacious way.

good point

[Guest]

re: use of the Elektron Analog Four

(can't find the original posts)

 

dunno if I just want to hear this synth on the album or what, but some of these analog tones sound too familiar.. the basslines in bladelores & irlite for instance totally sound like the characteristic A4 filters, also some of the sequencing sounds as if done on an elektron box... and i wouldn't be surprised at all if Elektron sent a pre-release model to Sean & Rob like a year ago.... but who knows, it could be some elaborate modular rig just as well...

[cern]

Is the Exai album on Itunes in shitty quality?

I have heard that Bleep got better quality.