XI year old Autechre Album Released: Exai (WARP234)

[syd syside]

I think the jams have just the right balance of being loose and deliberate. It's why I find this album so awesome. It's got a very fun/memorable vibe to it because of the hip hop head nodding, so its very welcoming to jump into compared to some of their other albums, but once you get inside the structure is more deliberate because of how the smaller details push and pull against one another. Then you have these moments that build up where all the components cascade together like a key slipping into a lock.

[zkreso]

So glad this came out before my 5 hr. bus trip :D

[thehauntingsoul]

I like that after the initial honeymoon period people are starting to level more and more criticisms and in classic Autechre fashion nobody can seem to agree whatsoever on those criticisms.

 

I'm almost getting the impression that this will pan out just like every other ae release reception wise, only this time there was a layer of immediate accessibility that had to be peeled off first.

 

 

[lumpenprol]

yep, recks on is totally referencing netlon sentinel.

I love it.

 

 

Seriously, this album is Autechre's definitive masterpiece. I can't quite comprehend how good it is.

 

Move aside Chiastic Slide, we have a new champion.

let's not get carried away...imo there's no single track on this as memorable as Nuane

 

It's shaping up to be a great album...but I can't see it surpassing Chiastic...

 

(well, who knows....)

[Lianne]

I like that after the initial honeymoon period people are starting to level more and more criticisms and in classic Autechre fashion nobody can seem to agree whatsoever on those criticisms. I'm almost getting the impression that this will pan out just like every other ae release reception wise, only this time there was a layer of immediate accessibility that had to be peeled off first.

That's a really accurate assessment, I think. The layer of accessibility was partly down to the stunningly lush production.

 

I'm enjoying it a lot again, especially disc 1. Still wish that totally dark/alien/wonderful/uncanny vibe that permeated the first three tracks was more of a permanent fixture on the release, but that might be a bit much. Also, we make fun (me included) of critics who claim a presence of dubstep (or other subgenres) on an Ae record, but more than any past album I hear Autechre clearly referencing more modern electronic trends in some of the bass parts and drum work on here. And it's not necessarily a bad thing at all...I just had to admit I clearly heard it, as much as those lazy comparisons are annoying!

Edited February 9, 2013 by Lianne

[coax]

I guess the reason I felt it didn't have its own soundworld like previous records is because several of the tracks sound like those earlier records, there are similar sounds etc, so I was confusing them a bit. It's still a new sound though. I think jatavee c and nodezsh are the only ones I'm not really feeling atm.

[jules]

jatavee c is an early highlight for me.

 

jvc is in the house, we came to take it away...

[sweepstakes]

I was really concerned about this album when I first heard the "T ess xi" preview like it was going to be some kind of shitty Proswell ripoff. Now it's one of my favorite tracks. The pads are kind of detached and aloof while being simple and clear (pastel?) like the ones at the end of 61e.CR but they evolve in a pretty interesting way, and that chord structure feels more like a complex "infinite staircase" risset tone than the cheesiness I initially heard.<br /><br />They're sneaking some psychedelic, slightly sinister stuff in on the back of something seemingly familiar and there seems to be a lot of that kind of Trojan horse action going on throughout the album.

[oscillik]

T ess xi is one of the tracks played live back in March last year

[TheTransitionary]

 

6852 and ts1a would fit snugly inside this album, especially 6852. do i remember reading that it was a solo rob track or was that bullshit?

 

Regarding solo track by Rob it was pure speculation. There is a certain vision of what's Sean could do best and what Rob. Like first Exai track very well could be Sean solo and second track could be Rob's solo.

 

T ess xi actually contains slightly modified beats from Ts1a, though.

 

 

Don't get the hate towards second part of recks on at all. Definitely one of the highlights.

 

Ts1a = T ess 1a ---> T ess xi

[lumpenprol]

Yjy Ux may not quite touch the damaged beauty of Drane2 but it's pretty dang amazing. Quite lovely.

 

end of Recks On is pretty cool.

 

still digging the hell out of this album

[sweepstakes]

oscillik, on 09 Feb 2013 - 08:30, said:

T ess xi is one of the tracks played live back in March last year

Oh really? Nice, which set?

[Guest Gravity]

Really enjoying this. Sort of used to the structures of the tracks and now all the little details are coming out. Also I fucking love 3:55 into Recks On, it almost sounds like Autechre doing a Neptunes beat.

[lumpenprol]

Keyosc really should have been included on the official album, it's a lovely come down track, and if you include it, it breaks the typical ae mode of "grandiose ending track" which is getting slightly stale at this point...

[oscillik]

 

oscillik, on 09 Feb 2013 - 08:30, said:

T ess xi is one of the tracks played live back in March last year

Oh really? Nice, which set?

it's the birthday party gig I was talking about ages ago, the intro stands out to me but I can't remember if the track itself has changed since then.

[syd syside]

spl9 is so damn good

 

Edited February 9, 2013 by compson

[auxien]

spl9 is so damn good

 

[jules]

where can I get keyosc?

[syd syside]

and then cloudline...

 

[Frank Poole]

where can I get keyosc?

[beerwolf]

Not that anyone gives a shit, and not that I give a fuck what you think, but anyway I thought first side was a bit bland and second side 'things' got interesting.

 

Some nice tunes tucked away but I am getting bored of Autechre tomfoolery with just random squelching noises but I also heard some immense tunes too.

 

Goodnight.

[Guest disoriental express]

They're sneaking some psychedelic, slightly sinister stuff in on the back of something seemingly familiar and there seems to be a lot of that kind of Trojan horse action going on throughout the album.

I fully and one trillion percent agree with this. Last night i first detected the duality and subversiveness going on here. They're constantly tricking us with illusions like the snare in recks on or the lazy sparseness of cloudline. I constantly feel the music smirking at me while i listen, like it's toying with me. I like this.

 

 

 

Edit: also I wanna give shout outs to compson for cracking my shit up like no tomorrow, fucking velociraptor gifs + exai hahahahahaha

Edited February 9, 2013 by disoriental express

[Gordon]

I really enjoyed this, and will listen again quite a few more times i'm sure but i can't help but think that if some unknown artist released this on a netlabel people would wank over it so much? probably not. The name unfortunately carries the music to some extent

[sweepstakes]

One thing that I'm kind of tired of from the last few releases (back as far as Untilted) is the squishy filtered white noise snare they're using on around half these tracks. They usually don't have as much impact as others and are starting to feel kind of tired. Sometimes it does work nicely though.

[beerwolf]

Do any of you think this big spunkfest of a thread is a bit weird?

 

I do.

 

Just think about it for a minute.

 

Some of you spend more time writing about these tunes than actually listening? I think you do.