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Are Ae getting better as they age?


Schlitze

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They ain't taking their foot off the gas with these new sets, that's for damn sure. These mutha's are as obsessed with sound as they were in the 90's. Some of the sections in the new sets are otherworldly. I probably need to revisit confield soon to properly compare. I dunno, it seems like they've moved up a notch lately?

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For my part, all their output stands one step ahead of the previous one. They never stopped, and have consistently passed over the present.

Confield or EP7 are historically significant because they led to a fracture in electronic music, but personally I find that today they are where nobody has ever been.
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Autechre's evolution in my opinion ..

 

tumblr_mwsw3qJnGv1r8x2ybo1_500.jpg

Always loved that photo

Top right corner is my fav

 

Anyway, in recent years I definitely see this as a big progression from the EP7/Confield/gantz days

Though to be honest I can't say "every" release improves on the last

Quaristice was a nice spin off of the ideas in untilted sort of, but not a forward step but more a branch sideways

But Exai is basically the perfect follow up to gantz/draft which was the perfect follow up to ep7/Confield

 

And this live stuff is probably the perfect apex of everything autechre is and has ever been

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Hard to say wether or when they reached their peak when they continuously redefine what "peak" means.

In my book at least these days (Exai, L-Event, AE_Live) they reached a perfect marriage between viscerality and sophistication, a venture starting around Untilted after a tendency towards the more cerebral culminating with Draft.

Oversteps seemed to be more of a one-off sidestep.

Oh and their production skills also certainly improved, all recent releases have a sick plasticity turned up loud i miss when revisiting the older stuff. But that might stem from sound design choices.

Blah anyway: Good days to be an AE fan fo sho :)

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I'm inclined to say yes. After everything I've experienced from their Ae Live soundboards plus actually seeing them IRL for the first time this year, I feel as though all of their studio releases up to this point were all one long warm-up exercise put together, more than two decades in the making.

They're basically an unstoppable force, if they so choose.

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They ain't taking their foot off the gas

 

This quote sums it up for me really. The better/best/worst discussion is pretty insignificant, imo. As I don't believe in better or worse when it comes to something subjective like art. It's more about the evolution. And it's exactly this where ae seems to excel at. They're almost the embodiment of evolution. And it doesn't sound like they're at some endphase.

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unstoppable force

 

Speaking of which, I'm pretty sure this title https://venetiansnares.bandcamp.com/album/a-giant-alien-force-more-violent-sick-than-anything-you-can-imagine is paraphrased from an LP5 review but can't seem to find it now.

 

Anyone remember it?

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absolutely yes! they are one of few musicians keeps getting better and being creative, every album is a quality release and distinct from previous ones, imho, can't find anyone else keep being that much creative for 20+ years.

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I'd love to see some "People listening to Ae for the first time" videos and i mean a sit through of one of their AE_LIVE sets on decent speakers.. from teens to grannys, dj's to ISIS members.

 

Hell i'd love to see even a die-hard fan reaction!

 

Youtube gold

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I wouldn't say they're getting better, or worse (Chiastic Slide is still my favourite album, perhaps mainly due to nostalgia, but Exai definitely gives it a run for its money). But they've never rested on their laurels or been content to settle into a particular sound and flog it to death. They're still consistently pushing the envelope and every release sounds like something new.

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Even when I don't necessarily love an album or track, I can hear that they're trying to progress.

 

They've made so many quality releases that if I don't like something it's probably my fault :)

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While imo most bands would profit if they'd just call it quits after releasing 2-3 good albums before producing mediocre/bad stuff, Autechre are one of the few groups that constantly progress and create interesting music. Cheers to Sam and Bob for almost 30 years of amazing sounds!

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Aint nobody in 2015 getting up there playing shows as good as this shit. And its 21 years old. Honestly when you think about it, we probably only really seeing the tip of the iceberg in terms of what they have done and are capable of. I kind of see them as this untouchable pillar in music that no one will ever truly ever come close to or fully comprehend.

 

And yea Exai and all of the 2014 / 2015 live sets are totally pushing boundaries in ways that no one else really is.

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