+Jacob Frisenda monumental indeed. i've been listening to this album more than any of their records. it's definitely the record of year to me, even in 2015
I like ae but I don't love them, I've been fortunate to see them live during Untitled, every album has a song or two that I just love, Second Bad Vibel, Rpeg, Nine, IV VV IV VV VII, LCC, Bladelores
This album has been played about once a day since it was released, it helped me out of my biggest depression ever. It was like ECT and made me feel light and vital when nothing else would.
For me Autechre's music is the audio equivalent of watching timelapse videos of growth, decay, change and shift...natural and beautiful structures unfolding in the mind
You were wrong, this LP was a great intro to Autechre for me! After listening a couple tracks and watching this review I've solidified my decision to buy it; absolutely loving the track "bladelores", definitely my type of music!
I got into æ when they had just released LP5, thus had some sort of gradient available with respect their progression into more complex releases, so it's great to hear that you were grabbed by Exai. Even though I have enjoyed the past three albums they've released, I always wonder with each one if I would have been so taken by their music if I'd found out about them at that stage. It's so hard to pick out a favorite from their whole catalog, but of the post 2000 stuff, Draft 7.30 and Untilted are my favorites. Untilted I think is the most solid LP of theirs, hands down. In fact, they said in an interview that it was conceived in the shortest amount of time out of all of their albums, the product of a "feverish" catching up between them after Sean had his baby with Chantal (Mira Calix). You should definitely give both of those albums a good listen. Message me if you want me to send you any/all of their material, I own everything they've produced/remixed and just about every live recording available.
Nathan Richan Meh... I don't feel like elseq should be played like your typical album; because a lot of these songs don't have interesting progressions in their 2nd halves. Maybe elseq is used as a sketchbook, and wants us to edit it ourselves.
Autechre... They aren't called the masters of electronical music for nothing. Listening to Autechre for 20 yrs made me a much creative musician through time. i've never heard music more complex then their capabilities.
You hit this one on the head, i remember getting home and realising it was out, the opener blew my brain. My favourite thing about it was that it surprised me. In oversteps there were pretty clear ideas in a lot of the songs (ilanders with the big bass, known(1) with the exaggerated harpsichord sound) which were really pleasing, gave the experience a real depth, but this one i had no idea where to start!
Listening to an autechre album when its released is like an event. With great anticipation. And it needs and demands your respect and time with place to take it in. I am hoping they are coming next year to the states. They absolutely kill it live. Some of the sickest beats I have heard ever.
Exai is one of Autechre's strongest albums, full of surprises, twists and turns. I can't say how it would sound like to a newcomer, but I think it's definitely one of their more "lighthearted" and visceral albums. It's got beats and melodies. It's got plenty of variety. A good, good album, even if it is quite long.
As an analytical listener (sometimes, I guess), I'd say this album takes a bunch of moods and atmospheres that are completely normal in this area of music but to a unique extent where there's only so much ambiance and then all the beats ever, kind of like how Oval is not just glitch and not just ambient, but both, or how Ulrich Schnauss isn't just synth-pop/shoegaze or ambient, but a mixture (at least on albums like Far Away Trains Passing By). I love this album because an abstract atmosphere found all over the place here works magnificently. Sean and Rob tend to be great at setting up unique moods for blatantly percussion-heavy tracks, and that's why I love their discography.
What, HELL NO! Don't get wrong, I love Confield, it's my favorite Autechre album in fact, but it's a TERRIBLE place for a newcomer to Autechre to start listening their music. That album would most likely alienate them from keep trying the band. I would strongly suggest to anyone interested in getting into Autechre to listen to their EP's first. Garbage, Anvil Vapre and Envane are very good starting points, giving a good showcase of the variety of their sound.
nice review man! feel like you give it the credit it deserves. what it lacks in emotion it makes up heavily in craftsmanship and pure, brilliant density
I was pretty pleased with what I heard. I'm a sucker for IDM. Very few artists I can talk about negatively in the genre. As far as I'm concerned this album is classic Autechre.
I immensely enjoy your album reviews. From the quirky editing jobs to the intelligent (gasp!) musical terminology used to describe the tracks, they provide an interesting insight into one of my most beloved art forms. As for this review, I agree with you pretty much 100%. This album has so much sonic depth to explore again and again and that is what makes Autechre's music so fun and exciting to discover. They really are a unique duo that are sadly overlooked by the majority of music-lovers.
I listened to the entire NTS album one night, in one long sitting. With my shitty headphones and a few beers. It's something to try once but never again, simply because of how bloody long it is. As soon as All End started I felt like I had reached the summit of K2
i just got back to this great group and it was absolutely charming to listen to their new tracks while listening to you. really enjoyed your review a lot and it was a great experience :) really going back to listening to autechre since the new stuff is genius, THANKS!
LP5 is their most masterful album, and to me the one that paints the most beautiful pictures. it had me laughing and crying and grooving and just leaves me feeling speechless after every listen.
if i was ever asked "if you were stuck with only one album on a deserted island" the answer was always exai. it's been in my library for a year and i still don't feel familiar with it. i still struggle, i still enjoy it. there's something this album does that makes it a pivital moment for music, it's just too crazy to dust off
Good review of where autechre is currently at with their sound on exai. Very good review. As a long time follower of autechre I feel its important to mention (and a downfall of negative reviewers of autechre in general) is that their albums are more one offs than actually a strategized and lengthy process of writint like a normal artist in presentigm a full length album. Like their concerts they tend to be jam sessions and so they are a snap shot of them at that moment and they move on from it
VLetrmx21 is probably the most interesting song I've heard from Autechre, it's quite a bit different than their regular stuff. I guess you could say a bit less "chaotic". Definitely my favorite from them.
It's so interesting hearing or reading Autechre reviews because no band has ever demanded the patience and repeat listen as much as them. You listen to any Autechre album the first time - madness. Nonsense even. The 100th listen, it's just such stunning, deep, explorative, mind-boggling work. This album is utterly exceptional. I've listened to it hundreds of times. And I can't wait to know how I feel about this music after hundreds more.
Hey anthony. Enjoy your reviews as usual. You nailed it on saying with repeat listens it's like trying to solve a puzzle. Then when u see the artwork that rings true. Listening to these albums they have done in 20 or 30 years will give them an interesting perspective. Looking forward to next album
My personal favorite is Amber. Confield is very good as well and is more experimental, their sound has changed a lot over the years so it really depends if you're attracted more to the ambient or the rhythmic stuff.
My theory on Exai is that everything is complete but not fully complete, like something is almost there but no pinpoint on it however it shows something a suggestion (rhythm, melody, sounds) until it changes, just like a picture on the album and the name of the tracks
Just listening to this a year late. It's a great album. How do I make sense of it? I would need to see the artists "compose" a song to understand the process. From my limited knowledge about the process, I interpreted Oversteps as a statement about musical aesthetics, especially the evolution of the UK "techno rave" scene, which evolved in ardkore, drum and bass, 2 steps, and dubstep, among other things. When the album was released, dubstep was huge on mainstream radio in UK, so because they come from the same scene from which that genre evolved, it's like they offered a deconstruction of all that scene and their subgenres (the end result sounded like a very cold new version of jazz, where the term "step" originates from anyway). Now comes Exai. Where do we go next after deconstructing UK techno history? I keep reading about Exai that the music is automated in a lot of parts. The sleeve would refer to an early 1970's artificial life design. I like to imagine Exai as a term combines the words Exotica and Artificial Intelligence, that this is simply the product of two guys marvelling themselves in setting up systems that create music (artificially) for themselves (and us). I cannot know if this is what is happening, but it would be a logical next step if my interpretation of the previous album isn't wrong. It seems obvious in their interviews anyway that they have an idea that their music is forwarding in some way (NOT as in "music of the future", but an attempt to record a "music of now"). But knowing that they use Max/MSP is not enough to grasp the frame of thinking, the concept behind each album, IF there are any.
Oh gosh, foolish me, "Exai" merely pronunciates "XI" (11th album for AE). I got carried away by rumours that AE used cellular automatons to program some of the music on this album. What we know for sure, is the designers for the sleeve linked to Conway's Game Of Life after getting more information (than we mortal seem to have access to) about the process of recording this album. But AE seem to want to remain the Cocteau Twins of techno, refusing to be specific about anything in their "lyrics" (not just meaning titles, but their own theoretical description of music being... wait let me get the exact quote "music = speech - text"). By the way, I can't reply to someone below wondering how people can refer to Autechre tracks as "songs": because of John Cage. Any subject can perceive any group of sounds (frequencies) over any time duration as an ensemble of harmonies, melodies, rhythms, and timbers, if they they can.
Neurozumim When was it ever confirmed that The Designer's Republic were inspired by Conway's Game of Life? Pretty sure Autechre themselves confirmed that it's just typography.
Nathan Richan Very good question. It's a mystery I thought had been resolved because sources I trusted seem to have believed the same "urban legend" as I did. On a forum, Sean said about sending ideas to Designer's Republic: "we gave him lots of text and he made something - he kind of grew concepts around ours. it was spot on actually how he did it, way better than we could have.". What does that tell you? Doesn't it sound like there is a concept behind the sleeve? But on the same forum, he "confirms" to someone else that the Exai sleeve is just typography play (of the Amirite type, whatever that means). But if you go back a few months before: Designer's Republic on their facebook encouraged people to "figure out" what the artwork on Exai was about. Well, someone came up that is was from Reaktor's Newscool, which can use Game Of Life to trigger musical patterns. You can see examples on RUclips. It made perfect sense. So the idea of artificial life was tackled in a couple reviews and blogs (like stufftoblowyourmindon). Because many people agreed, I thought it was fact. Someone else also came up that the design tells the release date in binary mode. The page of that can seem convincing. The typography exercise is not interesting. At least doesn't sound like something you need a lot of material from the artist to elaborate. If the Reaktor's Newscool engine is just a coincidence, it's a fantastic one. Now.. Can you write Autechre Exai in a way that evokes Game Of Life and hide a code that references the release date? I think you can do two of these things at once, but not three.
Neurozumim So what does Reaktor's Newscool sound like when you plug in the Exai artwork? Also, my current theory is that it just spells out 'Exai'. If you look at it, you can actually make out the letters: 'E' in the top left, 'X' in the top right, 'A' in the bottom left, 'I' in the bottom right. Of course, that's not to say that that's *all* it means. I'd find that kind of hard to believe. But still, I'm pretty confident that it spells out Exai. (P.S. L-Event spells out L-Event, too. The 'L' looks like it starts in the top right corner... Meaning that there's two letters before it that aren't part of the title. My best guess is 'ae'.
A track is called such because it's a physical "track" of pits on a CD. The can kind of sort of apply to HDDs, so long as the data isn't fragmented, but it in no way applies to tape, or most other storage methods.
Exai just confirms that direction, with some of the tracks like 'Bladelores',or 'T ess xi' almost having a dubby vibe, dark deep monolithic sound that wouldn't be out of place on a Techno Animal or Porter Ricks release. It took me 15 years to 'get' Confeld, and this shows to my mind the power of artists. Opinions change over time, and I know folks who hated EP7 at the time, now claim it as their favorite. Very few acts can do that!
I'd like to see a review of The Knife's Shaking the Habitual. It's another "monolith" album, pretty experimental, and it's one of my favorite albums of 2013.
People always have blind-spots too. Squarepusher is mine, and apart from 'Feed Me Weird Things' I find his work a bit hit or miss for my taste. However I am not so foolish enough to say he is 'overated', because of what he has done for drum and bass, acid and electronica. He is a pioneer, and everybody else who follows in his footsteps (Fly Lotus, Four Tet, Mount Kimbie) owes a debt of thanks to the founder artists on Warps roster.
@@BetaChri5 i disagree personally, i think sign is an improvement on what oversteps was doing and plus is kinda like a more condensed version of the abstract stuff theyve been playing with on nts and elseq
Please do a review of something by ASC ('Out of Sync' or '77' are good choices)... He's heavily in a similar realm to Autechre in many ways, but I believe he pulls off the emotional instigation side of things, better. Having seen your opinions on something as technical as this, i'd be fascinated to hear your opinions on an artist who I believe deserves much more recognition than he gets.
Pretty sure this is my favorite album of 2013 right now. There's just something so mysterious about Exai that keeps me coming back for more, along with the fact that whenever I hear songs like irlite (get 0) and T ess xi I hear something new every single time. There's just so much detail put into this record. It's worth it for those who wish to endure the 2 hour length.
Wow. Watching this 11 year old video reviewing Autechre's 11th album named after the roman numeral for 11. I am very, very surprised Anthony liked this. His review is spot on. I would love to know his thoughts on their following two releases: elseq and NTS Sessions. A lot of fans see Exai and the following two as a trilogy of sorts, which is pretty common for Autehre (a lot of their releases can be grouped in phases/era). They went further and further into what they started with this album. Exai is 2 hours, elseq is over 4 hours and NTS is 8 hours. They went deep into many long-form tracks. Some up to an hour long. It's wild. One thing in particular Anthony said that is especially true is that their music is so incredibly dense and detailed that some of it can take many listens before it clicks. It's just that deep.
There's a new up and coming group out of Houston, Texas making some noise called AOD. You should review there "Ancient of Days - The Prelude" mixtape. It's available through Datpiff and has been getting a lot of positive feedback.
I'm listening to this LP and this review at the same time, and whenever there's a break it sounds like they're sampling you into the song lol. It's pretty awesome.
I'd start with Amber, and definitely do not move to any of their Confield and later work (except for Oversteps) before you have really listened to Chiastic Slide or LP5, otherwise you just won't be able to enjoy it to the fullest amount (in my opinion).
I never knew how to pronounce Autechre and i've listened to them for years...ah well, solid review. This album was definitely a solid album, I have only listened through it once thus far. I need to get back to it.
Everything they do is a sound experiment, what can you say and feel and what kind of atmosphere can you make, how alien can you make a sound and still have it be listenable noise. I think they do that with this album. If you think it's shit, then fine, that is bias, but we all have bias towards everything, it just means it's not for you.
Have you ever listened to Tipper, Anthony? Should check out Broken Soul Jamboree if not, some extremely well produced glitch music. Endlessly creative sound design and composition.
Sorry Anthony for my late review, but this is simply Autechre at there best! Hip Hop has always been at the heart of Ae, Draft 7:30, Envane,Anvil Vapre, and Granz Graft EP is full of monstrous beats, crashing into each other. This is right up there with stuff like Move of Ten, Oversteps and the mighty EP5..... The best release of the year bar none!!!!
Much of what Autechre does is to create a sound statement and much isn't necessarily music that you can dance to, many of the tracks sound like chaos but in actuallity it's a challenge to the listener to listen to what that track is doing. Yes it's not "dance" music, it's like comparing Rock to Techno, but it's even further, because this is organized noise. I come from a the area of the noisician, I make noise. Noise is about atmosphere, and with autechre they straddle the line of noise.
Hmmm.....I just think its a different direction. When I here Oversteps or Move of Ten, it reminds me, not of their earlier stuff, but more of the Chain Reaction discography with an Autechre twist to them. Artists like Monolake and Vladislav Delay who were inspired by the duo, in tern have inspired them as well, so I am glad they are moving in a more minimal direction.
i thought a lot of the descriptions he used were on. i think people who are not really familiar with Autechre need to realize that it takes more than a few listens to realllllly dig in and get inside of the album. i really loved Prac-f
I've been listening to Autechre since their first album and this is my favourite atm. I was listening to 'bladelores' alone in the woods and it was mindblowing...
I might be able to help. Check you some of these guys: Monolake, Basic Channel, Pole, Kit Clayton, Frank Bretschnider,SND, Richard Devine,Alva Noto, Pansonic and Thomas Brinkmann. If you are looking for something a little bit less abstract then check out stuff like Swayzak, Theorem,LFO ,B12, Stuart Walker, Orbital, Global Communication, Future Sound of London, Boards of Canada or some of the other names that AFX releases like Polygon Window and Caustic Window.
I don't think Autechre transends all other electronica, but their are artists that inspire a whole scene. Autechre, Aphex Twin, Black Dog Productions and LFO and took a dying post rave scene and brought some thing fresh and new back in the day. Warp's 'Artifical Intelligence' Series was and remains, ground breaking. All those artists you mention (which I also have) are still working on that blueprint-no matter how good they are.
Yeah but through those industial/mecanic sounds you can find more than just melodies : There are harmonic ambiances that sound, after multiple listening, really symphonic sometimes. Even "Gantz Graf", if not melodic, has this special ambiance, but there are more melodic glitchy tracks like "bladelores" from this new album or "Simmm" from Quaristice that hold their early 90s releases' spirit. Autechre's "purists" (those who prefere that early spirit) should reconsider their recent works.
![YoungBoy Never Broke Again - Missing Everything [Official Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/dTYeMZGzOzw/mqdefault.jpg)
Play this video while listening to the album and you get the sense that Autechre is reviewing Anthony Fantano.
NOT GOOD
Holy shit Fanthony Thanfano gave an IDM album an 8/10 fuckin finally
wow
gave the same score for another IDM album: Jon Hopkins - Immunity
To be fair, most of the good idm came out before Anthony was doing youtube
@@mayabartolabacnot IDM
bladelores is legendary. i feel like in 10 years people will realize it's one of the best things they've ever created.
+Jacob Frisenda monumental indeed. i've been listening to this album more than any of their records. it's definitely the record of year to me, even in 2015
yes
"Bladelores" and "1 1 is" are probably the most interesting tunes on this album !
that's the song that got me into them
I like ae but I don't love them, I've been fortunate to see them live during Untitled, every album has a song or two that I just love, Second Bad Vibel, Rpeg, Nine, IV VV IV VV VII, LCC, Bladelores
Autechre's music isn't emotional to the same extent the first moon landing wasn't emotional.
Yeah, but this album happened tho.
the song Rae tells me otherwise 🦧
Of course it's emotional
This album has been played about once a day since it was released, it helped me out of my biggest depression ever. It was like ECT and made me feel light and vital when nothing else would.
“light and vital” is a beautiful description
For me Autechre's music is the audio equivalent of watching timelapse videos of growth, decay, change and shift...natural and beautiful structures unfolding in the mind
Yeah, NTS is literally as long as my lifetime.
@@baronvonbeandipyou okay?
Exai: 7:55
elseq 1-5: Hold my bleeps
NTS Sessions: *laughs in Elektron Octatrack*
You were wrong, this LP was a great intro to Autechre for me! After listening a couple tracks and watching this review I've solidified my decision to buy it; absolutely loving the track "bladelores", definitely my type of music!
I got into æ when they had just released LP5, thus had some sort of gradient available with respect their progression into more complex releases, so it's great to hear that you were grabbed by Exai. Even though I have enjoyed the past three albums they've released, I always wonder with each one if I would have been so taken by their music if I'd found out about them at that stage. It's so hard to pick out a favorite from their whole catalog, but of the post 2000 stuff, Draft 7.30 and Untilted are my favorites. Untilted I think is the most solid LP of theirs, hands down. In fact, they said in an interview that it was conceived in the shortest amount of time out of all of their albums, the product of a "feverish" catching up between them after Sean had his baby with Chantal (Mira Calix). You should definitely give both of those albums a good listen. Message me if you want me to send you any/all of their material, I own everything they've produced/remixed and just about every live recording available.
+pishposh86 dude, I haven't heard much of their live output. I heard that they create entirely new material for their live setup. Is this true?
I discovered Autechre through Anthony's review of Exai, and now they have become my fav electronic music artist ever!
What do you think of elseq?
Nathan Richan Meh... I don't feel like elseq should be played like your typical album; because a lot of these songs don't have interesting progressions in their 2nd halves. Maybe elseq is used as a sketchbook, and wants us to edit it ourselves.
This man's pronunciation of Autechrese is impressive.
Autechre... They aren't called the masters of electronical music for nothing.
Listening to Autechre for 20 yrs made me a much creative musician through time. i've never heard music more complex then their capabilities.
so you make music too? just kiddin' - who the fuck cares...
@@GabREAL1983 Well that was uncalled for
You hit this one on the head, i remember getting home and realising it was out, the opener blew my brain. My favourite thing about it was that it surprised me. In oversteps there were pretty clear ideas in a lot of the songs (ilanders with the big bass, known(1) with the exaggerated harpsichord sound) which were really pleasing, gave the experience a real depth, but this one i had no idea where to start!
Listening to an autechre album when its released is like an event. With great anticipation. And it needs and demands your respect and time with place to take it in. I am hoping they are coming next year to the states. They absolutely kill it live. Some of the sickest beats I have heard ever.
Agreed on both statements.
Exai is one of Autechre's strongest albums, full of surprises, twists and turns. I can't say how it would sound like to a newcomer, but I think it's definitely one of their more "lighthearted" and visceral albums. It's got beats and melodies. It's got plenty of variety. A good, good album, even if it is quite long.
As someone who'd never heard of them and this was my introduction, it was incredibly enjoyable.
Pitchfork gave Exai a 5/10, dumbasses! They just don't get it.
"Autechre doesn't make thrashing music like a punk song" Fuck that, I saw them play in Toronto and there was a mosh pit and it was punk as fuck.
One of the greatest concerts I have ever been to! Pitch black, just rhythms and textures for 1.5hrs.
@@AlexeiOrechinthat pitch black really just sets the tone
Listening to Exai now, it's crazy how funky and melodic it is compared to their newer stuff. I am enormously looking forward to SIGN next month.
As an analytical listener (sometimes, I guess), I'd say this album takes a bunch of moods and atmospheres that are completely normal in this area of music but to a unique extent where there's only so much ambiance and then all the beats ever, kind of like how Oval is not just glitch and not just ambient, but both, or how Ulrich Schnauss isn't just synth-pop/shoegaze or ambient, but a mixture (at least on albums like Far Away Trains Passing By). I love this album because an abstract atmosphere found all over the place here works magnificently. Sean and Rob tend to be great at setting up unique moods for blatantly percussion-heavy tracks, and that's why I love their discography.
What, HELL NO! Don't get wrong, I love Confield, it's my favorite Autechre album in fact, but it's a TERRIBLE place for a newcomer to Autechre to start listening their music. That album would most likely alienate them from keep trying the band.
I would strongly suggest to anyone interested in getting into Autechre to listen to their EP's first. Garbage, Anvil Vapre and Envane are very good starting points, giving a good showcase of the variety of their sound.
nice review man! feel like you give it the credit it deserves. what it lacks in emotion it makes up heavily in craftsmanship and pure, brilliant density
Goddamn! Nice Aphex pic man!
Nice review Andy on this new "Atekkar" release. Finally someone that reviews the music and actually listened to this album.
I was pretty pleased with what I heard. I'm a sucker for IDM. Very few artists I can talk about negatively in the genre. As far as I'm concerned this album is classic Autechre.
I immensely enjoy your album reviews. From the quirky editing jobs to the intelligent (gasp!) musical terminology used to describe the tracks, they provide an interesting insight into one of my most beloved art forms. As for this review, I agree with you pretty much 100%. This album has so much sonic depth to explore again and again and that is what makes Autechre's music so fun and exciting to discover. They really are a unique duo that are sadly overlooked by the majority of music-lovers.
Nice username
Autechre are like atoms expanding in the void of consciousness
That's pretty deep m8
shit got real
Bladelores is insane. In my stupid opinion their best track since Flutter at 45rp.
Anthony! You have time to review the new one, NTS sessions? It's uh... 8 hours long. Worth delving into though :D
I listened to the entire NTS album one night, in one long sitting. With my shitty headphones and a few beers. It's something to try once but never again, simply because of how bloody long it is. As soon as All End started I felt like I had reached the summit of K2
@@fleaship6134 is it that hurt for ears? Like overwhelmed or sensory overload?
i just got back to this great group and it was absolutely charming to listen to their new tracks while listening to you. really enjoyed your review a lot and it was a great experience :)
really going back to listening to autechre since the new stuff is genius, THANKS!
Why do i like this. I've never heard autechre before. im scared.
I felt the same way when I learned about them. Their music is amazing.
Thingie5 Any other albums I should check out? I already listened to Quaristice and Oversteps, as well as Amber, and didn't find them as good..
mxvideogamemaster I'd definitely recommend Tri Repetae and Avril Vapre. Takes quite a few listens to make sense of it (Like Exai), but it's worth it.
Listen to LP5, and Confield. After that try out Untilted.
LP5 is their most masterful album, and to me the one that paints the most beautiful pictures. it had me laughing and crying and grooving and just leaves me feeling speechless after every listen.
if i was ever asked "if you were stuck with only one album on a deserted island" the answer was always exai. it's been in my library for a year and i still don't feel familiar with it. i still struggle, i still enjoy it.
there's something this album does that makes it a pivital moment for music, it's just too crazy to dust off
SPL9 never fails to energise me, it almost makes me anxious, such a glorious noise!
Good review of where autechre is currently at with their sound on exai. Very good review. As a long time follower of autechre I feel its important to mention (and a downfall of negative reviewers of autechre in general) is that their albums are more one offs than actually a strategized and lengthy process of writint like a normal artist in presentigm a full length album. Like their concerts they tend to be jam sessions and so they are a snap shot of them at that moment and they move on from it
VLetrmx21 is probably the most interesting song I've heard from Autechre, it's quite a bit different than their regular stuff. I guess you could say a bit less "chaotic". Definitely my favorite from them.
It's so interesting hearing or reading Autechre reviews because no band has ever demanded the patience and repeat listen as much as them. You listen to any Autechre album the first time - madness. Nonsense even. The 100th listen, it's just such stunning, deep, explorative, mind-boggling work. This album is utterly exceptional. I've listened to it hundreds of times. And I can't wait to know how I feel about this music after hundreds more.
I love the fact that he's recommending albums through the effects.
You are the best Anthony.
i watched your review while i waited for the album to download and it made me excited to start listening to Exai. nice work, man.
Very good review indeed! It's remarkable that you're keeping it up!
Hey anthony. Enjoy your reviews as usual. You nailed it on saying with repeat listens it's like trying to solve a puzzle. Then when u see the artwork that rings true. Listening to these albums they have done in 20 or 30 years will give them an interesting perspective. Looking forward to next album
A very honest and in depth review. Thanks for sharing.
I'd love to hear what you think about some of the other Autechre albums/eps.
My personal favorite is Amber. Confield is very good as well and is more experimental, their sound has changed a lot over the years so it really depends if you're attracted more to the ambient or the rhythmic stuff.
Thanks for the hard work Anthony. Enjoyed this review.
My theory on Exai is that everything is complete but not fully complete, like something is almost there but no pinpoint on it however it shows something a suggestion (rhythm, melody, sounds) until it changes, just like a picture on the album and the name of the tracks
Good review; glad to see you liked it.
It's cool that you mention the question of emotions in Exai. In fact, no casual "attitudes" but kinda stranger machine's emotions. And groove anyway.
Just listening to this a year late. It's a great album. How do I make sense of it? I would need to see the artists "compose" a song to understand the process. From my limited knowledge about the process, I interpreted Oversteps as a statement about musical aesthetics, especially the evolution of the UK "techno rave" scene, which evolved in ardkore, drum and bass, 2 steps, and dubstep, among other things. When the album was released, dubstep was huge on mainstream radio in UK, so because they come from the same scene from which that genre evolved, it's like they offered a deconstruction of all that scene and their subgenres (the end result sounded like a very cold new version of jazz, where the term "step" originates from anyway). Now comes Exai. Where do we go next after deconstructing UK techno history? I keep reading about Exai that the music is automated in a lot of parts. The sleeve would refer to an early 1970's artificial life design. I like to imagine Exai as a term combines the words Exotica and Artificial Intelligence, that this is simply the product of two guys marvelling themselves in setting up systems that create music (artificially) for themselves (and us). I cannot know if this is what is happening, but it would be a logical next step if my interpretation of the previous album isn't wrong. It seems obvious in their interviews anyway that they have an idea that their music is forwarding in some way (NOT as in "music of the future", but an attempt to record a "music of now"). But knowing that they use Max/MSP is not enough to grasp the frame of thinking, the concept behind each album, IF there are any.
Oh gosh, foolish me, "Exai" merely pronunciates "XI" (11th album for AE). I got carried away by rumours that AE used cellular automatons to program some of the music on this album. What we know for sure, is the designers for the sleeve linked to Conway's Game Of Life after getting more information (than we mortal seem to have access to) about the process of recording this album. But AE seem to want to remain the Cocteau Twins of techno, refusing to be specific about anything in their "lyrics" (not just meaning titles, but their own theoretical description of music being... wait let me get the exact quote "music = speech - text"). By the way, I can't reply to someone below wondering how people can refer to Autechre tracks as "songs": because of John Cage. Any subject can perceive any group of sounds (frequencies) over any time duration as an ensemble of harmonies, melodies, rhythms, and timbers, if they they can.
Neurozumim
When was it ever confirmed that The Designer's Republic were inspired by Conway's Game of Life? Pretty sure Autechre themselves confirmed that it's just typography.
Nathan Richan Very good question. It's a mystery I thought had been resolved because sources I trusted seem to have believed the same "urban legend" as I did. On a forum, Sean said about sending ideas to Designer's Republic: "we gave him lots of text and he made something - he kind of grew concepts around ours. it was spot on actually how he did it, way better than we could have.". What does that tell you? Doesn't it sound like there is a concept behind the sleeve? But on the same forum, he "confirms" to someone else that the Exai sleeve is just typography play (of the Amirite type, whatever that means). But if you go back a few months before: Designer's Republic on their facebook encouraged people to "figure out" what the artwork on Exai was about. Well, someone came up that is was from Reaktor's Newscool, which can use Game Of Life to trigger musical patterns. You can see examples on RUclips. It made perfect sense. So the idea of artificial life was tackled in a couple reviews and blogs (like stufftoblowyourmindon). Because many people agreed, I thought it was fact. Someone else also came up that the design tells the release date in binary mode. The page of that can seem convincing. The typography exercise is not interesting. At least doesn't sound like something you need a lot of material from the artist to elaborate. If the Reaktor's Newscool engine is just a coincidence, it's a fantastic one.
Now.. Can you write Autechre Exai in a way that evokes Game Of Life and hide a code that references the release date? I think you can do two of these things at once, but not three.
Neurozumim you're looking into this waaay too much, dude. :p
Neurozumim
So what does Reaktor's Newscool sound like when you plug in the Exai artwork?
Also, my current theory is that it just spells out 'Exai'. If you look at it, you can actually make out the letters: 'E' in the top left, 'X' in the top right, 'A' in the bottom left, 'I' in the bottom right.
Of course, that's not to say that that's *all* it means. I'd find that kind of hard to believe. But still, I'm pretty confident that it spells out Exai.
(P.S. L-Event spells out L-Event, too. The 'L' looks like it starts in the top right corner... Meaning that there's two letters before it that aren't part of the title. My best guess is 'ae'.
A track is called such because it's a physical "track" of pits on a CD. The can kind of sort of apply to HDDs, so long as the data isn't fragmented, but it in no way applies to tape, or most other storage methods.
Exai just confirms that direction, with some of the tracks like 'Bladelores',or 'T ess xi' almost having a dubby vibe, dark deep monolithic sound that wouldn't be out of place on a Techno Animal or Porter Ricks release.
It took me 15 years to 'get' Confeld, and this shows to my mind the power of artists. Opinions change over time, and I know folks who hated EP7 at the time, now claim it as their favorite.
Very few acts can do that!
Autechre fan. Insightful review. Thank you!
I'd like to see a review of The Knife's Shaking the Habitual. It's another "monolith" album, pretty experimental, and it's one of my favorite albums of 2013.
He reviewed that last year and it was one of his favorite albums of 2013 as well.
An Autechre review with Black Rider, Bone Machine, and Rain Dogs in the background? Bless you Anthony.
Review Elseq
No
I loved this review, thanks for this extremely detailed nine minutes review Fantano
People always have blind-spots too. Squarepusher is mine, and apart from 'Feed Me Weird Things' I find his work a bit hit or miss for my taste. However
I am not so foolish enough to say he is 'overated', because of what he has done for drum and bass, acid and electronica. He is a pioneer, and everybody else who follows in his footsteps (Fly Lotus, Four Tet, Mount Kimbie) owes a debt of thanks to the founder artists on Warps roster.
and now you literally wont even acknowledge sign and plus
he did a yunoreview where he explained why he skipped out on them
still rly sucks tho, autechre are wayyy too legendary to be so ignored by lots of the internet (even in music discussion boards)
sign and plus are bland
@@BetaChri5 i disagree personally, i think sign is an improvement on what oversteps was doing and plus is kinda like a more condensed version of the abstract stuff theyve been playing with on nts and elseq
Brilliant and insightful review - thank you!
Please do a review of something by ASC ('Out of Sync' or '77' are good choices)... He's heavily in a similar realm to Autechre in many ways, but I believe he pulls off the emotional instigation side of things, better. Having seen your opinions on something as technical as this, i'd be fascinated to hear your opinions on an artist who I believe deserves much more recognition than he gets.
thanks for the review...wasn't expecting this one
I still have there 1995 Album, They were ahead of there time back then!
You mean Tri Repetae ?
I don't really associate autechre with fat analogue sounds. I thought it was all squeaky max msp stuff. I haven't heard all their music though.
Pretty sure this is my favorite album of 2013 right now. There's just something so mysterious about Exai that keeps me coming back for more, along with the fact that whenever I hear songs like irlite (get 0) and T ess xi I hear something new every single time. There's just so much detail put into this record. It's worth it for those who wish to endure the 2 hour length.
This was a really great, in-depth review!
Finally another electro review ... thanks anthony!
awesome review mr melon
We Meet the Last Time, Then Departure by Summer Fade Away. A Chinese post-rock band. The album is entirely instrumental and came out November 2012.
Wow. Watching this 11 year old video reviewing Autechre's 11th album named after the roman numeral for 11.
I am very, very surprised Anthony liked this. His review is spot on.
I would love to know his thoughts on their following two releases: elseq and NTS Sessions. A lot of fans see Exai and the following two as a trilogy of sorts, which is pretty common for Autehre (a lot of their releases can be grouped in phases/era).
They went further and further into what they started with this album. Exai is 2 hours, elseq is over 4 hours and NTS is 8 hours. They went deep into many long-form tracks. Some up to an hour long. It's wild.
One thing in particular Anthony said that is especially true is that their music is so incredibly dense and detailed that some of it can take many listens before it clicks. It's just that deep.
Also this was commented 11 days ago today
There's a new up and coming group out of Houston, Texas making some noise called AOD. You should review there "Ancient of Days - The Prelude" mixtape. It's available through Datpiff and has been getting a lot of positive feedback.
Great review dude
I'm listening to this LP and this review at the same time, and whenever there's a break it sounds like they're sampling you into the song lol. It's pretty awesome.
Very good review
I'd start with Amber, and definitely do not move to any of their Confield and later work (except for Oversteps) before you have really listened to Chiastic Slide or LP5, otherwise you just won't be able to enjoy it to the fullest amount (in my opinion).
Also, I second you reviewing Welcome Oblivion, the new debut LP from How to Destroy Angels!
Loved the little 'ta-da' played by Cal at the end.
just got this LP. definately gonna jam on my machinedrum tonight!
I never knew how to pronounce Autechre and i've listened to them for years...ah well, solid review. This album was definitely a solid album, I have only listened through it once thus far. I need to get back to it.
Nice review. Love Autechre.
Great review!
Everything they do is a sound experiment, what can you say and feel and what kind of atmosphere can you make, how alien can you make a sound and still have it be listenable noise. I think they do that with this album. If you think it's shit, then fine, that is bias, but we all have bias towards everything, it just means it's not for you.
Have you ever listened to Tipper, Anthony? Should check out Broken Soul Jamboree if not, some extremely well produced glitch music. Endlessly creative sound design and composition.
I knew it, Anthony will deliver on this one and boy did he just nailed it.
10/10 review
NTS dude. let's have it
7:10 Perfect introduction to Autechre or IDM, Glitch in general. Yes this album is a very good one. 8/10 seems reasonable.
Ruby My Dear-Remains of Shapes to Come.
Really liked this review.
Sorry Anthony for my late review, but this is simply Autechre at there best!
Hip Hop has always been at the heart of Ae, Draft 7:30, Envane,Anvil Vapre, and Granz Graft EP is full of monstrous beats, crashing into each other. This is right up there with stuff like Move of Ten, Oversteps and the mighty EP5.....
The best release of the year bar none!!!!
Much of what Autechre does is to create a sound statement and much isn't necessarily music that you can dance to, many of the tracks sound like chaos but in actuallity it's a challenge to the listener to listen to what that track is doing. Yes it's not "dance" music, it's like comparing Rock to Techno, but it's even further, because this is organized noise. I come from a the area of the noisician, I make noise. Noise is about atmosphere, and with autechre they straddle the line of noise.
by the way, I love the little split second suggestions.
Good review, man.
I'd really like to see more electronic music reviews Anthony, before this and the Shlohmo review there was a bit of a dry patch.
As far as electronic classics, have you heard the ambient house masterpiece "U.F.Orb"? I think it's freakin amazing.
Matthew Poe eh, adventures beyond the ultraworld is better imo
Tyler Chapin their both masterpieces in The Orb’s discography so is Orbus Terrarum
Anthony, if you like IDM and ambient, I recommend Brian Grainger's projects Milieu and Coppice Halifax. Really good stuff.
Hmmm.....I just think its a different direction.
When I here Oversteps or Move of Ten, it reminds me, not of their earlier stuff, but more of the Chain Reaction discography with an Autechre twist to them. Artists like Monolake and Vladislav Delay who were inspired by the duo, in tern have inspired them as well, so I am glad they are moving in a more minimal direction.
Thank you
i thought a lot of the descriptions he used were on. i think people who are not really familiar with Autechre need to realize that it takes more than a few listens to realllllly dig in and get inside of the album. i really loved Prac-f
Nice, glad to hear Autechre are hitting the notes.
Thanks for the recommendation, Anthony. Halfway through the album I knew this is an IDM masterpiece.
if you're just getting into autechre, try confield. its mellow, easily-digested down-tempo tracks.
I've been listening to Autechre since their first album and this is my favourite atm. I was listening to 'bladelores' alone in the woods and it was mindblowing...
superb review
I might be able to help.
Check you some of these guys: Monolake, Basic Channel, Pole, Kit Clayton, Frank Bretschnider,SND, Richard Devine,Alva Noto, Pansonic and Thomas Brinkmann.
If you are looking for something a little bit less abstract then check out stuff like Swayzak, Theorem,LFO ,B12, Stuart Walker, Orbital, Global Communication, Future Sound of London, Boards of Canada or some of the other names that AFX releases like Polygon Window and Caustic Window.
I don't think Autechre transends all other electronica, but their are artists that inspire a whole scene. Autechre, Aphex Twin, Black Dog Productions and LFO and took a dying post rave scene and brought some thing fresh and new back in the day.
Warp's 'Artifical Intelligence' Series was and remains, ground breaking. All those artists you mention (which I also have) are still working on that blueprint-no matter how good they are.
thanks for the suggestions at 0:18 Anthony!
Yeah but through those industial/mecanic sounds you can find more than just melodies :
There are harmonic ambiances that sound, after multiple listening, really symphonic sometimes.
Even "Gantz Graf", if not melodic, has this special ambiance, but there are more melodic glitchy tracks like "bladelores" from this new album or "Simmm" from Quaristice that hold their early 90s releases' spirit.
Autechre's "purists" (those who prefere that early spirit) should reconsider their recent works.
New Autechre?!?!? Sweeet!!
elseq !