AUTECHRE: AMBER (1994)
1) Foil; 2) Montreal; 3)
Silverside; 4) Slip; 5) Glitch; 6) Piezo; 7) Nine; 8) Further; 9) Yulquen; 10)
Nil; 11) Teartear.
This is Autechre's first «real» album, written
and recorded coherently over a period of six months — and there are two ways to
think about it. First, if you are obsessed with tracing the artistic evolution
of Autechre, and with the concept that «no Autechre album sounds like any other
Autechre album», you can follow the line of the All-Music Guide review.
Essentially, it states that on Amber
Autechre are beginning to drift away from «IDM» and into the realms of the
unknown, unexplored, unpredictable, and, perhaps, even unpalatable — for those
who prefer their electronic music to soothe the body rather than the soul.
But if you are not that adamant about finding ten major differences between Incunabula and Amber, you might end up not finding even one. From a sheer
statistical point of view, the tracks on Amber
do seem to rely a little less on loud rhythmic beats than those on Incunabula — once you have bothered
with an actual countdown, that is. But in general, the album's «aura» does not
seem to have changed at all: the same all-pervading mood of the «ice factory»
is still the major attraction, and, at the same time, there are only about two
or three tracks on the entire album that are not «danceable» from a purely
technical point of view.
If there is
a difference, the way I see it, it is mostly in that the keyboard parts for Amber seem to be generally more
«non-descript» than those on Incunabula
— reflecting, perhaps, the relative hastiness, with which the album was made,
or maybe a conscious desire to move one step closer to pure «ambient».
ʽSilversideʼ, with its synth-strings playing out like a soundtrack to a voyage
in deep space, is probably the best example; but many other tracks really
behave in the same way, except that the soft and static atmospheric waves of
the synths clash with hard layers of electronic percussion (ʽFurtherʼ — ten
minutes of mild techno beats over a shallow sea of hums, whooshes, and
whispers); unfortunately, these waves are simply not evocative enough to
stimulate creative writing. It does not help, either, that, much too often, Brown
and Booth seem to be stuck in an overtly happy mood: tracks like ʽSlipʼ and
ʽNineʼ prompt you to simply jump into a state of trouble-free coma and stay there
frozen for all of their duration. It's a funny feeling, but not without a side
effect of silly boredom.
For me personally, Amber never manages to build up on the strength of the opening
number. ʽFoilʼ is all based around one simple trick — the recurrent raising and
lowering of the pitch of «tuned percussion» — and it is one of those great
effects that really makes you feel inside a giant sci-fi factory, helpless,
miserable, and overwhelmed by the industrial might. (Actually, it is the sort
of factory where most of the action is hidden from direct view — only the
repetitive percussive noises make you aware of the billions of operations per
second that are going on). Although it is one of the most minimalistic tracks
on the album, it is the only one that has an atmosphere of «cold & cruel»
grandiosity; everything else is quite playful, even «cute» in comparison.
Instinctively, I feel compelled to label Amber as a quick, not very interesting
toss-off, not offering much in terms of either innovation or emotionality that
the assembled tracks on Incunabula did
not already have. It really comes very close to being «just boring» a lot of
times — a problem that weighs much more heavily on electronic music than on «live»
music — and, overall, it just seems like a space-filler, in no way predicting
the radical twists that Autechre would undertake already on the next record. Maybe
not exactly a «sophomore slump», as they say (is that terminology even
applicable for IDM releases?), but a thumbs down all the same.
How is "Amber" THAT much worse than "Incanabula"? You gave them exactly the same 8 on your old site, and the only problems I can find that you give in your review are "too happy" and "space-filler". It's not bad! If you really felt just "bored" by it, don't give it a thumbs- at all.
ReplyDeleteBUT I MEAN IT IS YOUR SYSTEM, AFTER ALL. What do I know? Just a stupid question. Not that I've heard either of these albums, either. Don't mind this comment, really. I just have nothing better to do now that my argument with Jose Parada's over. Sigh.
Yeah I think a no-thumbs is more adequate
ReplyDeletedont wanna knock you Georgie, but A) you should really bring back the scores, and B) someone who claims that 60's rock is the pinnacle of all things good and holy and can never be topped should probably not be reviewing Autechre, nonetheless C) I applaud you for trying
ReplyDeletethis is a great album with a good enough amount of melody. Surprised Georgie boy doesn't like it.
ReplyDelete