AUTECHRE: OVERSTEPS (2010)
1) r ess; 2) ilanders; 3)
known(1); 4) pt2ph8; 5) qplay; 6) see on see; 7) Treale; 8) os veix3; 9) O=0;
10) d-sho qub; 11) st epreo; 12) redfall; 13) krYlon; 14) Yuop.
Finally, a real change of pace — overcoming the
«Confield block» once and for all,
Autechre release their freshest release in a decade. Some have suggested a
return to the icy ambience of Amber,
but in reality this is more like a democratic synthesis of Amber and Confield,
almost to the point where you'd think they were dubbing a 1994-flavored track
over a 2000-flavored one and then smoothing away the rough edges.
Actually, the whole «return to Amber» thing was probably invented by
people who never got further than the first track: ʽr essʼ (oh God, those
hideous titles...) is, indeed, one of those freezing cold synthesizer
whirlwinds the art of which these guys had mastered ages ago. Atmospheric and
not overtly exciting, but a surprising start nevertheless — no beats! no
microchips! no static! just the good old icy stateliness.
But over the next few tracks, gradually, yet
knowingly, they are once again building something new. The beats, the chips,
and the static will be making frequent visits, for sure, but the primary
emphasis is on synthesizing «old-fashioned» sounds: harpsichord hammers,
xylophones, little bells and musical boxes, so that more than half of the
compositions weave the pattern of a giant, tremendously complex electronic
clock — one that you have accidentally locked yourself within. The music does
not so much «resonate» here as it simply «scatters» all around, in one large
sea of ringing, springing, tinkling, dazzling, whatever.
The actual selected chords are never happy — as
we all know, musical boxes help create cuddly magical worlds for little boys
and girls, but these ones, like everything else Autechre does, are just
completely emotionally neutral, yet still vibrant and active «signs of life».
After all, a musical box, or a giant clock, or a primitive (or not so
primitive) life-form is emotionally
neutral by definition — you can get totally amazed at the complex internal
structure of all these things, but it's not as if they would be infecting you
with their own amazement, which they
do not have. And so, just sit back and enjoy another... umm, documentary by Booth and Brown, this
time one from the life of large mechanical concoctions punching each other and
exploding in miriads of ringtones, cadences, and dissonances.
Individual highlights are practically
non-existent: the only difference is between the «major chimers» (ʽknown(1)ʼ,
ʽpt2ph8ʼ, ʽsee on seeʼ, etc.) and the more old-fashioned beats-and-bleeps that
could have belonged on Draft 7.30 or
any other of all those «Confield
clones for dummies» (ʽilandersʼ, ʽqplayʼ, etc.). The album does get nicely
bookmarked — with retro-brushed ambience of ʽr essʼ at the beginning, and then
the same ambience criss-crossed with the kaleidoscopic chimes on the last
track ʽYuopʼ. Actually, ʽYuopʼ is a
bit different in that all of its «sprinkly» sound seems to be radiating into
outer space, resonating at us from far, far away (or maybe it's the other way
around — cosmic rays breaking through the atmosphere? whatever), so it's an
appropriately «universalist» coda for the whole album.
Altogether, the approach is simple in theory
and not too awesome in the sheer number of new ideas involved, but with the
gazillions of electronic albums out on the market in 2010, even one new idea,
consistently implemented in lots of different ways, is not to be taken too lightly.
And I have yet to see an electronic (or a non-electronic, for that matter)
album that could serve as a better textbook on all the tricks and treats of
The Big Chime — I'm still picking echoes out of my buzzing ears, a tedious, but
not wholly unpleasant procedure. Thumbs up.
Check "Oversteps" (MP3) on Amazon
O=0 hahaha! that's hahaha!
ReplyDeleteTheir best in years, indeed. I'm surprised that the jarring "badly tuned synth" monstrosity of known(1) didn't seem to bother you, George. Other than that, well this is the Autechre album with ilanders on it. Possibly the greatest creation of their career, melodically it does seem to venture into compositional pastures vaguely "new" and un-trodden. Though Treale sometimes comes across as a twisted alien jazz jam.
ReplyDeleteI've an extensive review on Discogs, but I'll say this: very glad to see that you enjoyed this, George, and that you agree it's a return to form for them.
Oh, I will mention again: this works astonishingly well as an alternative soundtrack whilst playing System Shock.