#4: Autechre - 'Elseq 1-5'
The 21 track quintuple album stutters out of the gates, a multi-textured technorganic beast, resembling the fragments of humanity that created it. Reminding ourselves of what is left of our old customs and ways in an increasingly technology dominated planet. Autechre is all about novelty, and this album is no exception... the novelty of a quintuple album that is only released online is, well, more interesting than the next packaged music release. Whatever form that package is, I am not sure if that is particularly of import at this time. Autechre instill some many textural reference points on this release, and it is so well produced that it mimics different forms of both analog and digital musics. It is this mimicking of music that drives the Autechre machine, whether it is mimicking electronic music, hiphop, ambient music, or more fractured referential points which are difficult to talk about. It just has that feeling that everything is there, present, but something is different... like everything has been dismantled, blown apart, dissected; and put back together again. Unlike the Autechre releases of 10 or 15 years ago, there is some kind of human quality to the music; but it is presented in the most fucked up prism imaginable, inside a hall of mirros containing an echo chamber. In that order? To call 'Elseq 1-5' endurance music is an understatement, and perhaps missing the point: a computer does not care for human limitations. And that is probably what you are listening to it on. This new Autechre album: track 1. The compositions tend to try your patience, until you get used to its playing and alien musical language... which has been called architectural, among other things. Just to illustrate the point of endurance music: 25 minutes or so go by before you get through the first two tracks of the album. But here's the deal: there are 3 tracks well over 20 minutes, and plenty more 12-minuters. This thing is enormous, like a whole new world to explore. If you have synaesthesia, this will be a pilgrimage back to your home world. And it really is a fantastic place. Track one, or "Feed 1" for those keeping score, sort of lays the groundwork for this monstrosity of colossal brainwork... it shows you most of the bulk of the album in one track, references their past few releases as well. It gets twice as interesting with track 2 though, or "c16 deep tread" which just so happens to be one of my favorite Autechre tracks at the moment. There are quite many now, since 21 new tracks were released as a quintuple album. I like saying quintuple album. After the first two tracks of plodding madness, it feels as if you have been abducted and probed a few times, maybe there is a whole new virtual realm somewhere extracted from your dna... the horror. This new machine realm is nothing to trifle with, whether it is made by aliens or morlocks or what have you (a duo of Englishmen??). Like I said, after only two of the twenty-one tracks they have made it clear that they want to fuck with your perceptions in just about every manner. "13x0" is almost recognizable as rave dance music, but it has been discombobulated and presented in a new form that is somewhat analogous to what came before. It has a much more ambient sound in the 21st century, however. And the attention span is gone. But still, this bastard is almost 9 minutes long. The music is interesting enough you put up with its aimless meandering, because you wonder where the hell it is going to go next, kind of like your actual life. Anyways, by the time "13x0" is over, your life is changed. End of story. By track 4 they have moved beyond sort of referencing late 80's or early 90's rave music to sounding a bit more like what they themselves sounded like in the late 90's, but it also is more ambient than that in parts. "Pendulu hv moda" is a wild ride. The textures both very smooth and rougher overall. To visit so many timbres and all make them sound like they are all part of an Autechre pallet is an achievement unto itself. Their attention to sound design is where they really shine. But also, at times Autechre throw some nice shiny melodies at you, and this is one of those moments. Which ultimately, feels even more futuristic than their more sterile sounding work. The final track of the first album of the quintuple suite, "curvcaten", again sounds a bit different to its predecessors and serving for a different reference point entirely. This one seems more focused and engaging, the quickest tempo of the group. By this point, this track could already get lost in the overarching universe of 'Elseqs', but if you listen to each part of 1-5 individually this might stick out as a brilliant ender. In some ways it almost sounds a bit normal for Autechre, but it has a lot of strange stereo tracks and intermittent broken melodies provided by a strange artificial intelligence? All the while maybe some kind of Star Trek Enterprise bridge samples are happening in the background. It helps to understand this album more if you listen to it way too often, which I did last year. Part of the reason it is ranked so highly, at #4, is that it came to be a soundtrack for my life at the time. It came up often on my random play alls, since there are 21 tracks (and sometimes the track would take over my whole listening experience even by themselves). To become familiar with this album, it takes TIME. So if you've got it, put it into 'Elseqs'. It won't harm you, and might just help you get your self to the future. Well, that's just one part of the album, I think that should give you an idea of if you would like to listen to it or not. Personally, I highly recommend it, even though it is not for everyone, keep an open mind and you will see...
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AuthorG.M. Bowles Archives
February 2017
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