SND - Atavism

Ive been trying real hard to get into this. What do you people who enjoy this album see in it? What makes it so good?

I also noticed that it pops up alot in recommendation threads and it was on the best albums by year thread.

also, discogs.com gives it 4.6/5, where Quaristice only gets 4.4/5

someone please explain this shit. I almost take offense to the fact that alot of people would rather listen to repetitive resonant tapping than the masterpiece that is Quaristice.

Anyways yeah, I'm not really trying to bash this album, just want to know what you guys enjoy about it so I can get into it a bit easier.

Don't try to force it.... you should listen to music you enjoy.

My introduction to SND was their remix on the Push Chairs Remix album, which is one of their coolest songs. It's hard to pin down exactly what's so appealing about their music; their approach to rhythm reminds me more of classical composers like Prokofiev and Ligeti than Autechre. Having said that, almost everybody I've played SND for has passionately hated it, so you're probably not in bad company if you don't like it.

people that say they like Atavism and then go disrespecting Quaristice are what I like to call "hipsters." except they're a little more tolerable, because hey, they're listening to electronic.

don't get me wrong, I really enjoy Atavism. but I've met people who are all like "SND! Autechre is mainstream/gay/lame/uncool." That blows my mind. SND... uh. I could make Atavism the album in a day. I could sit down and literally create this identical album spending an hour per song. I'm not disrespecting it, to really enjoy the music you shouldn't be thinking about how it was made. It's like "It's Gonna Rain" by Steve Reich. It's not about how it's made, but the effect that the rhythmic shifting has on your mind. You have to get in tune with it. You can listen closely to the interesting rhythms, but I prefer to sort of zone out to it. Like much minimal music (SND is practically the definition of minimalism, constantly shifting polyrhythms - tiny shifts in timbre - extreme repetition), you can enter a meditative state while listening to it.

I honestly think that SND is not the most enjoyable form of minimalism. If you want some music that does the same things but to a much greater effect (IMO) check out Music in Twelve Parts by Philip Glass. It's absolutely marvelous - one of the greatest things I've ever heard and one that I've been listening to consistently since I found out about it. Like SND, it's music to take painkillers to. You enter a floating, dissociative, meditative state when you're listening to it correctly. Not to mention if you want to focus at any given moment there is a huge tapestry of constantly shifting, morphing sound. SND takes the entire concept of minimalism and takes it to its furthest point. Some might argue that Steve Reich - Drumming is even more so, but I find that piece to be more fun to listen to than SND.

  On 9/1/2009 at 8:15 AM, vamos scorcho said:

SND... uh. I could make Atavism the album in a day. I could sit down and literally create this identical album spending an hour per song.

you have no idea what you're talking about.

I do have a pretty good idea what I'm talking about actually. Maybe that statement was overblown though - there may be some serious mathematical technical shit going on in those polyrhythms. I take back what I said there.

  On 9/1/2009 at 8:36 AM, vamos scorcho said:

I do have a pretty good idea what I'm talking about actually. Maybe that statement was overblown though - there may be some serious mathematical technical shit going on in those polyrhythms. I take back what I said there.

i've used atavism for the soundtrack to some very vivid but purely scenic daydreams. certain tracks though, i do not enjoy sitting through the whole album.

what's good? originality, introvert point of view, sense of necessity, ascetics and aesthtetics.

i like Quaristice no less

I saw them open for Autechre just after Draft 7.30 was released. That was the perfect match-up. Their beats sounded absolutely massive. Autechre sounded very restrained by comparison at first, but their set was like an ongoing crescendo that kept getting more and more engrossing right to the end. You've never really heard Ae until you've heard them through a live PA and felt every beat resonating in your bones. Anyway, SND definitely piqued my interest at that show. Of course on CD it can be a whole other story.

read the promo notes, maybe that will give you an idea about what they were going for. also try playing the album on shuffle, LOUD. that worked for me!

  On 9/1/2009 at 11:35 AM, Zephyr_Nova said:

I saw them open for Autechre just after Draft 7.30 was released. That was the perfect match-up. Their beats sounded absolutely massive.

^one of the tracks from that live set is included on this cd. track 4 i think ?? its some of snd's catchiest work..

listen to it loud, but at the same time try not to pay attention to it.

almost leaves me in a vegetable state, lol..weird feelings once the beats get inside your head.

i love snd, but i don't think i could explain a way for you to get into this album (except maybe trying some of their earlier work and building forward - you could also try Reproduction by Secular Musics of South Yorkshire which is by 1/2 of snd and relatively accessible.) but as for giving you words that will make you like atavism - i don't think i know you well enough to do that.

yeah i stand by the post i made last night

but what's changed is that Atavism has been on pretty constant rotation for the past waking hours since that post. incredibly good album.

what i liked about SND's new stuff the most is it reminds me of Steve Reich's approach to melodic rythm but applied to electronic percussive sounds/dance music. i get kind of a hypnotic feeling while listening to snd that is very enjoyable

has anybody here or somewhere else put together a seamless mix of snd stuff? if not i may take a crack at it. it might even be really fun to mix other weird beat music with it.

  On 9/1/2009 at 11:53 PM, xxx said:

You have to approach SND obliquely or it will drive you batty. Put it on and read a book, surf the net, shit talk on WATMM and get warned. I always noticed that it will suddenly "click" in my head like crossing your eyes to see the embedded 3D image in those old posters

This is why I often find myself listening to SND while banging out excel sheets at work.

I heard SND open for ae in philly in 2005, and here's what is almost certainly a very similar live set to what i heard that night:

I think I recognize snippets from atavism or 4, 5, 6 in there, maybe even the first track in the set? Hard to tell.

I simply love minimal music. I don't think it is anything that can be taught.

I agree about the "click in your head" vibe people have mentioned..

snd grooves have a knack for calibrating brainwaves, same with some delay stuff like Multila

I suggest decent headphones and some night traveling

  On 9/1/2009 at 11:35 AM, Zephyr_Nova said:

I saw them open for Autechre just after Draft 7.30 was released. That was the perfect match-up. Their beats sounded absolutely massive. Autechre sounded very restrained by comparison at first, but their set was like an ongoing crescendo that kept getting more and more engrossing right to the end.

did you mean untilted? someone on here mentioned a draft show once but I didn't think they toured.

  On 9/2/2009 at 12:32 AM, Awepittance said:

what i liked about SND's new stuff the most is it reminds me of Steve Reich's approach to melodic rythm but applied to electronic percussive sounds/dance music. i get kind of a hypnotic feeling while listening to snd that is very enjoyable

 

 

has anybody here or somewhere else put together a seamless mix of snd stuff? if not i may take a crack at it. it might even be really fun to mix other weird beat music with it.

Please do this, I get the feeling you'll put some wicked tunes together.

  On 9/2/2009 at 8:02 AM, spraaaa said:

  On 9/1/2009 at 11:35 AM, Zephyr_Nova said:

I saw them open for Autechre just after Draft 7.30 was released. That was the perfect match-up. Their beats sounded absolutely massive. Autechre sounded very restrained by comparison at first, but their set was like an ongoing crescendo that kept getting more and more engrossing right to the end.

 

did you mean untilted? someone on here mentioned a draft show once but I didn't think they toured.

Hrm. Come to think of it it may have been a tour for Untilted. I just remember listening to Draft 7.30 on the ferry ride over so I assumed it was for that album, but I think Untilted maybe was either about to be released or it had just come out. Good show either way, much better than the one I saw in support of Quaristice. The 808 State dude seemed really out of place.

Weird, I liked Atavism right away, but I still don't really enjoy Quaristice that much. They're pretty different albums though, no sense comparing them too hard, I don't think.

I saw SND supporting Autechre on the Quaristice tour in Manchester and wasn't too impressed in fact I though they were put on just to make Sean and Rob seem even better like a good looking bird bringing their fat mate on the pull.

Don't get me wrong I like minimal loop stuff like The Field and Pole but there's only so much you can do with THE SAME four bar loop for 10 minutes a time. It was a damn fine loop mind but if there was just some subtle variation then it would be better however I found the approach a little pretentious with hipsters just standing around scratching their chins and bored looking girlfriends asking if this was Autechre.

Am I missing the point? Can someone point me in the right direction?

no. i figure you either like minimal music or dislike it.

"bored looking girlfriends asking if this was Autechre."

lol

snd is all about the spaces

track 2 on atavism seems about as accessible as it gets

short mix i made

http://www.mediafire.com/?dz1tdztmyjy