Autechre Self indulgent Quaristice track by track review

  On 1/29/2010 at 7:56 PM, six said:

a few bullshit tracks (bnc castl I'm looking at you).

The other day I listened to that one while high and I actually got it enough to enjoy. You have to look deep into the layers, past all the surface noise and chaos and pay attention to the hip-hop sort of bass/snare/hi-hat beat because it actually does some nifty stuff almost in the vein of other clicky ae tracks.

In my opinion, most of Quaristice is very half-baked and boring. Altibzz towers over the rest of the album in terms of quality (seriously, it actually seems out of place it's so good), and paralel Suns, Perlence and Outh9x do deserve some credit. I listen to tracks like The Plc, IO, Steels and fwzE however, and just think 'Where did it all go wrong?'

  On 1/29/2010 at 12:41 AM, Salvatorin said:

  On 1/28/2010 at 8:35 PM, Springymajig said:

Fol3 isn't THAT BAD... just doesn't go anywhere and feels pointless... if feels like an intro to a track that never starts. I'm gonna have to have a look for Fol4 as it seems to be quite popular....

 

Fol3 is actually the track which I go back to again and again and consider a masterpiece. It is a sonic description of a highly bizarre object. I always thought of some kind of interdimensional wind-being appearing in the sky in front of some sky diver, trapping the sky diver in a static whirlwind as it tries to communicate with it. If you listen very closely, there are strange sounds like that of an arcade heard from outside (computer games beeping). I love how massive it sounds when you play it in (mock) quadrophonic sound.

-Real Autechre Fan

For me, Fol3 evokes images of a massive electric storm in the midst of nuclear fallout, over solitary streets. You reach the eye at about 1:20.

fol3 and fol4 are great tracks, it's interesting because AE never really used field recordings to this extent before, and that's mainly how i made Lying on the floor, the first Ae fake i did.

  On 1/30/2010 at 8:51 PM, thehauntingsoul said:

 

The other day I listened to that one while high and I actually got it enough to enjoy. You have to look deep into the layers, past all the surface noise and chaos and pay attention to the hip-hop sort of bass/snare/hi-hat beat because it actually does some nifty stuff almost in the vein of other clicky ae tracks.

bnc castl I have always been down with. The only quaristice track I'm not much into (high or otherwise) is Theswere. The others are all pretty much great at some point or another.

It's interesting that most of us find at least one or two tracks on Quaristice we don't like but there's no real universal agreement over which ones. It's such a varied album that I think it's got something that anyone will like, but also something that a lot of people won't like.

And at the end of the day, even the sort of "questionable" tracks are far more listenable than a lot of other music out there (yeah I know that's a vague statement but you know what i mean)

  On 1/31/2010 at 4:21 AM, Food said:

  On 1/30/2010 at 8:51 PM, thehauntingsoul said:

 

The other day I listened to that one while high and I actually got it enough to enjoy. You have to look deep into the layers, past all the surface noise and chaos and pay attention to the hip-hop sort of bass/snare/hi-hat beat because it actually does some nifty stuff almost in the vein of other clicky ae tracks.

 

bnc castl I have always been down with. The only quaristice track I'm not much into (high or otherwise) is Theswere. The others are all pretty much great at some point or another.

Whoa! Never saw that coming! Of all tracks eh?

The only one I don't really get along with too well is Chenc9 and all its versions.

  On 2/1/2010 at 5:25 AM, ieafs said:

  On 1/31/2010 at 1:18 PM, Obel said:

  On 1/31/2010 at 4:21 AM, Food said:

  On 1/30/2010 at 8:51 PM, thehauntingsoul said:

 

The other day I listened to that one while high and I actually got it enough to enjoy. You have to look deep into the layers, past all the surface noise and chaos and pay attention to the hip-hop sort of bass/snare/hi-hat beat because it actually does some nifty stuff almost in the vein of other clicky ae tracks.

 

bnc castl I have always been down with. The only quaristice track I'm not much into (high or otherwise) is Theswere. The others are all pretty much great at some point or another.

 

Whoa! Never saw that coming! Of all tracks eh?

 

The only one I don't really get along with too well is Chenc9 and all its versions.

something like bnc castl is so short and tongue-in-cheek it doesn't really bother me... and those more grouting/transition type tracks (steels and the one that starts with s)..

 

but theswere is probably the only one on there i could completely do without and not feel any worse about it.

I would say SonDEremawe before I would say Theswere

  On 1/31/2010 at 1:18 PM, Obel said:

  On 1/31/2010 at 4:21 AM, Food said:

 

 

bnc castl I have always been down with. The only quaristice track I'm not much into (high or otherwise) is Theswere. The others are all pretty much great at some point or another.

 

Whoa! Never saw that coming! Of all tracks eh?

 

The only one I don't really get along with too well is Chenc9 and all its versions.

Man I love Chenc9 and all it's versions, definitely on my top tracks list

springy on your critique of simmm:

for me the middle part is what makes the track. this is probably my favorite track on quaristice. i'm more of a soundscape and beats man, so that's why this middle part works for me.

  On 2/1/2010 at 6:57 AM, ieafs said:

  On 2/1/2010 at 6:26 AM, thehauntingsoul said:

  On 2/1/2010 at 5:25 AM, ieafs said:

  On 1/31/2010 at 1:18 PM, Obel said:

  On 1/31/2010 at 4:21 AM, Food said:

  On 1/30/2010 at 8:51 PM, thehauntingsoul said:

 

The other day I listened to that one while high and I actually got it enough to enjoy. You have to look deep into the layers, past all the surface noise and chaos and pay attention to the hip-hop sort of bass/snare/hi-hat beat because it actually does some nifty stuff almost in the vein of other clicky ae tracks.

 

bnc castl I have always been down with. The only quaristice track I'm not much into (high or otherwise) is Theswere. The others are all pretty much great at some point or another.

 

Whoa! Never saw that coming! Of all tracks eh?

 

The only one I don't really get along with too well is Chenc9 and all its versions.

something like bnc castl is so short and tongue-in-cheek it doesn't really bother me... and those more grouting/transition type tracks (steels and the one that starts with s)..

 

but theswere is probably the only one on there i could completely do without and not feel any worse about it.

 

I would say SonDEremawe before I would say Theswere

but with that one it feels more like "grouting" inbetween two other tracks... like all the un-indexed fmy stuff inbetween all the lp5 tracks. theswere just feels like it belong with lowride somewhere... preferably not on either album.

SonDEremawe is still Perlence-y to my ears so it fits real well. Even out of context it reminds me of Perlence. Might just be me.

Theswere's melody and strings just don't sit right for me and yeah, I see no connection to the rest of the material present. imo of course

[i have no idea when to use a trashbear]

  On 2/1/2010 at 7:38 AM, Mesh Gear Fox said:

bnc castl is so obviously a jokey track that it amazes me when people complain about it.

inorite? i put it on at some party and half the people were like "this is kinda cool" the other half left the room..

i <3 chenc9 when they jam on that little bit live, and i like that the song is in a clumsy 6/4, but i never really like to listen to the whole song on quaristice, the dub version is really annoying to me for some reason.

i feel like there isn't enough love for nofour, fol4 and outh9x. where is the love?

  On 2/1/2010 at 3:29 PM, theSun said:

i feel like there isn't enough love for nofour, fol4 and outh9x. where is the love?

Right here baby, right here.

Outh9x is a stunning tune and one of their best album closers. I reckon it has to be one of their most otherworldly tunes, it's beautiful the way it sort of ends, then that final synth groans and it just ends in a drone.

<3<3<3

By the way, if you don't want to ruin Outh9x, try to ignore the fact that the bubbly synth sounds like "derp derp derp derp"

  On 2/1/2010 at 6:48 AM, asymmetrical head said:

springy on your critique of simmm:

 

for me the middle part is what makes the track. this is probably my favorite track on quaristice. i'm more of a soundscape and beats man, so that's why this middle part works for me.

fair enough... I can appreciate that kind of thing too but not really with most of the stuff that came out after Confield (although I do really like Gantz Graf... I tend to forget about it cos it's not a full album).

  On 2/1/2010 at 3:32 PM, Obel said:

  On 2/1/2010 at 3:29 PM, theSun said:

i feel like there isn't enough love for nofour, fol4 and outh9x. where is the love?

 

Right here baby, right here.

 

Outh9x is a stunning tune and one of their best album closers. I reckon it has to be one of their most otherworldly tunes, it's beautiful the way it sort of ends, then that final synth groans and it just ends in a drone.

 

<3<3<3

Yeah I totally agree, those two album closers are fantastic. They get better the more I listen to them.

normally i listen to an ae album as a whole, in a random track order, but quaristice i can quite easily just listen to a few at a time

  On 2/1/2010 at 9:19 PM, Calx Sherbet said:

normally i listen to an ae album as a whole, in a random track order, but quaristice i can quite easily just listen to a few at a time

  On 2/1/2010 at 9:51 PM, Springymajig said:

  On 2/1/2010 at 9:19 PM, Calx Sherbet said:

normally i listen to an ae album as a whole, in a random track order, but quaristice i can quite easily just listen to a few at a time

 

yeah wtf random track order?

Each track on Qauristice is a miniature fractal that they zoom in on more in Quaristice(Versions) and Quadrange. It's true.

  On 2/1/2010 at 10:47 PM, thehauntingsoul said:

  On 2/1/2010 at 9:51 PM, Springymajig said:

  On 2/1/2010 at 9:19 PM, Calx Sherbet said:

normally i listen to an ae album as a whole, in a random track order, but quaristice i can quite easily just listen to a few at a time

 

yeah wtf random track order?

i hate getting used to an order.

@hauntingsoul - you're the one who made bar graphs for every ae track

You're both pretty if you ask me

  On 2/2/2010 at 8:37 PM, Obel said:

You're both pretty if you ask me

srsly guys step it UP

  On 2/2/2010 at 8:37 PM, Obel said:

You're both pretty if you ask me

i'll you so hard, you'll and all to

:hairypalm: