squarepusher Oversteps - Initial Reactions (for real this time)

This album has such a sense of flow... I can't get over that fact.

initial reaction: it's alright.

gotta say the official release sounds a bit too sharp to my ears, diamond sharp. Not necessarily worse but...different than the leak. A bit harder to chill too. See on see is more angular, less relaxing.

this isn't really a chill album. it's very upfront about melodies, while remaining somewhat beatless and keeping time with various arpegs. almost the polar opposite of LCC/Sublimit style songs driven by a repetitive beat with layers of hidden melody underneath

  On 2/23/2010 at 4:08 AM, theSun said:

..they've thrown a melodic itch at us that has been festering for some time now..

i think that's exactly why this album fails.

autechre always seemed true to their idea of music, they always came off like self-indulgent misanthropic cunts in the older interviews, managing to produce unique albums one after another for us to explore that didn't include any comfort, familiarity or recognizable influence..albums that evoked moods and worlds you couldn't of imagined before.

and this new one just sounds like a cave in, some kind of nostalgic trip maybe, an interaction with the fans ? fuck that. leave it to aphex twins and the pusher with his bass wanking and boc with their 60s 70s psychedelia-milking shit. i never came to autechre for idm, i hoped for autechre to do autechre.

  On 2/23/2010 at 6:46 PM, eugene said:

and this new one just sounds like a cave in, some kind of nostalgic trip maybe, an interaction with the fans ? fuck that. leave it to aphex twins and the pusher with his bass wanking and boc with their 60s 70s psychedelia-milking shit. i never came to autechre for idm, i hoped for autechre to do autechre.

So you wanted another 70 minutes of drum-glitch cockwaving and little or no melodies, just to show of how IDM and l33t you are? Because that's how I fathom people "like" Confield and - especially - Draft and Untilted. Drums, drums more drums, drums and uhh... drums! Oh and the odd synth here and there. Utter wank, exercises in production excesses.

Oversteps is a perfect balance of creative, unique melodies (and the deconstruction/arrangement of them), crossed with sympathetic atmospherics and drums that aren't fucking excessive.

Hang on, why am I feeding a troll? Probably because Oversteps is fucking excellent as "IDM" goes, and is Sean and Rob's best achievement in years.

you two can iron it out. you're both pathetically wrong.

  On 2/23/2010 at 6:28 PM, lumpenprol said:

gotta say the official release sounds a bit too sharp to my ears, diamond sharp. Not necessarily worse but...different than the leak. A bit harder to chill too. See on see is more angular, less relaxing.

  On 2/23/2010 at 6:39 PM, theSun said:

this isn't really a chill album. it's very upfront about melodies, while remaining somewhat beatless and keeping time with various arpegs. almost the polar opposite of LCC/Sublimit style songs driven by a repetitive beat with layers of hidden melody underneath

Yes.

  On 2/23/2010 at 6:46 PM, eugene said:

this new one just sounds like a cave in, some kind of nostalgic trip maybe, an interaction with the fans ? fuck that. leave it to aphex twins and the pusher with his bass wanking and boc with their 60s 70s psychedelia-milking shit. i never came to autechre for idm, i hoped for autechre to do autechre.

No. Nostalgia for what, exactly? I get the opposite impression, that they are shedding the comfort of hiding behind heavily processed percussion and atonality to open up to a more vulnerable core. I think the self-indulgence of their trademark DSP percussion madness was starting to become pretty comfortable for both B&B and for listeners.

Also this artwork is starting to make a lot of sense for me. It's simple but I think they put a substantial amount of thought into it. I think where in the past, Autechre album artwork has been simply a visual aesthetic translation of the audio, where this artwork implies intent, and how to best listen to it.

  On 2/23/2010 at 6:58 PM, theSun said:

you two can iron it out. you're both pathetically wrong.

You're listening to a different album then. Or you can't hear the melodies they're using because, oh shock horror, they're actually creating something other than drums for a change.

  Quote

I think the self-indulgence of their trademark DSP percussion madness was starting to become pretty comfortable for both B&B and for listeners.

yes.

stop the pathetic contra-culture-isms. i DO like confield and LOVE draft but they weren't that "avantgarde" as some of you make them out to be and i'm sure them tekkers would agree. on the other hand oversteps is far from being "pop"... it's maybe what pop SHOULD be by now.

  On 2/23/2010 at 7:01 PM, sweepstakes said:

  On 2/23/2010 at 6:46 PM, eugene said:

this new one just sounds like a cave in, some kind of nostalgic trip maybe, an interaction with the fans ? fuck that. leave it to aphex twins and the pusher with his bass wanking and boc with their 60s 70s psychedelia-milking shit. i never came to autechre for idm, i hoped for autechre to do autechre.

No. Nostalgia for what, exactly? I get the opposite impression, that they are shedding the comfort of hiding behind heavily processed percussion and atonality to open up to a more vulnerable core. I think the self-indulgence of their trademark DSP percussion madness was starting to become pretty comfortable for both B&B and for listeners.

 

Also this artwork is starting to make a lot of sense for me. It's simple but I think they put a substantial amount of thought into it. I think where in the past, Autechre album artwork has been simply a visual aesthetic translation of the audio, where this artwork implies intent, and how to best listen to it.

it's stuffed full with amber-esque cheese

i don't deconstruct autechre to specific elements, their albums are all very different to me. i don't know how can you generalize like that, their past albums are full of melody and emotion and they don't necessarily have to come one with another, they just worked they melodies differently on older albums.

i always thought that "self-indulgent" is one of the best compliments for a musician

  On 2/23/2010 at 5:08 PM, jaderpansen said:

  On 2/23/2010 at 11:47 AM, jules said:

Anyone else bothered by the fact that warp just put this up on bleep with no announcement at all? No newsletter, not on their website. Nothing. Ae are probably their flagship franchise. Pretty disrespectful if you ask me

 

i got this e-mail today:

 

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: AUTECHRE - OVERSTEPS

 

- Recently you pre-ordered either the CD or vinyl version of Autechre’s album ‘Oversteps’, including a free digital version as WAVs and MP3s.

 

- We’re pleased to let you know that these digital files have been delivered to your Bleep account now, and are waiting for you to collect.

 

- To access log in to your account on the store and go to the “Downloads” section of your account.

 

- You will find either 16bit / 44.1kHz or 24bit / 44.1kHz WAVs (based on your preference when you pre-ordered), and 320kbps LAME encoded MP3s. These can be downloaded separately at any time.

 

- Each of the 14 mp3s has individual artwork as chosen by Autechre. This track-by-track artwork is exclusive to Bleep.

 

- Please be aware the physical release date has not changed.

 

Go to http://bleep.com to download your copy of the album.

i got that e-mail too but i didn't preorder lol i just bought the mp3s

lol @ Oversteps defying expectations one way or the other and yet not being seen as B&B being true to B&B.

Perhaps I'm just grasping for patterns, but I see them making (deliberate? unconscious?) contrasts with releases in recent years.

Oversteps (burial of percussion or traditionally melodic elements used percussively, a la Drane2) is almost a complete antithesis of Untilted (burial of melody or percussive elements being used melodically). I love them both, and they both ring true as ae qua ae.

  On 2/23/2010 at 6:58 PM, theSun said:

you two can iron it out. you're both pathetically wrong.

it's funny how if someone has legit criticisms toward and album people get very defensive and try to paint the person as a 'hater'

grow some thicker skin guys.

thanks

i still don't understand how you wrapped yourself around it, you've basically had the same starting point of criticism, only i didn't manage to move on.

it's all good. i like the album, however i can see how some would dislike it. it isn't the glitchy festival that they have grown accustomed to. calling the album "generic" tho is definitely a gaf - if you dislike it THAT much, perhaps you'd submit your own works for comparison?

in-before-thread-gets-merged-into-the-bigger-one

  On 2/23/2010 at 8:20 PM, Awepittance said:

it's funny how if someone has legit criticisms toward and album people get very defensive and try to paint the person as a 'hater'

grow some thicker skin guys.

but who decides what's "legit" in aesthetic choices?

i don't mind criticism at all, and god knows i don't think everything they've put out it is gold. but arguing they should have sticked to what they did 2001-2005 because that'd still be more "cutting edge" or something is just bull.

The first section of d-sho qub sounds like Chris Clark remixing a BoC track, i like !

  On 2/23/2010 at 6:46 PM, eugene said:

i think that's exactly why this album fails.

autechre always seemed true to their idea of music, they always came off like self-indulgent misanthropic cunts in the older interviews, managing to produce unique albums one after another for us to explore that didn't include any comfort, familiarity or recognizable influence..albums that evoked moods and worlds you couldn't of imagined before.

and this new one just sounds like a cave in, some kind of nostalgic trip maybe, an interaction with the fans ? fuck that. leave it to aphex twins and the pusher with his bass wanking and boc with their 60s 70s psychedelia-milking shit. i never came to autechre for idm, i hoped for autechre to do autechre.

even though i like oversteps for "what it is," i have to agree somewhat with eugene's sentiment of disappointment. the pandering angle is interesting; not sure how that works. many artists want to simplify their work as they get older and therefore abandon complexity to that end, which can seem like pandering because it aligns with more people's attention spans and conventional taste. someone above implied ae is not that avant-garde, which is true if you consider the whole noise scene. but ae aren't about noise imo, but rather otherworldly gaudi-like architecture which reveals its peculiar logic, form, and beauty as you listen. oversteps is just so damn obvious throughout, and rife with "sentimental" or populist gestures that im still a little surprised. but then, if youve made albums as stunningly baroque as their last four, you probably want to do something more accessible and immediate. overt is the new subvert. hehe. i don't have to like it or think unrealistically about what it is, though...

edit: oh, and im really curious to hear interviews now.

Surely there's only so far they could of pushed the sound of their harsher albums? Anymore and they perhaps would of started to dissapear up their own backsides.

Oversteps suits my simple Autechre tastes. And I am happy admiting it.

  On 2/23/2010 at 8:38 PM, jaderpansen said:

  On 2/23/2010 at 8:20 PM, Awepittance said:

it's funny how if someone has legit criticisms toward and album people get very defensive and try to paint the person as a 'hater'

grow some thicker skin guys.

 

but who decides what's "legit" in aesthetic choices?

i don't mind criticism at all, and god knows i don't think everything they've put out it is gold. but arguing they should have sticked to what they did 2001-2005 because that'd still be more "cutting edge" or something is just bull.

i think that's exactly what im NOT saying, at least trying to..

sticking to a particular sound is what autechre was all against, perhaps even unconsciously. putting confield, draft and untilted in the same bag is not knowing autechre well enough (not that im a super autechre geek, but i played the shit of those and chiastic slide and particular).

  On 2/23/2010 at 8:44 PM, bardamu said:

 

 

even though i like oversteps for "what it is," i have to agree somewhat with eugene's sentiment of disappointment. the pandering angle is interesting; not sure how that works. many artists want to simplify their work as they get older and therefore abandon complexity to that end, which can seem like pandering because it aligns with more people's attention spans and conventional taste. someone above implied ae is not that avant-garde, which is true if you consider the whole noise scene. but ae aren't about noise imo, but rather otherworldly gaudi-like architecture which reveals its peculiar logic, form, and beauty as you listen. oversteps is just so damn obvious throughout, and rife with "sentimental" or populist gestures that im still a little surprised. but then, if youve made albums as stunningly baroque as their last four, you probably want to do something more accessible and immediate. overt is the new subvert. hehe. i don't have to like it or think unrealistically about what it is, though...

 

edit: oh, and im really curious to hear interviews now.

i would argue quite strongly that Autechre's last 4 albums are significantly more 'avant-garde' (in the literal sense) than 95 % of noise/drone/experimental music . Most of these forms of music are no longer avant-garde because they arent pushing new ideas or creative directions. Nobody else has even tried to touch AE's beat programming on these discs, and for a reason, AE invented these techniques and perfected them before most people even had a chance to use them as inspiration.

from wikipedia:

  Quote

Avant-garde represents a pushing of the boundaries of what is accepted as the norm or the status quo, primarily in the cultural realm.

I would say Confield easily fits this bill, but most of Merzbow's work doesn't because he is doing what's normal in the context of that scene

agree^^^

i would argue the exact opposite.. their drum programming is lush and detailed for sure, but still a good chunk of their rhythmic material is very metric and in four. and atonal music has been around for close to a century now, musique concrete has been around since the 50's.

i'm not dissing confield at all, just that it clearly draws from some particular musical traditions as well as idm. they simply have their own unique take on things, that's what makes them good artists, but it doesn't make them avant-garde

anyway funny how a good chunk of this little debate here revolves around what is commonly perceived as complexity in music.. as opposed to subtle things like phrasing, etc..