Is chronological the best way to go?

I already have AE's first 4 albums and they're all pretty good, I really liked Chiastic Slide too.

From what I know the rest of their discog gets a lot more complicated, and I was wondering if I'd be better off going through it chronologically or if there was a particular order that might ease me into getting used to their complicity.

Yeah I'd definitely progress through it chronologically (though if you find it gets a little too much you can jump to the last two albums Oversteps and Move Of Ten which are slightly less daunting)

I would say chronological my good friend.

Their most difficult albums are considered the triptych of Untilted, Confield and Draft. Of course once you get your head round them, you struggle to understand why they were difficult in the first place. Repeated listens seem to dull the harsh edges that seem so fierce on the first few spins.

The rewards are very high once you get into them mate. Sonic alchemy for your ears.

i would say listen chronologically, but there will be standout tracks and not-so-standout tracks each album. maybe in a few months the standout tracks on album a will be meh to you and some others are great that you barely noticed before.

Looks like they have most of Ae's albums at my local record shop so im in luck

i really like the chronology of autechre releases. as evidenced by some of the more esoteric speculations on this forum, there are a lot of ways to look at their progress and how the albums relate.

if you want to skip ahead get move of ten! don't forget the other ep's as well, they're amazing.

yes the EPs are just as good as the LPs

I am going chronologically right now. On Confield (becoming my favorite). Maybe when im done i'll post about the experience.

I show people Amber and Oversteps first, then Tri Rep, Incunabula and MoT, then the more 'difficult' stuff.

But that said,my first album was Confield, coming from a nearly metal-only background.

I might just buy Confield next then, if it is okay to skip LP5.

  On 3/20/2011 at 4:39 AM, sergeantk said:

I might just buy Confield next then, if it is okay to skip LP5.

dude don't skip lp5. that album is absolutely fantastic. this provides an excellent balance between the more melodic stuff and the confield through untitled rhythmic sense

  On 3/20/2011 at 4:39 AM, sergeantk said:

I might just buy Confield next then, if it is okay to skip LP5.

No no NO! The change in style between Chiastic Slide and LP5 is vital! It's important to understand that Ae's 'difficult' albums (Confield/Draft/Untilted) are composed in styles evolved from LP5. It's pretty much their most important album, with respect to the evolution of their careers.

I knew of Autechre around 94 but didn't get into them entirely... LP5 is when I really took notice. Chronological is the way.

all their full-lengths are excellent and do indeed make more sense in the context of their evolution across their discography. nonetheless, if you don't have any of their EPs and intend to buy their releases physically this will also double as an essential guide to their evolution with no double-up with album tracks:

http://bleep.com/index.php?page=release_details&releaseid=28426

  On 3/20/2011 at 6:48 PM, asymmetrical head said:

I knew of Autechre around 94 but didn't get into them entirely... LP5 is when I really took notice. Chronological is the way.

Same, I had Incunabula on heavy rotation when it came out, but was not quite as stoked about Amber, and wasn't into Tri Rep much at all, apart from the Eps. I was more into Aphex, BoC and others at the time, completely missed out on Chiastic. Then LP5 dropped and it was an immediate "HELLOOOOO!"

lp5 was the first autechre album i heard! and i was hooked immediately!

Yeah me too, I first heard LP5 then EP7 then went back and bought everything chronologically

Bought LP5 yesterday, this is pretty amazing so far. I might skip Confield cause i listened to a bit of it and it seemed a bit harsh for my tastes...

  On 3/22/2011 at 1:06 AM, sergeantk said:

Bought LP5 yesterday, this is pretty amazing so far. I might skip Confield cause i listened to a bit of it and it seemed a bit harsh for my tastes...

i originally thought that too, i bought it and listened a few times, couldn't get into it so left it for a while. a year later, i had a strange urge to listen to it, and when i did it was AWESOME.

so i'd suggest that you still buy it, especially since it's basically a key to the sonic palette of draft, in a way. draft uses a lot of the textures in confield and builds upon them with more lush atmospheric passages, imo.

The one full track I heard, Cfern, actually terrified me... I don't think i've ever heard a more unsettling melody in music, and thats out of EVERYTHING ive heard - electronic, metal, classical, and whatever else you could imagine having unsettling melodies. (Maybe Schoenberg's Kammersymphonie is more unsettling - MAYBE).

that's why it's good to understand it within the context of their discography :sup:

you should listen to

it might help lesson the blow

  On 3/23/2011 at 12:28 AM, sergeantk said:

The one full track I heard, Cfern, actually terrified me... I don't think i've ever heard a more unsettling melody in music, and thats out of EVERYTHING ive heard - electronic, metal, classical, and whatever else you could imagine having unsettling melodies. (Maybe Schoenberg's Kammersymphonie is more unsettling - MAYBE).

You probably don't want to check out Parhelic Triangle then - it's pretty much the soundtrack to accompany some midnight tribal sacrifice (or Bine which is probably the sound that goes through someone's mind before they go postal). Listening back to Cfern after all this time I hear it more as something mischievous and plotting than scary.

yeah but parhelic triangle has that devastatingly gorgeous melody that pops up briefly at the end. that alone completely changes the context of the rest of the track for me!

Oh don't get me wrong, it's a beautiful track. Probably my favourite from the whole album and yeah when the gamelan melody changes tact towards the end - mmmmmmmm