Autechre All albums best to worst

I stopped writing my initial post when I realized I was pushing 5000 words. So I'll give you the condensed version.

An album for me is best understood in terms of mood, consistency, composition, structure and force (that is, if it makes your head bump). The whole and the parts together, dialectially. It is judged against an external context of other artists in similar genres as well as music and art in general, and an internal context against what the artist in question has done before. Hence:

1. Untilted

This is the album I find most comprehensive and perfected. Not only technically, but in terms of song structure and composition as well. Throughout, every track has its place and is carefully constructed. I love this album because of its hard hitting beats and a delicate balance between a raw techno/punk vibe and careful technical abilities taken to the highest level, and an unnerving, dark emotional palette set by the melodies and how they build the beats instead of the other way around. Truly an original artistic expression as well as perfected craftmanship. Also, Sublimit.

2. Tri Repetae

Not only a milestone for Autechre, but more electronic music in general. But I list this so high because of the mood the album creates, a truly meditative and complex emotional palette gets weaved together by textured pads against definite beats and hip hop influences. A comprehensive vision through and through.

3. Exai

Carrying the world developed in Oversteps to a more comprehensive whole. Despite its 17 tracks and variety, it never derails the listener and keeps itself in check, displaying some of the best structure and composition Autechre has ever put together. The beats are agressive and no-nonsense, it is a darker more sinister Autechre since Anvil Vaper. A clear vision within a dark universe. Talk abou the whole and the parts...

4. Confield

From the slow, methodical build up in the first few tracks to the complete break down in sonic coherence and tonality, this is another milestone in both internal and external context. Again, Autechre had perfected a sound and needed to move on. The result is the compelte opposite of LP5, and a much more accomplished artistic vision for it.

5.Oversteps/Move of Ten

I'm a late discoverer of Autechre, I wasn't old enough in the 90s or early 00s. So this/these album/s became what opened up Autechre for me. The mood, melodic structures and song composition on this record is methodically and carefully put together with one of the best album openers Autechre have composed. Unfortunately, the album does lack in variety and becomes predictable halfway through, only to end of a few very high notes. The sound on this record is simply amazing in terms of production, and seen against their previous work is an imaginative new leap in scope, theme and audacity. The more industrial and beat oriented Move of Ten carries it in another direction that, to me, is even more accomplished than Oversteps itself.

6.Amber

It seems so low on the list but I actually absolutely love this album. It envelops you in slow methodically weaved textured sound pads that simultaneously acts as texture, melody and rythm. The songs are carefully constructed and the album is a consistent whole with a clear purpose and direction; it lulls you into a meditative uncertainty that is just beautiful.

7. Chiastic slide

A strange and accomplished alien world that divides fans and critics alike, with the strongest album opener short of LCC. The mood of this album slowly pulls you along its

slugging tracks with clear hip hop beats and textured glitch beats/melodies (the difference between is almost erased). A forerunner to the more glitchy approach pursued on Draft 7.30 but clearly still in the 90s, the mood on this record is absolutely original. Not every track is as accomplished as on other albums, bringing down a few spots.

8. Draft 7.30

Here, beat, melody and structure are sacrificed in favour of pure textual glitch, of which I find little to make a whole. The songs are just not there for the most part, but seen as the middle part of a trilogy, it serves a purpose.

9. LP5

Too happy, I never got into this, despite it having the second best album closer in Drane2. I prefer EP7; darker, more interesting in its composition and melodic structure.

10. Incunabula

Admitedly "cheesy" and dated, it at leasts has a sense of place and sound as an accomplished entirety that can be called an album.

11. Quaristice

Against the backdrop of the criteria set out above, I wouldn't even call this an album.

The mood is just not there for me, and this is because the songs are just simply terribly weak, both in their composition as well as in their melodic strucutre. People say they love it because of all the ideas the songs, or tracks, bring with them. But for me it's the opposite: the album is devoid of proper ideas. For all the tracks this albums boasts, it is surprisingly unimaginative the way Autechre go about it. However, I do applaud it's diretion and the bold move made by Rob and Sean here; something new had to come after the magnum opus that was the nail in the coffin Untilted represented for the "difficult album" trilogy. Viewing Quaristice in light of the path from such an accomplishment, perhaps it was a necessary step towards Oversteps and Move of Ten.

And Hello everyone, I'm new here. I like listening to Autechre and making lists.

Yaaaay, more Untilted love.

Untilted

0. Draft 7.30, Confield, Untilted

1. Oversteps, Exai

2. Everything else

would be interesting to hear why you like a certain album or not

I have almost given up on Draft 7etc

There's a few moments of brilliance on it but I think I have to admit defeat and just say it's the worst album. I'll pick it up again soon no doubt and have another go.

Best album cover though.

Confield, it's their best and their worst. love that beautifully annoying forever insisting, contrary-to-everything-including-itself, album

  On 5/16/2013 at 10:53 PM, AJW said:

Confield, it's their best and their worst. love that beautifully annoying forever insisting, contrary-to-everything-including-itself, album

nail on the head

1. Oversteps

2. Chiastic Slide (underrated)
3. LP5
4. Untilted

5. Draft 7.30

6. Incunabula
7. Confield (overrated)

8. Quaristice

9. Tri Repetae

10. Amber

Exai could probably work its way into the top 3.

Just listened to every album recently (before, during and after the AAA). Here are my faves:

Confield (favorite album ever)

Untilted

Tri Repetae

Draft

Amber

Garbage EP

Incunabula

Move of Ten

Exai (disc 1)

Cichlisuite

Chiastic Slide

Usually love most of the other albums but not their entirety

  On 11/14/2013 at 3:18 AM, M360 said:

Just listened to every album recently (before, during and after the AAA). Here are my faves:

 

Confield (favorite album ever)

Untilted

Tri Repetae

Draft

Amber

Garbage EP

Incunabula

Move of Ten

Exai (disc 1)

Cichlisuite

Chiastic Slide

 

Usually love most of the other albums but not their entirety

Jesus christ what is chiastic slide doing at the bottom?

  On 11/14/2013 at 11:43 PM, verticalhold said:

 

  On 11/14/2013 at 3:18 AM, M360 said:

Just listened to every album recently (before, during and after the AAA). Here are my faves:

 

Confield (favorite album ever)

Untilted

Tri Repetae

Draft

Amber

Garbage EP

Incunabula

Move of Ten

Exai (disc 1)

Cichlisuite

Chiastic Slide

 

Usually love most of the other albums but not their entirety

Jesus christ what is chiastic slide doing at the bottom?

 

Those are my fav's. Besides Confield the order can change for me to fit the mood, just like most music.

Funny, I was(am) listening to Chiastic when I saw your post

  On 11/14/2013 at 11:43 PM, verticalhold said:

 

  On 11/14/2013 at 3:18 AM, M360 said:

Just listened to every album recently (before, during and after the AAA). Here are my faves:

 

Confield (favorite album ever)

Untilted

Tri Repetae

Draft

Amber

Garbage EP

Incunabula

Move of Ten

Exai (disc 1)

Cichlisuite

Chiastic Slide

 

Usually love most of the other albums but not their entirety

Jesus christ what is chiastic slide doing at the bottom?

 

i can't make a list but i'd put chiastic slide at the bottom 2

  On 11/15/2013 at 12:49 AM, M360 said:

 

  On 11/14/2013 at 11:43 PM, verticalhold said:

 

  On 11/14/2013 at 3:18 AM, M360 said:

Just listened to every album recently (before, during and after the AAA). Here are my faves:

 

Confield (favorite album ever)

Untilted

Tri Repetae

Draft

Amber

Garbage EP

Incunabula

Move of Ten

Exai (disc 1)

Cichlisuite

Chiastic Slide

 

Usually love most of the other albums but not their entirety

Jesus christ what is chiastic slide doing at the bottom?

 

Those are my fav's. Besides Confield the order can change for me to fit the mood, just like most music.

 

Funny, I was(am) listening to Chiastic when I saw your post

 

I think Chiastic is the only album I know that I love no matter what mood I'm in. It's just musical perfection to me.

Also, what happened to Exai (disc 2)?

  On 11/15/2013 at 1:38 AM, Roksen Creek said:

I think Chiastic is the only album I know that I love no matter what mood I'm in. It's just musical perfection to me.

To me Chiastic is a sort of "lull you to sleep" type Ae album. It's not definitive in terms of technicality (Untilted) nor melody (Amber), imo. That being said it is still a great all-around album and better than 99.999% of what's out there.

  On 11/15/2013 at 1:38 AM, Roksen Creek said:

Also, what happened to Exai (disc 2)?

Whoops. Forgot to chop that out during copy-pasting

Wow, Exai below move and inc.

Maybe you'll love it when the next album comes out ;)

Incunabula = the original classic

Move of Ten = back to basics/beat-driven

Mos def agree with that "grows on you" view

How could I not?

Confield - hermetic, horizon-stretching
Amber - singleminded, minimal, endless
Untilted - dazzling, breathless
Exai - rich
Draft 7.30 - arid, baffling
Chiastic Slide - broken, organic
LP 5 - direct current
Oversteps - fluid, cavernous
Quaristice - elemental
Tri Repetae - insistent, maximal
Incunabula - small, sequential

NB: all rankings incorrect.

The best:

Chiastic Slide. Maybe it's because I had to struggle to get into it when it first came out, but it still evokes a lot for me. Autechre's at their best for me when they're doing something utterly alien, and that's what they do here.

Envane. Because "Latent Quarter." If I had to choose one track that utterly defines them for me, that's it. The rest is consistent as well.

LP5 (that's what we call it in the colonies). I want a 60-minute mix of "Rae." Also, "Under BOAC" still gets my nerves raw. A record full of Eureka moments.

Garbage. This is where they stopped being just better than the rest of the "IDM" crowd and became something really unique. If my eyes get all watery listening to this, shut up it's my allergies.

Tri Repetae. Because "Stud." Also, a very calming record that keeps me from taking hostages.

Confield. They got away with making this record? A label actually released it? What the hell? And also, thank goodness. A cagey sort of beauty that doesn't reveal itself easily.

The pretty good:

Exai. It's too much to take in all at once, so that could be coloring my judgment. The good parts are brilliant, but there's some real meh on the second disc. The song "Hot Shot City" is particularly good, though.

Oversteps/Move of Ten. Really, really good. Really. I listen to them all the time, but they don't kick my teeth in like Chiastic or Confield.

Quaristice [Versions]. "Perlence" is absolutely coredump at 0x10003f3c ($t1) 0x10003f3c (sig_coredump+0x3c) 80410014 lwz r2,0x14(r1) (dbx) and I want to have its babies. "Tankraken" is also really absorbing. The rest doesn't grab me as much, but it's still pleasant.

Untilted. Initially I hated it, but I'm learning to appreciate this the more time I spend with it. The left brain respects it, but the right brain wants a nap.

Anvil Vapre. Starts off feeling a bit lockstep, but holy crapsnacks "Second Peng" curls my eyebrows.

Draft 7.30. Maddeningly inconsistent. Parts are brilliant, but I find myself skipping past "IV VV IV VV VIII" and "Surripere."

The take-it-or-leave it:

Incunabula and Amber. Still great records ("444" kicked my ass like a Russian mail-order bride), but they feel dated. I never really go back to them.

Quaristice. It's a brilliant but hyperkinetic child who really needs some Ritalin or booze (or two supplemental EP's) to connect two thoughts together.

1. Lp5
2. Draft 7.30
3. Quaristice
4. Oversteps
5. Exai
6. Untilted
7. Confield
8. Tri Repetae
9. Amber
10. Chiastic Slide
11. Incunabula

Not understanding the Quaristice hate and the Chiastic Slide love.

it really is interesting how divergent people's opinions are on Ae's body of work. Can't think of any other artist where that seems as true.

I have no idea under the sun how someone could prefer quaristice to chiastic, for example.

  On 11/19/2013 at 2:30 AM, lumpenprol said:

I have no idea under the sun how someone could prefer quaristice to chiastic, for example.

I've been lightening up on my dissatisfaction with quaristice, but seriously chiastic slide is fantastic (and not even my #1)

Interesting to read all of these lists. One thing I noticed is that many of you seem to group Confield, Draft 7.30, and Untilted together at the top as a "golden era," which is something I've thought before myself. Draft is my personal favorite, though I'm really liking Exai.

IMO the "golden era" is LP5-EP7-Confield

But I've seen numerous lists which either end with lp5 or start with Confiled

  On 11/19/2013 at 4:58 AM, fizzkinz said:

IMO the "golden era" is LP5-EP7-Confield

But I've seen numerous lists which either end with lp5 or start with Confiled

Basically this. Personally I think the "most golden" period was Chiastic-EP7. If you want to extend it further could say Chiastic through Draft. I think there was a big break between EP7 and Confield, and between Draft and Untilted, though others probably don't see it that way. Prior to Confield I feel their music was more vulnerable sounding, then Confield became a heartless kung-fu robot of doom. And with Untilted I felt they underwent another shift - prior to Untilted I felt their music was pretty damn serious (as in, we are trying hard as artists to make "art"), but Untilted seemed to be more bizarre and tongue-in-cheek. Quaristice took this shift to its logical conclusion, being almost entirely tongue-in-cheek musical vignettes with no real overall binding feel or concept (big IMO here). From Quaristice on their stuff has seemed looser and wilder, like they're mostly fucking around (still in quite an impressive way), but less concerned with radically changing music or having some sort of "high concept". Which, tbh, is fine with me as long as they keep making quality experimental music.