XI year old Autechre Album Released: Exai (WARP234)

Yeah, L-EVENT better than Exai? I dunno about that. Maybe more consistent, but...

AE_LIVE>everything

I consider L-Event as part of Exai tbh.

^good point. They said in an interview it could've been part of Exai but they knew they needed an EP as well and that one seemed the best choice to stand 'apart' so it's basically just another chapter in the musk-scented brooding body that is Exai

  On 7/8/2016 at 9:52 PM, Overand said:

Or if they devise some generative audio software that just perpetually creates new music.

I still dream that they'll release an album in software form some day, something like Laconicism (which is excellent btw). Maybe in hardware form even, a box with some knobs and a line out that generates nonstop autechres.

  On 7/15/2016 at 3:46 AM, Boxus said:

 

  On 7/8/2016 at 9:52 PM, Overand said:

Or if they devise some generative audio software that just perpetually creates new music.

 

I still dream that they'll release an album in software form some day, something like Laconicism (which is excellent btw). Maybe in hardware form even, a box with some knobs and a line out that generates nonstop autechres.

 

Oval also did it, though it was kind of confusing.

I'm not grabbed by the idea of an Autechre generative music system, actually. I prefer my 'chre hand-made.

I wouldn't say no to ae releasing some kind of software, even something that would generate slightly different versions of album tracks each time..

  On 7/15/2016 at 4:00 AM, usagi said:

I'm not grabbed by the idea of an Autechre generative music system, actually. I prefer my 'chre hand-made.

thats true man. people really seem to overlook the idea that autechre are still jamming the patches out like a live set when they play. creating momentum and proper flow. sure you can probably write that but autechre seem to write patches that still need to be played.

^agreed They tried it in a way with Gescom's minidisc (apparently it was the only commercially available technology at the time that could do zero-latency shuffle), and look how many people rate that

also toplels and kudos to pixelives or whoever continues to reinvent this thread title

  On 7/15/2016 at 4:11 AM, modey said:

I wouldn't say no to ae releasing some kind of software, even something that would generate slightly different versions of album tracks each time..

yeah, I wouldn't say no either, it'd be interesting. but I'd rather have a new handcrafted release than live on that ^ for x years.

  On 7/15/2016 at 4:13 AM, bitroast said:

 

  On 7/15/2016 at 4:00 AM, usagi said:

I'm not grabbed by the idea of an Autechre generative music system, actually. I prefer my 'chre hand-made.

 

thats true man. people really seem to overlook the idea that autechre are still jamming the patches out like a live set when they play. creating momentum and proper flow. sure you can probably write that but autechre seem to write patches that still need to be played.

 

yep. there is still the element of "playing" and I think that's important.

  On 7/15/2016 at 4:14 AM, Bob Dobalina said:

^agreed They tried it in a way with Gescom's minidisc (apparently it was the only commercially available technology at the time that could do zero-latency shuffle), and look how many people rate that

 

also toplels and kudos to pixelives or whoever continues to reinvent this thread title

I like some bits of Minidisc but in spite of the premise it actually doesn't flow that well. I like putting the Le Sharkes on random loop for 5 mins at a time. also there's one longer 3-min ambient track on there that is fucking fantastic, I forget what it's called. Shoegazer, I think.

  On 7/15/2016 at 4:30 AM, usagi said:

 

 

yep. there is still the element of "playing" and I think that's important.

 

yeah, I'm thinking more that they'd "play" it once, record all of the parameter tweaks in, and then the patch evolves the recorded tweaks each time. so there's still a live, ae-controlled element in there, it just gets more and more distorted over time..

  On 7/14/2016 at 5:36 PM, auxien said:

Yeah, L-EVENT better than Exai? I dunno about that. Maybe more consistent, but...

pretty much this, although i do realize it's kind of an unfair comparison considering the vastly differing scales, but tac alone pretty much beats anything on exai for me in terms of "wow". yeah i know it's practically another chapter of exai but with a good half a year between release dates to me they totally feel like singular entities with their own personal histories of reception etc. the consistency also not only applies to the releases as a whole but singular tracks as well: to me some exai tracks could be excellent but suffer from just minor details here n there that rub me in a not-so-perfect way, mostly concerning tunefulness. whatever, like i said nevertheless awesome (but in regard to their overall oevre not neccessarily "envelope pushing") release, still feel things have only been ramping up since then.

Ok Fleure just dropped into my top 5 Ae tracks of all time

I listened today, still don't get it really. The first three quarters of the track just sounds like some of the stuff I was making about 12–14 years ago, trying to emulate Autechre..

  On 8/30/2016 at 6:39 AM, modey said:

I listened today, still don't get it really. The first three quarters of the track just sounds like some of the stuff I was making about 12–14 years ago, trying to emulate Autechre..

I almost think that's intentional on their part. Wild speculation ahead: I feel like they included it, and purposefully opened the album with it, to almost realign the listener's ears for what was ahead. It seem like them being a bit cheeky going, "hey, here's some standard AE sound you might expect to hear, we're going to blow that shit up for 2.5 minutes, then entirely deconstruct it and twist it and warp it to hell and leave it in tatters, and just when you're clueless it'll seamlessly transition into what may be the best track on the album which is really what this all about; you need to get over the old shit and the rest of the album isn't really like the first track at all."

Again, wild speculation. Also, I love the track despite it superficially coming across as stock-AE, I think it's endlessly deep and surprisingly clear in its sounds and presentation, and tight and expertly-created in its form, obvious the first half's grit and dirt, and the huge sprawling galaxy that is the second half.

also I still think the bassline sounds like this nautilis track

and am a bit disappointed when the melodic content (lol) doesn't end up being as lush

Dunno what are you on about, that background "melody" properly introduced around 1 min mark (not sure how to call it non-technically) is essential Ae experience, it's subtle, simple and busy. If it's stock Ae then name me that stockpile.

I don't buy into the aforesaid speculation, there's a transition to irlite, but irlite itself isn't demonstrative of the album, it feels like a very certain cell of it with its sandy percussion and live-feel progression and a close relative in bladelores.

why haven't i ever heard of this guy, nautilis?! just listening to his tracks on youtube... good stuff!

  On 9/1/2016 at 1:42 AM, auxien said:

I almost think that's intentional on their part. Wild speculation ahead: I feel like they included it, and purposefully opened the album with it, to almost realign the listener's ears for what was ahead. It seem like them being a bit cheeky going, "hey, here's some standard AE sound you might expect to hear, we're going to blow that shit up for 2.5 minutes, then entirely deconstruct it and twist it and warp it to hell and leave it in tatters, and just when you're clueless it'll seamlessly transition into what may be the best track on the album which is really what this all about; you need to get over the old shit and the rest of the album isn't really like the first track at all."

Exactly. With Ae track 1 is great and you have  expectation of what the next is, then they blow that theory away with a few diverse sounding tracks

They did it with feed1 too.

  On 8/29/2016 at 9:32 PM, Schlitze said:

Ok Fleure just dropped into my top 5 Ae tracks of all time

gotta be my favorite track from exai, total blackhole wreckage

The piled up hairpin turns in the first half are

Feels like you just beat the clock on screwball scramble the first time you keep up it with all the way through to the void of wormholes that is the second half.

Def one of the best tracks on there.

  On 9/1/2016 at 2:52 PM, Amen Lare said:

Dunno what are you on about, that background "melody" properly introduced around 1 min mark (not sure how to call it non-technically) is essential Ae experience, it's subtle, simple and busy. If it's stock Ae then name me that stockpile.

 

I don't buy into the aforesaid speculation, there's a transition to irlite, but irlite itself isn't demonstrative of the album, it feels like a very certain cell of it with its sandy percussion and live-feel progression and a close relative in bladelores.

You're confusing our posts. I said FLeure as a whole starts out sounding like stock AE (morphing crunchy beats, weird bleepy melody and noises, etc.) not the melody in particular. I love the melody, and for the record that Nautilus bass isn't even in the same star system as FLeure's. Yeah, they both swell and sort of hit the same basic form if you were to look at the MIDI files of each, but FLeure's bass is its own beast.

I'd say irlite is more representative than anything else on an album that's as diverse as Exai is. I definitely agree that it feels like a very close relative of bladelores.

  On 9/1/2016 at 11:52 PM, hello spiral said:

Feels like you just beat the clock on screwball scramble

  On 9/2/2016 at 12:06 AM, auxien said:

 

  On 9/1/2016 at 2:52 PM, Amen Lare said:

 

FLeure as a whole starts out sounding like stock AE (morphing crunchy beats, weird bleepy melody and noises, etc.)

 

Fleure as a whole starts out sounding like stock music (sounds, rhythms, etc.)

(My point is that your parenthetical description doesn't explain to me what you mean by "stock AE", which I don't understand. Maybe you can pick another track from this "stock" and outline the similarities in more detail?)