Is Autechre relevant anymore?

@NorthernFusion

That's cool. Can you hear influences of autechre in other artists you listen to?

I do agree that no one does it better than autechre in terms of craftmanship

  On 6/19/2013 at 1:19 AM, xpr said:

@NorthernFusion

 

That's cool. Can you hear influences of autechre in other artists you listen to?

 

I do agree that no one does it better than autechre in terms of craftmanship

I'm probably the wrong person to ask because I suck at associating one artist to another (unless it's blatant), but I think an influence has always been there for BoC, especially with their pre-LP releases (considering they had a couple on Skam Records).

Sean &Rob could be 74x more famous if that's what they want...but it's not. As a matter of fact they can't help themselves.

"Man can do what he wills but he cannot will what he wills."

"Talent works for money and fame; the motive which moves genius to productivity is, on the other hand, less easy to determine. It isn’t money, for genius seldom gets any. It isn’t fame: fame is too uncertain and, more closely considered, of too little worth. Nor is it strictly for its own pleasure, for the great exertion involved almost outweighs the pleasure. It is rather an instinct of a unique sort by virtue of which the individual possessed of genius is impelled to express what he has seen and felt in enduring works without being conscious of any further motivation. It takes place, by and large, with the same sort of necessity as a tree brings forth fruit, and demands of the world no more than a soil on which the individual can flourish."

- Arthur Schopenhauer

  On 6/19/2013 at 1:01 AM, xpr said:

I think it's healthy for any sub culture to examine its place in a larger context. Existing in a bubble stifles creativity,and i don't think autechre does that but i am having a hard time understanding their place right now (even though i love their recent work).

Very interesting point though here..

This opens up, in my mind, a deeper topic regarding how underground artists and producers with unmatched skills as well as visionaries who push the boundaries of experimentation in music, operate and shape the larger culture around them... or... quite the opposite for some other artists... isolate themselves and stay within their loyal niche fanbases.

It's not just IDM artists that seem to often stray away from mainstream/pop appeal.. It exists in almost every genre, from the punk rock legends of yesterday to budding EDM stars of today (deadmau5, porter robinson- who reportedly turned down an offer to work with katy perry, etc).

we all know that pop likes to "pimp" the underground for new sounds and styles. hell that's what they've been doing forever. look at kanye's new album, for example... if people heard some of those sounds on the radio even just in 2007, they'd be like what is this underground, noisy weird garbage? now, it's hot. why? cuz mainstream pop takes from the underground. it needs it to survive...

i can't imagine the amount of session players, producers, programmers, sound designers who have been hired by the pretty faces and suits to contribute to major pop releases without getting an ounce of credit, other than burried in the liner notes. many stay independent and have a decent enough fan base to be able to turn down doing work that stands in the way of their integrity or make music they don't like.

cough.. aphex twin turning down madonna...

on the flipside, i also think that the underground often takes elements from the mainstream pop world as well, but that's a different tangent. (:

@OP

No

  On 6/19/2013 at 1:45 AM, Lane Visitor said:

 

This opens up, in my mind, a deeper topic regarding how underground artists and producers with unmatched skills as well as visionaries who push the boundaries of experimentation in music, operate and shape the larger culture around them... or... quite the opposite for some other artists... isolate themselves and stay within their loyal niche fanbases.

 

It's not just IDM artists that seem to often stray away from mainstream/pop appeal.. It exists in almost every genre, from the punk rock legends of yesterday to budding EDM stars of today (deadmau5, porter robinson- who reportedly turned down an offer to work with katy perry, etc).

 

 

cough.. aphex twin turning down madonna...

 

... but this doesnt mean these artists still don't shape the wider culture by default. just cuz katy perry and madonna weren't able to get rdj and porter robsinon's actual hands on their knobs and synths doesn't mean they didn't try to recreate their sounds anyway.

madonna may have just went ahead and told william orbit to check out the come to daddy ep and make something similar- something fast, frantic and cold.. and they did... may not have been afx-standard, but it was good enough for madonna on her pursuit of exploring other genres.

katy perry may not have gotten porter robinson, but im sure there are many other edm kids out there that would be down 100%, who could do similar things that porter could and do a track with her. .. although EDM is quite different in terms of collabing. let it be said that madonna and katy perry are some of my favorite pop artists, so im being very careful when using them as an example to illustrate my point here.

Here's some more:

“Every man takes the limits of his own field of vision for the limits of the world.”

“Talent hits a target no one else can hit. Genius hits a target no one else can see.”

“The person who writes for fools is always sure of a large audience.”

- Arthur Schopenhauer

Considering I still haven't listened to an album of theirs the full way through, they are not - to me

Not saying they are bad or that they aren't relevant to you, they just aren't to me. Relevant that is.

Mods, please mark this thread as answered. I will take my parade later.

who cares

  On 6/19/2013 at 1:18 AM, dylanmcknd said:

 

  On 6/18/2013 at 11:07 PM, oscillik said:

I always wanted a gif of that.

 

Thank you.

 

What is this from?

They were never relevant and they never felt relevant to me (i'm going by my definition of relevant). I respect them and like their music but their most loyal of fans seem to put them of a higher pedestal than they really are (i guess thats true about every artist)

They are relevant to my interests and I would like to subscribe to their newsletter.

@LaneVisitor

Very interesting when considering pop music and how it always feeds off of the underground. Safe to say that autechre perhaps doesn't make katy perry and her producers hop on the imitation train?

  On 6/19/2013 at 1:55 AM, usagi said:

 

  On 6/18/2013 at 9:29 PM, xpr said:

Try setting aside your personal opinion about Autechre's music for a while and consider them in a larger cultural context.

 

I've just never thought of Autechre this way. I only consider what they mean to me, what their music does for my life. besides, even if a band or act were to no longer be relevant, it doesn't make their music any less great. I love a lot of old post-punk bands like Killing Joke and Gang of Four who would definitely not be considered "relevant" by would-be tastemakers today, but why should I care? their music is great.

 

I can see some possible value in discussing how Autechre fit into a movement or a cultural phenomenon (IDM, Warp, electronic music innovation, etc). but "relevance" is a really dodgy word because you then introduce this notion that a musical act can "lose relevance", based on some completely subjective and arbitrary criteria, and somehow become less "important" or whatever, which immediately makes fans react negatively/switch off as they just don't care about that.

 

That's why I think it's interesting to use the word relevance. Like I said, it's not about wether autechre's music is good or not (it's the best), so if you like to just leave it at that that's fine. Interesting point about relevance and genres coming and going. Speaking of post-punk however, that's a genre in total revival these days: Holograms, iceage, Savages and electronic acts such as Vår and Lust For Youth clearly draws on.

  On 6/19/2013 at 1:57 AM, xox said:

Here's some more:

 

“Every man takes the limits of his own field of vision for the limits of the world.”

 

“Talent hits a target no one else can hit. Genius hits a target no one else can see.”

 

“The person who writes for fools is always sure of a large audience.”

 

- Arthur Schopenhauer

There's a difference discussing things culturally and philosophically. Great quotes and all.

AE isn't relevant at all and never has been and never will be, in the broad picture

Even among people who like RDJ and BoC, lots dislike Autechre or haven't even bothered to listen after hearing something "weird and not even real music" like Untilted

Then again dubstep utterly copied Second Peng. Real not skreal

In my view, Autechre is as relevant to experimental electronic as Nirvana was to ALt-rock when it was coming into its own.

Consider this:

"Give her the dick"

- Arthur Schopenhauer

It's probably just too hard to translate what Ae do into a place in pop culture. Their approach is very different and comes from being masters of the process, which is not something many people can do, especially the way they do it. Each album is shaped by the limitations they impose on themselves with the equipment they choose and methods like generative music, etc. etc. Probably too many other things to mention that I'm not aware of. It's clearly an abstraction and blend of many other types of music like dub, electro, hip hop, drum and bass, ambient, etc into something that resembles wild style graffiti in the form of music. I'm pretty sure they even said to think of their music as wildstyle graffiti, where you can recognize that there are words written on a wall (hints at certain genres). But what's more interesting than the actual words are the otherworldly abstractions made from those words. The words are the frame, the anchor that lets you know it's not just a very interesting scribble. Not just noise, it's music.

But how many people can be bothered to investigate this, or keep coming back for more? To respond to your original question, I think that when music journalists use the word "relevant", they really mean the current style that's hot right now, or topical lyrics. Nothing more than that. So I guess they are not relevant in that way, but their approach to music comes from the drive of pure exploration, mastery, and control of sound for its own sake. The pioneers doing the real dirty work. Undeniably relevant.

This is relevant:

"enhance the smell of ur farts by farting on ur hand and smelling ur hand"

- Arthur Schopenhauer

The fact that Autechre don't care and neither do their fans ironically makes them very relevant. Operating beyond the sphere of whats trendy and hip (and relevant) makes you unique, doe's it not?

Errr i'm confusing myself, next subject please.....

"Oversteps is so fucking good."

- Arthur Schopenhauer

I literally can not stop sucking dick

  On 6/19/2013 at 1:32 PM, Rulohead32 said:

I literally can not stop sucking dick

Don't forget to love yourself.

Soren Kierkegaard

  On 6/19/2013 at 1:47 PM, Rulohead32 said:

fucking lol