elseq 1-5

  On 5/25/2016 at 11:10 PM, Zeffolia said:

I think it's really clear and sounds amazing. You can put it as loud as you want and it doesn't hurt your ears (or maybe that indicates it's unclear?). It's kind of weird. Idk but I love how it sounds either way I don't see any justification for complaints

yeah, sounds fine to me. every release nowadays and there'll be at least one person who complains about the mastering. obviously in the very busiest craziest parts of the tracks, when the full freq spectrum is in use, it's not going to have great dynamic range. mastering isn't going to solve that, that's just what loud crazy music sounds like. any time it's less hectic and there's time to hear the reverb decay, the delays and pick up on some of the quieter elements in the mix, it all sounds really clear.

  On 5/23/2016 at 2:36 PM, Bread said:

 

  On 5/23/2016 at 12:59 PM, purlieu said:

I'm trying to work out the logistics of making a nice box for some CDrs of this.

Seriously why are you so hung up on physical? I just don't understand the temptation.

 

I'm not "hung up" on physical, it's the most practical way for me to listen. Almost my entire music collection is on CD, which means when I'm choosing what to listen to, I generally look at my CD shelves. Anything that's not there immediately has less chance of being played because I won't pick it out by browsing. I also don't like having to have my computer on to listen to music, it's turned off quite a bit of the time. And even when it's on, it's pretty old and runs really slowly when I'm trying to listen to music and do other things at the same time. There are other rooms in the house that I might like to listen to the album, that don't have computers but have CD or DVD players. The only time I really use my computer for listening is when I'm streaming stuff to check it out. I have to swap over cables just to plug it into my speakers.

I totally get why this was digital-only. It's length alone prohibits a simple physical release. Suggesting this marks the end of Ae doing physical is like suggesting that Quadrange marked the end of it, or what We R Are Why marked the end of them doing CDs. Different formats for different releases.

Heads up... just posted an elseq 1-5 poll in the main autechre forum so everyone can vote on their fav/least fav tracks/EPs in a bunch of categories!

  On 5/25/2016 at 11:28 PM, purlieu said:

I totally get why this was digital-only. It's length alone prohibits a simple physical release. Suggesting this marks the end of Ae doing physical is like suggesting that Quadrange marked the end of it, or what We R Are Why marked the end of them doing CDs. Different formats for different releases.

yeah, there's a good chance they'll still release another physical album, as long as there's a market for it. that market will be pretty niche not too long from now though, obviously there will always be retro fetishists that keep it alive in some form (and there's nothing wrong with that), but for most people the physical music release will be a thing of the past.

I do not understand when people are saying the recordings sound "dulled" , "flat" or "lacking in clarity". I find it to be the opposite. Or perhaps I am just not quite understanding what people mean. Or we are living in alternate realities some of which received lesser versions of elseq.

I like physical releases and having something to actually touch and hold then stick on my bookcase. I vastly prefer it over digital-only

That being said if this is their choice to only do digital then I don't really care and I'm perfectly fine with that. The music is all that matters and I never touch my CDs after ripping them lol. Almost prefer a digital release since I know these files are exactly what AE intended instead of wondering whether my rip fucked up.

For me, if this is twelb then I'm very satisfied. This is fucking amazing. Even if AE_LIVE was all there was I'd be beyond ecstatic. I just don't think it is because it's weird that there's no warp promotion or anything and you can't buy it off the bleep website so they're probably missing out on tons of buyers who casually like AE and aren't checking WATMM or other sites, or subscribed to the autechre bleepstore or whatever

I don't care about having a physical copy at all, it's just sounds. But what is with that best answer? Is that hip internet man promoting pirating these in the first sentence of the second paragraph?

  On 5/25/2016 at 11:21 PM, caze said:

 

  On 5/25/2016 at 11:10 PM, Zeffolia said:

I think it's really clear and sounds amazing. You can put it as loud as you want and it doesn't hurt your ears (or maybe that indicates it's unclear?). It's kind of weird. Idk but I love how it sounds either way I don't see any justification for complaints

 

yeah, sounds fine to me. every release nowadays and there'll be at least one person who complains about the mastering. obviously in the very busiest craziest parts of the tracks, when the full freq spectrum is in use, it's not going to have great dynamic range. mastering isn't going to solve that, that's just what loud crazy music sounds like. any time it's less hectic and there's time to hear the reverb decay, the delays and pick up on some of the quieter elements in the mix, it all sounds really clear.

 

I'm not complaining, at least not yet.

I just really thought it was just me that felt that way about this/AE_LIVE. I think it has more to do with how they're producing the music than any mastering. That said, I think that what a few of us are hearing might have to do partly with the mastering as well; as far as I can tell none of the bleepstores releases were mastered. Discogs shows a credit to Jamie Harley for 'recording' because I think that's the guy that was touring with them doing their sound, and seemingly recording as well. My conclusion is that the digital releases are either foregoing mastering, or are being mastered by AE themselves. My reasons for thinking this are that they seem to be very consistent with giving credit to any parties involved in the end product, and thus the lack of a mastering credit is glaring, and the issues noticed at least by some of us that the releases sound more 'flat' or 'dull' at times.

Note that I haven't started posting pics of the wave files...I might have looked at them ( ) but I'm not posting pics.

  On 5/25/2016 at 10:17 PM, kiya said:

 

  On 5/25/2016 at 5:45 PM, auxien said:

Also, so no word on mastering? Is anyone else hearing the dullness of these recordings, or am I losing my mind? I'm loving a lot of the release, so I don't mean the tracks are dull but the actual sound of the tracks is very...gray. there's no brightness and the dynamics are weaker than much of their recent work...but very much like the AE_LIVE soundboards, they had that dull mush to them. Someone else has to be hearing this...

 

 

 

 

I 100% am with you on this.. the release sounds flat, especially compared to past Autechre releases.

If i may put on my audiophile dork hat for a second.. i've listened to this on floor standing KEF speakers and also through Chord Mojo with Ultrasone headphones, i can say for certain this release wasn't mastered in the same way past Autechre releases have been. The sonics of the album are overall flat, nothing jumps out and the highs almost sound clipped.

This takes nothing away from the release for me, i love it and still think its their best in years. I just find it interesting that the mastering came out the way it did.

 

Agreed. I'm doing some testing, and it seems that the louder I play it, the better it sounds. Now I'm going to preface my next statement by saying that I know just enough about mastering to level up my own tunes, and to get myself in trouble when discussing mastering...but I think that seeming quality difference that correlates with volume can be the fault of mastering (or, the lack thereof). Blasting this in my car: meh (I've got stock speakers/system whose faults I'm pretty well aware of). Blasting on my Tannoy monitors: sounds pretty fucking good. Headphones (consumer, decent quality Sennheisers): meh.

So far, it seems I'm going to have to blast this at home...which is totally okay. These tunes sound fucking beastly up loud.

And again, I'm not trying to make this into a mastering discussion, or a criticism of the tunes themselves. This is some great shit (as was AE_LIVE, we'll be digesting that for years), and if the digital flood comes at the cost of a slick mastering job, I'm more than happy with having the digitals vs. not. Unlike some I'm more than glad to have handed them nearly $100 in the past 6 months or whatever for these digital-only releases; it's been worth every penny.

  On 5/25/2016 at 11:59 PM, Zeffolia said:

I like physical releases and having something to actually touch and hold then stick on my bookcase. I vastly prefer it over digital-only

 

That being said if this is their choice to only do digital then I don't really care and I'm perfectly fine with that. The music is all that matters and I never touch my CDs after ripping them lol. Almost prefer a digital release since I know these files are exactly what AE intended instead of wondering whether my rip fucked up.

 

For me, if this is twelb then I'm very satisfied. This is fucking amazing. Even if AE_LIVE was all there was I'd be beyond ecstatic. I just don't think it is because it's weird that there's no warp promotion or anything and you can't buy it off the bleep website so they're probably missing out on tons of buyers who casually like AE and aren't checking WATMM or other sites, or subscribed to the autechre bleepstore or whatever

I personally prefer having the CD to just the digital when it makes sense, but I'm not a stickler with most stuff about it. I did buy Quaristice from them on last year's tour even though I'd already purchased all the Q-era stuff digitally, but that was more just cause the packaging was lush (I still regret not splurging for the steel case set).

But the lack of Warp promotion alone says to me that it's obvious that this isn't twelb. This is a series of EPs, and that's it. At least in my mind, until Sammy and Ruby say otherwise.

I have no interest in owning this on vinyl, it would cost a bomb for a start.

I burned this all to CD because it is convenient for me to listen in whichever work vehicle I end up driving.

The digital works well due to the length of the format - end of discussion.

If they released a 5 track EP next with a 34 minute run time, I'd definitely buy that shit on vinyl.

Horses for courses, etc

  On 5/25/2016 at 11:59 PM, Zeffolia said:

I like physical releases and having something to actually touch and hold then stick on my bookcase. I vastly prefer it over digital-only

Yeah, definitely. There's a lot to say about physical over digital in terms of tangibility, which is partially a romantic thing of enjoying the physical aspect of it, holding the artwork etc., and partially a difficulty in adjusting to 'buying' something that doesn't physically exist. I didn't add these to my last post as they're purely preference rather than practical.

But I mean everybody has their preferences in how they enjoy their music, but I can't stand format snobbery. The whole "it's only romantic nostalgia for a needless product" nonsense, as if having a deeply rooted emotional resonance with a particular way of enjoying music isn't enough reason to buy something. Although physical sales have dropped dramatically, the decline has almost leveled out in the past couple of years, because there are still a lot of people who find having a physical version of the release adds to their experience in some way.

Also totally with those saying the lack of promotion suggests this isn't Twelb - both this and AE_LIVE have been for the obsessive fans. They're the first things they've put out since the AAA thread and they really feel like a response to that. No concessions to promoting an album, just pure unadulterated Ae jams for the aspie crowd to get stuck into.

EP 5 is perfect

  On 5/26/2016 at 12:32 AM, purlieu said:

 

No concessions to promoting an album, just pure unadulterated Ae jams for the aspie crowd to get stuck into.

Lols

So far elseq 1 and 4 are wonderful. I haven't heard 5 yet but I'm looking forward to it

  On 5/25/2016 at 8:12 PM, telefunken said:

Also this:

http://https://twitter.com/stephanmathieu/status/735424998437982208

https://twitter.com/stephanmathieu/status/729401306373357573

Lol that guy. I checked his bandcamp and realized I've come across his tunes before. I didn't come across anything worth hearing again, but I don't go for those super-sound-design-y types of musicians usually.

  On 5/25/2016 at 11:15 PM, wredny said:

 

  On 5/25/2016 at 11:10 PM, Zeffolia said:

I think it's really clear and sounds amazing. You can put it as loud as you want and it doesn't hurt your ears (or maybe that indicates it's unclear?). It's kind of weird. Idk but I love how it sounds either way I don't see any justification for complaints

It's not that its bad quality. It is. Maybe it's the amount reverb they use? Everything seems to be bathed in it. There're a few sharp and crisp sounds and the overall impression, imo, is that the sound is kind of noodley...

 

I think a lot of the tracks here sound quite "organic" compared to some other Autechre releases, which means the sounds themselves might not be as punchy/sharp but there's a lot of interesting textural stuff going on. It sounds super lush through my Cowon Plenue D on Beyer DT250's. Can't wait to hear it on a big system!

this is the first time in quite a while an ep surfaced prior to an album...and there's 5 of them.

I think you guys are way too caught up on the idea that there's even going to be an album!

Wouldn't surprise me if this is all we get for a while.

  On 5/26/2016 at 2:01 AM, Poiman said:

I think you guys are way too caught up on the idea that there's even going to be an album!

 

Wouldn't surprise me if this is all we get for a while.

Yeah need time to digest ae_live and elseq still

AE_LIVE was the album

These are the EP's

Or the other way

Or they are both albums and EP at the same time

Really at this point everything has transcended beyond LP/EP

  On 5/26/2016 at 2:13 AM, fizzkinz said:

Really at this point everything has transcended beyond LP/EP

This is exactly how I see it, and this fits Autechre perfectly.

It's all speculation at this point obviously, but I could see them leaving traditional formats behind completely.

I'm not caught up in anything but the music. each day it opens up more and more

finally combined these into a playlist to fix the frustration of choosing between new autechre, or new autechre, or new autechre, or new autechre, or new autechre

  On 5/26/2016 at 1:42 AM, jules said:

this is the first time in quite a while an ep surfaced prior to an album...and there's 5 of them.

I really think this is what we get for 2 years though

  On 5/26/2016 at 4:13 AM, Ayya Khema said:

 

  On 5/26/2016 at 1:42 AM, jules said:

this is the first time in quite a while an ep surfaced prior to an album...and there's 5 of them.

 

I really think this is what we get for 2 years though

Nah, they specifically mentioned the way their production proces changed and how they have sped it up. I'm expecting more livesets and more aep's (it's not an ep and not an lp, so lets call it an aep) the coming two years. Not monthly, or anything. But the intervals between the two sets of ae_live performance and the current elseqs give a good idea, I'm guessing.