Autechre - NTS 1-4 - reviews

But yea, really awesome article...

just noticed that the highly anticipated george starostin review of NTS is up. i've never seen anyone so willing to write multiple essays' worth of words about a thing they admit they don't even like or understand at all. dude is a total enigma to me.

The Sam Byers piece was really good. Writing about music and dancing about architecture and all that, but this was an interesting read indeed.

Edit: Sam, not Same. Damn you autocorrect

This georgey what's his chops is an odd twat from what I can tell. All the other reviews I bothered to look at on his site are old shit. Why would I listen to a chap who's apparently suffering from the common trap of only being able to get a brain buzz from shit logged in teenage memories.

Common or garden memory wanker.

Memory wanks are the best wanks.

Garden memory wanks are even betterer.

Squeeze my memory glands

I keep getting sucked back to the first track -- the ominous intro and how it goes on to casually mutate throughout the course of its 11 minute duration

Absolutely, that intro before the drums kick in is like a load of Autechre war planes flying overhead dropping their NTS payload onto us unsuspecting civvies. Lovely stuff.

  On 3/7/2019 at 12:57 AM, mcbpete said:

Absolutely, that intro before the drums kick in is like a load of Autechre war planes flying overhead dropping their NTS payload onto us unsuspecting civvies. Lovely stuff.

lol, dont think i had ever turned it loud enough to make this connection, but yes that is what ill be hearing from now on. kitty-bomb at 3m

It's been four years and people still can't help but rag on NTS Sessions (and elseq 1-5 for that matter) regarding their lengths. Okay...don't listen to it all in one go. Problem solved. I don't think "too much of a good thing" applies to music that you can listen to as much or as llittle of as you'd like. For some reason it bugs me... enough to bump this thread after it being dead 3 years.

  On 1/26/2022 at 3:57 AM, splesh said:

It's been four years and people still can't help but rag on NTS Sessions (and elseq 1-5 for that matter) regarding their lengths. Okay...don't listen to it all in one go. Problem solved. I don't think "too much of a good thing" applies to music that you can listen to as much or as llittle of as you'd like. For some reason it bugs me... enough to bump this thread after it being dead 3 years.

Well, it was presented as a four part thing where each instalment works individually on its own so I don't think it was ever meant to be listened to in full.

  On 1/26/2022 at 11:41 AM, eclipsis said:

Well, it was presented as a four part thing where each instalment works individually on its own so I don't think it was ever meant to be listened to in full.

I think the fact that it was all released at the same time (well, originally broadcast days apart from physically released at once) means that it is perceived as a self contained release.  Film trilogys are released years apart to maximise exposure, spread costs and allow parts to sink in.

Perhaps if NTS 1-4 was released with a couple of months between each show (or seasonally - is part 1 Spring?) then I would agree more. 

The cynical part of me thinks it is one 8 hour+ session that was just cut up into perfect 2 hour chunks in order to fill the allocated NTS broadcast slots.  

  On 1/26/2022 at 11:41 AM, eclipsis said:

Well, it was presented as a four part thing where each instalment works individually on its own so I don't think it was ever meant to be listened to in full.

Im much closer to this interpretation 

Then again there's all end, which feels more like a closer to the 8 hour thing. In some interview Rob spoke about being pleased with people going for full immersion.

Either way, it seems to work both as self-contained releases and a larger scale thing, so it says something about good sequencing. But does it even matter? You can engage with it in whatever way you like.

Why would you self-impose listening rules based on perceived artistic intent, if they're keeping you from listening :)

I have never listened to all 8 hours in one sitting.

It is NTS1-4 and I listen to them as either separate releases (on vinyl) or shuffled random playlist via wav.

I guess the question should be, were these sessions commissioned for NTS as 2 hour bundles, or were the sessions selected to fill 2 hour slots...

Without NTS, it could have been released by Warp as Warp1-8 in 1 hour chunks, 6 months apart, maximising vinyl / CD sales etc.... 

Or just digitally as an 8 hour impromptu broadcast via Twitch that only 5 people sat and listened to all of it.  Then maybe someone recorded a bit of it and it ended up on youtube, but most of it was lost forever...

And therefore my point is, the way the music is presented and marketed makes a huge difference to how we (the consumers) perceive it.  

But it's still full of great casual donks, i'm not disputing that...

Just giving the NTS Sessions a complete playthrough back to back against eachother, which I haven't done in years, and I've gotta say...

L3 Ctrl....godamn! I honestly forgot about this track. So good!

Review 
 

interesting how much more accessible the NTS releases have become now

Been really into frane casual lately 

Ahh. The good ole days of being able to buy slabs of Autechre.
 

The audio equivalent of beef tomahawks from the butcher. 

there are some really nice tracks in there 

Never got into NTS. Elseq is in my top 3 Autechre releases but I think that it blew a circuit board in my brain and I became unable to cope with any similar sized releases. Maybe I should get out the soldering iron and replace it. I was hoping they were gonna return to the 3 or 4 track EP style of their early days! Hah! All hope is definitely lost on that

  On 1/13/2025 at 10:27 AM, beerwolf said:

Never got into NTS

I had the same - when I came out it felt as if they just ran some generative software to create these but in context of the live acts they make much more sense now 

  On 1/13/2025 at 10:54 AM, o00o said:

I had the same - when I came out it felt as if they just ran some generative software to create these but in context of the live acts they make much more sense now 

That was my feeling too. I'm not sure as I haven't listened much to NTS. It was at that point that I finally felt I was drowned by a wave, blacked out and engulfed into the abyss. The journey I had loyally traveled with Autechre was finally over. Year zero.