Autechre - SIGN 16.10.20

I ended up waiting until this past Saturday for my first listen to SIGN. I had a few buddies over and sat outside in my backyard with a raging fire and did some star photography. The warmth and colors of the fire as well as staring at the stars lent very well to the overall mood of this album (as well as various substances :P). I obviously had read a bunch about it and was keeping up with this thread but I definitely took away my own views from this and further listens. First impressions were just that it was crazy warm, lush and hyper-detailed. M4 Lema, Metaz form8, schmefd 2 and r cazt were the immediate standouts for me. schmefd 2 was without question my fav after 1 listen. It had such a dark and nasty groove. The whole time through the album, I couldn't decide if this was Autechre super zoomed out, or super zoomed in. It has this very microscopic detail to it, but it sounds like it is enormous at the same time. Autechre have always been experts at creating these little mini universes and this one just felt like the warmest and most humanistic to date. M4 Lema set the perfect tone and was beyond interesting to start. It felt like there was just tons and tons of tiny little pockets of intricacy meshing perfectly with the huge synth and pad washes throughout the entire hour. By reading a lot about this, it sounded to me like this was going to be a very ambient album but I found it so chock-full of rhythm. Everywhere. It's just executed in a different way. Overall, just another fascinating dive into a new realm of ae. There are a handful of bands that I have been listening to for over 20 years now, but Autechre's creative journey has been the most rewarding to follow along with, by far. Cheers.

FYI.  As a day 1 internet super expert, I hereby declare Wurstwasser's S/N ratio to be very poor indeed.  MEH would be too much praise for the value of that last post.

really subtle album all around. most tracks are like this one big in your face thing with everything else hella backgrounded. interesting approach

  On 10/22/2020 at 7:27 PM, jules said:

 

 

Expand  

that venus? sick photo

  On 10/22/2020 at 7:27 PM, jules said:

I ended up waiting until this past Saturday for my first listen to SIGN. I had a few buddies over and sat outside in my backyard with a raging fire and did some star photography. The warmth and colors of the fire as well as staring at the stars lent very well to the overall mood of this album (as well as various substances :P). I obviously had read a bunch about it and was keeping up with this thread but I definitely took away my own views from this and further listens. First impressions were just that it was crazy warm, lush and hyper-detailed. M4 Lema, Metaz form8, schmefd 2 and r cazt were the immediate standouts for me. schmefd 2 was without question my fav after 1 listen. It had such a dark and nasty groove. The whole time through the album, I couldn't decide if this was Autechre super zoomed out, or super zoomed in. It has this very microscopic detail to it, but it sounds like it is enormous at the same time. Autechre have always been experts at creating these little mini universes and this one just felt like the warmest and most humanistic to date. M4 Lema set the perfect tone and was beyond interesting to start. It felt like there was just tons and tons of tiny little pockets of intricacy meshing perfectly with the huge synth and pad washes throughout the entire hour. By reading a lot about this, it sounded to me like this was going to be a very ambient album but I found it so chock-full of rhythm. Everywhere. It's just executed in a different way. Overall, just another fascinating dive into a new realm of ae. There are a handful of bands that I have been listening to for over 20 years now, but Autechre's creative journey has been the most rewarding to follow along with, by far. Cheers.

 

 

Expand  

These are gorgeous

  On 10/22/2020 at 10:10 PM, jellied cope said:

These are gorgeous

Thanks!

@very honest that is mars. the temperature dropped quite a bit throughout the night so we were fighting a lot of condensation on the lenses or it would have been much clearer. We got a good shot of the andromeda galaxy though. I will try and post more as we go through the 15gb of photos

  On 10/22/2020 at 7:57 AM, baph said:

If there’s an Autechre album that wears its Coil influence on its sleeves, surely it’s got to be Oversteps and not SIGN. 
 

tbh I kind of wish there was more follow-through with the Oversteps compositional/melodic method, as much as I love everything that’s come since. 

Expand  

I hear more of Cocteau Twins' Beatrix in known(1), they played it in one of their marathon streams somewhere

(and regarding SIGN -- F7 definitely resembles known(1) to me, that was my immediate reaction on the premiere, and not only mine, i recall somebody throwing known(2) comment)

On a similar note, I just saw Saturn, Jupiter and our Moon make an awesome triangle in the sky on my evening walk. Mars was hanging around too.

I wasn't listening to SIGN though 

  On 10/20/2020 at 10:39 AM, Wurstwasser said:

  On 10/19/2020 at 7:35 AM, azatoth said:

Ah yes, you are the one that believe it's BS that they program their synths and effects in Max and they use some more "traditional" DAW. Gotcha.

Yeah, you got me here. IDK. I rather think their production does not differ and did never differ too much from all other electronic musicians. The rest is just marketing for kids. But now we're adult. Sandpaper and tanks, anyone?

Expand  

This is a truly bizarre opinion. Rob and Sean have always come across as sincere and down-to-earth and yet you're accusing them of spending the last decade maintaining a lie - based on what? Even if they could have made all of their recent output with a regular DAW (debatable), why the hell wouldn't they program their own stuff in Max? Writing music software isn't that hard - I've done it, and I'm an amateur hobbyist with a day job - and it's obviously something that appeals to the sort of people who make nerdy electronic music. Who do you think uses tools like Max or develops new synths/effects anyway, if not people like Autechre?

  On 10/23/2020 at 1:16 AM, Rotwang said:

This is a truly bizarre opinion. Rob and Sean have always come across as sincere and down-to-earth and yet you're accusing them of spending the last decade maintaining a lie - based on what? Even if they could have made all of their recent output with a regular DAW (debatable), why the hell wouldn't they program their own stuff in Max? Writing music software isn't that hard - I've done it, and I'm an amateur hobbyist with a day job - and it's obviously something that appeals to the sort of people who make nerdy electronic music. Who do you think uses tools like Max or develops new synths/effects anyway, if not people like Autechre?

I’m new here, but I had to block that dude. Annoying for no good reason 

The record arrived and me and mrs skull listened through it.

There're two types of tracks. The epics at beginning, middle, and end, M4 Lema, Metaz, r cazt.

Then the square-waveys, all the rest. They have this kind of organic tangling thing, like bodies and plants spawning little buds and branches and random mutations.

M4 Lema
Scattered and complex, like a spread out far out civilization exploding and left in an unsettled state.

F7
Spawning little buds, a multiplying organism growing from a mulchy soil bed and getting tangled.

Si00
There's some deep mixing and, like, this aquatic civilization thing, and they're just going about their business. Mrs skull said it sounded like a demented kids' show.

Esc desc
Like F7 but it sounds like crying. Tears, and I feel this agony underneath, a horrified feeling. It's like this great big weeping tree of life. Mrs skull said it's like a maestro playing a giant organ in some ancient place.

Au14
Mrs skull says it's "like a big pinball machine".

Metaz Form8
It has this feeling of the most epic beginning and ending. Like an entire life replayed. Lives growing and spreading and dying. Mrs skull says it's like two people trying to communicate but having a hard time understanding each other.

sch.mefd
Again with growing and spreading and tangling. Love how the "melody" kind of "resolves".

gr4
The same square-wavey stuff, but something has been lost, or is lost, or was never found. Mrs skull says it sounds like two birds talking to each other.

Th red a
These chords, the individual notes seem probabilistic, like will the chord reach its potential? They have this purity about them, but there's this wormy presence infiltrating them. That wavemorphy sound, like something from shimripl casual, sounds like a parasite, winding around the chords and digging into their dna.

Psin AM
Driving-at-night music, through the tunnel to the end. Again with little spawns deep in the mix. I could listen to this for hours.

r cazt
This is fuckin unreal. Whoever made this cannot have been in a right frame of mind. It's like this great shuddering grief, this body-shaking falling feeling. But like the others there's a note of hope, like the next life is waiting, even if its just an idea.

Yeah so, me and Mrs skull think it's a masterpiece.

  On 10/23/2020 at 2:38 AM, skull said:

The record arrived and me and mrs skull listened through it.

There're two types of tracks. The epics at beginning, middle, and end, M4 Lema, Metaz, r cazt.

Then the square-waveys, all the rest. They have this kind of organic tangling thing, like bodies and plants spawning little buds and branches and random mutations.

M4 Lema
Scattered and complex, like a spread out far out civilization exploding and left in an unsettled state.

F7
Spawning little buds, a multiplying organism growing from a mulchy soil bed and getting tangled.

Si00
There's some deep mixing and, like, this aquatic civilization thing, and they're just going about their business. Mrs skull said it sounded like a demented kids' show.

Esc desc
Like F7 but it sounds like crying. Tears, and I feel this agony underneath, a horrified feeling. It's like this great big weeping tree of life. Mrs skull said it's like a maestro playing a giant organ in some ancient place.

Au14
Mrs skull says it's "like a big pinball machine".

Metaz Form8
It has this feeling of the most epic beginning and ending. Like an entire life replayed. Lives growing and spreading and dying. Mrs skull says it's like two people trying to communicate but having a hard time understanding each other.

sch.mefd
Again with growing and spreading and tangling. Love how the "melody" kind of "resolves".

gr4
The same square-wavey stuff, but something has been lost, or is lost, or was never found. Mrs skull says it sounds like two birds talking to each other.

Th red a
These chords, the individual notes seem probabilistic, like will the chord reach its potential? They have this purity about them, but there's this wormy presence infiltrating them. That wavemorphy sound, like something from shimripl casual, sounds like a parasite, winding around the chords and digging into their dna.

Psin AM
Driving-at-night music, through the tunnel to the end. Again with little spawns deep in the mix. I could listen to this for hours.

r cazt
This is fuckin unreal. Whoever made this cannot have been in a right frame of mind. It's like this great shuddering grief, this body-shaking falling feeling. But like the others there's a note of hope, like the next life is waiting, even if its just an idea.

Yeah so, me and Mrs skull think it's a masterpiece.

Expand  

Love the review man. Love the mrs skull cameo

gr4 is so beautiful.  It's a choir of plaintive voices desperately urging the chords into disparate directions until they disappear entirely, the structure is lost, and the voices die away.

Probably the most beautiful track on the album.  It reminds me of Ives' "Unanswered Question."

  On 10/23/2020 at 4:11 AM, drillkicker said:

gr4 is so beautiful.  It's a choir of plaintive voices desperately urging the chords into disparate directions until they disappear entirely, the structure is lost, and the voices die away.

Probably the most beautiful track on the album.  It reminds me of Ives' "Unanswered Question."

I think me and Mrs stevieG are going to listen to the album again tonight, make sure we properly absorb the more ambient tracks. 

  On 10/23/2020 at 4:14 AM, Hugh Mughnus said:

I think me and Mrs stevieG are going to listen to the album again tonight, make sure we properly absorb the more ambient tracks. 

is SIGN Autechre's Let's Get It On? ? ? ? ? ? ?

  On 10/23/2020 at 4:46 AM, auxien said:

is SIGN Autechre's Let's Get It On? ? ? ? ? ? ?

Expand  

Maybe! Just maybe

My gosh, F7 suddenly hit me today. That one is a grower to think, and much denser than I realised. It’s very emotional and quite dramatic, but via sonic means that wouldn’t usually elicit those associations. I like that they didn’t utilise drums in any foreground sense here, but rather left spaces for your your brain fill in the gaps. It couldn’t be in contrast more with the opener, which as I’ve said too many times I love and find the best track - but at this point in the album I am now finding the stark difference of sound between 1 and 2 very cool.

  On 10/22/2020 at 10:38 PM, Amen Lare said:

I hear more of Cocteau Twins' Beatrix in known(1), they played it in one of their marathon streams somewhere

(and regarding SIGN -- F7 definitely resembles known(1) to me, that was my immediate reaction on the premiere, and not only mine, i recall somebody throwing known(2) comment)

 

Expand  

Yes! Nice spot

next payday - im ordering this homemade T:

  On 10/23/2020 at 4:14 AM, Hugh Mughnus said:

I think me and Mrs stevieG are going to listen to the album again tonight, make sure we properly absorb the more ambient tracks. 

Me and Mrs EXTRASUPER are definitely not going to listen to SIGN together tonight, because we have not only opposed tastes in music, but opposed ideas about what music is, should be and is for haha.

You should do something about the font/spacing before putting in your order

done:

You should always use Century Gothic for old times sake

this is the original btw: https://www.myfonts.com/fonts/wayne-fearnley/amina/