Autechre's 6th LP, to be released April 30 in the
UK (and hopefully May 1by
Warp's new American division).
- vi scose poise
- cfern
- pen expers
- sim gishel
- parhelic triangle
- bine
- eidetic casein
- uviol
- lentic catachresis
I think what everyone was expecting for this album was for Autechre to combine the extreme experimentalism of their recent releases with the more accessible sound of their earlier work. Experimental albums are vastly important for pushing the boundaries of what music can be, but every few albums a truly visionary experimental group must tie it all up together and show the public the power of what they are doing, or other groups will do that for them.
Does the album meet expectations? For the most part, I have to say it does. The concession to mainstream listening habits, however, is small. There are tracks which would be at home on LP5, EP7, or the Peel Sessions, but the beat is given more emphasis than it has been given on any album since tri repetae++. This is not a sweeping, majestic ambient work (though there are moments of great ambient beauty), but rather a sharp blast of little noises and melodies interplaying with each other. Diversity and progression within tracks are not shunned this time around, but are rarely obvious. In any case, it's refreshing to hear a band which has a bona fide masterwork in their catalog (in the way of tri) stay fiercely experimental and reject the urge to recreate the past. Tracks like "Pen Expers" and "Eidetic Casin" display a welcome new direction. Confield is the future, at least for Ae.