You want to get into Autechre, where do you start?
You want to get into Autechre, where do you start?
This question was posted regularly on Reddit (no one every thinks to search for the answer first..) so I thought I'd create a pinned post with my own thoughts on it - but of course I'd love to hear other suggestions in the comments!
Autechre have a huge discography, so many hours of music, it can understandably be a bit daunting to know where to dip in.
My own personal feeling is that if you jump in with something very recent, depending on your tastes, you might find it difficult to understand or appreciate - and I've always felt that their new releases are informed by the entire evolution of their works over the past 30+ years.
So in my mind, if you've never heard any Autechre, start at the beginning, listen to each album and get to know it before you move on to the next one.
Here's a list of all their albums
https://www.discogs.com/artist/41-Autechre?type=Releases&subtype=Albums&filter_anv=0
But of course don't forget the EPs too - which have often come out after an album and can feel related to that release. For example, when Oversteps came out I found it confused me - it was far removed from what I expected - but when they released the Move of Ten EP, then it made a lot more sense to me.
And sometimes, an album comes out and on first listen you might be "WTF is this?", and to be honest, I've often found the albums that seemed least accessible on first listen have been the ones that grew on me the most over the years.
Anyway - please add your own thoughts below, and hopefully people new to Autechre will find this discussion useful!
I don't often put myself in a position where I recommend music to people. However, if I were to recommend Autechre to someone, I would probably go for Oversteps or Exai. I feel like these albums strike a good balance between having something familiar for newcomers to grab onto, while also still being pretty 'out there'. It's not exactly going to be easy for someone who hasn't heard anything like it before, but it's less jarring than their recent output (note: that's a relative statement!), yet more unique than their earliest stuff (which I still love).
Although, if I really wanted to showcase Autechre to someone, I might even just make them a playlist of a few choice tracks to start with.
I ve never heafd of them. From a short listening it seems like 10 bit glitch artsy electro ambient?
It really depends on which album. Generally speaking, the later in their career an album is, the weirder and more inaccessible it is, with a couple of exceptions (oversteps/move of ten, sign/plus). Also if you’re interested in them, do not overlook the EPS -some of their best material is on those (EP7 being an absolute standout).
If you want the electro ambient stuff you described, the albums up through Tri Repetae do just that. Songs I love: doctrine, further, clipper
If you want something a little more experimental but still with some structure, Chiastic Slide through Confield is good. Draft and Untilted take the alien LP5-style thing and crank it to 11. Songs I love: Rae, Dropp, Arch Carrier, 777.
Quaristice is unique in their catalog - it's a series of short experiments basically, probably the most varied album. People either absolutely adore it or completely despise it for the most part. It was my first Ae album, and while I'm not always in the mood for it it has a special place in my heart. The EP with extended and alternate versions is amazing too. Songs I love: plyphon, perlence, tankakern.
Oversteps and Move of Ten return to a gentler sound and more easily digestible soundscapes. They are my favorites by far - I much prefer melodic Autechre to absolutely wild abrasive abstract Autechre. My faves: ress, O= 0, M62, y7.
Exai as a good transition from the oversteps sound to the more modern wild stuff. A bit more abrasive than oversteps, but less crazy than the next era. Favorite: cloudline
Elseq and NTS Sessions are extremely challenging albums for most people. I personally really like Elseq, and really dislike most of NTS Sessions - a series of multiple two hour long albums is just too much for me and the songs are a bit too long for my taste. I love xflood though. Standout: c16 deep tread, foldfree casual
Plus/Sign return to something resembling a combination of the Exai soundscapes with more melody and a bit structure. I think Sign is the better album of the pair of personally, but I think I'm in the internet minority on that. Favorites:m4 Lema, F7, si00