With regard to Gb's comments, I thought that Ultra-Schall on Advance was
one of the most intense tracks for me in 1996. It just felt like the
feeling you get when you are in between sleep and consciousness, almost
like coming out of a really cold lake in winter and seeing all mist, fog,
frost and silhouetted trees against the mist. Very wintry. The stuff I
like best is the stuff which records or recreates 'real' emotions and
experiences- Neotropic is bloody ace at this.
Autechre's chiastic slide
sounded like a sonic leap on from TRi Repetae for me, because it seemed to
make me hear the raw activity of my brain. What made 'Hub' work so
well (when I first heard it I thought 'Pterodactyls'!) was the really high
pitched random-sounding melodies that come in towards the middle.
These sounds, despite their deceptive subtlety and low profile in the mix,
are actually what carries the whole track as far as I'm
concerned. I think that what sets good electronic music apart from the
mundane is not just good ideas, but when a vibe is recorded and created
without the writer being aware of it happening. Not divine inspiration,
exactly, but subconscious writing, perhaps.
Rich.