Autechre
Autechre
(Nothing/Warp)
Sheffield, England's Sean Booth and Rob Brown, a.k.a. Autechre, have
achieved what many boys who work the outer limits of electro land have
failed to do. Autechre make music that's freaky as all hell, yet as warm
and wooly as grandma's old smelly socks. Their musical currency is
similar to that of their U.K. brethren: the mashing, caustic rhythms and
cooing melodies of early Aphex Twin, the organic grandeur of fellow Warp
label-mates Plaid, the surreal sliminess of Germany's Mouse on Mars. But
more so than any of these worthy techno trendsetters, Autechre couple
childlike sensibilities with more formal, if incredibly skewed,
structures. Minimal melodies glide overhead, odd meters dart to and fro,
classical allusions abound, and those rhythms! Like hungry ants teaming
over a rotting watermelon, the beats undulate, squish and bend, vying for
survival as wave after rhythmic wave washes in.
The second line New Orleans groove of "Acroyear2" is decorated with
carnival-like, music box melodies, a constant theme in the Autechre sound
arsenal. As mock steel drums rattle and toy organs echo, a subtle melody
rises from the din. Such is the system in much of Autechre's work. Like
matching Kraftwerk (on 45rpm) with Bach's Goldberg Variations, surfaces
are never as they appear, manic merry-go-rounds of texture revealing
playfully eloquent designs. "Rae" contains what resembles a conventional
marching band beat, offset by drooping, liquified ambience; "Vase In"
dissembles a jumble of squealing arachnid sounds into a dissolving sonic
stream of stereo panning and outer space reverberations; "Fold 4, Wrap 5"
is like a band of drunken geezers marching over hills, splashing and
spilling as the song's tempo speeds up, then slows down.
If you don't listen closely, Autechre's muse may sound like a pile of
rumbling rubbish. But unlike most techno-lite, or much of today's drum
and bass, where originality is a non-starter, Autechre continues to push
the boundaries of electronica. The question is, can you handle it?
-- Ken Micallef
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